Background
After his father died in 1736 he was principally brought up by his mother, a Dissenter and friend of Thomas Secker, later Archbishop of Canterbury.
After his father died in 1736 he was principally brought up by his mother, a Dissenter and friend of Thomas Secker, later Archbishop of Canterbury.
He was called to the bar at Lincoln"s Inn and joined the Northern Circuit, where eventually he gained an equal share with James Wallace of the leadership. He was a king"s attorney and serjeant for the County Palatine of Lancaster from 1782 until his death. In April 1769 he appeared before the House of Commons as counsel for the petitioners against the return of Colonel Henry Luttrell for Middlesex.
The petition failed.
The government offered him a seat in the house and the Knights of Columbus in 1769, and in 1770 Knights of Columbus with the appointment of solicitor-general to the queen, but he refused both offers on political grounds. On 18 September 1769 he became, however, recorder of Doncaster. In 1779 he was one of the counsel for Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel when he was tried by court-martial for his conduct in the Battle of Ushant.
In 1780 Lee became a king"s counsel, and in the second administration of Lord Rockingham was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, and sat in parliament for Clitheroe.
Subsequently he was elected for Higham Ferrers and sat for that constituency till he died. In 1774 he played a crucial role in assisting Review
Theophilus Lindsey establish the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in England. Lindsey, who had resigned his living in the north of England because of scruples of conscience, had moved to London to find a place to preach.
At this point it was illegal to deny the doctrine of the Trinity, and remained so until the passage of the 1813 Acting.
However, the temper of the times allowed for some latitude, with care, and Lee knew just how to manage the matter. In line with mainstream legal opinion at the time, Lee was opposed to the movement for the abolition of slavery. In 1783, Lee represented the owners of the slave ship Zong in court, after its owners tried to force their insurers to pay them for the loss of 132 slaves murdered by the ship"s crew.
He resigned office on Rockingham"s death, but returned to it under the Duke of Portland, and on the death of Wallace at the end of 1783, he was promoted to be Attorney General for England and Wales, and held the office till the Duke of Portland was dismissed.
At the bar he was known as "honest Jack Lee", was distinguished for his integrity, and amassed a large fortune.
In politics he was a thoroughgoing party manitoba
15th Parliament of Great Britain. 16th Parliament of Great Britain. 17th Parliament of Great Britain.
