Richard Lee

1765 - 16th Jan 1857

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

West India merchant of Fowkes Buildings in London, born Jamaica c. 1765, son of Robert Cooper Lee (died 20/3/1794) of Rose Hall Jamaica and Bedford Square and brother of Frances Lee (q.v.).  

  1. In 1841 he was living at 12 Weymouth Street 'aged 70' Independent with servants; in 1851 he was at Calverley Park aged 85 with two visitors and servants.

  2. Lee left £600,000 on his death. He died unmarried and without children, leaving the bulk of his estate to his nephews and nieces, including several large monetary bequests (each up to £10,000). He left his estate in Jamaica, including his share in Rose Hall (St Thomas in the Vale) and Wheelerfield (St Thomas in the East) to his nephew Robert Cooper Lee Bevan (see below). He named three nephews as trustees, with the remainder of his estate being divided between his 6 nephews and nieces. Lee's trustees were Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, Richard Lee Bevan and Augustus Henry Bosanquet (husband of Louisa Priscilla and partner in successor firm to Hall, McGarel & Co, q.v.). The other principal beneficiaries were Rev David Barclay Bevan, Louisa Priscilla Bosanquet nee Bevan, Frederica Emma Stephenson nee Bevan (wife of Ernst Augustus Edmund Henry Stephenson) and Frances Lee Morier nee Bevan (wife of William Morier, Royal Navy). He also left his niece Favell Lee Mortimer [the educational writer, identified in the will as wife of Rev. Thomas Mortimer] an annuity of £1000 p.a. A legacy of £6,500 and an annuity of £500 p.a. were left to Sarah Nichols of Lambeth but their relationship not elaborated upon.

  3. Richard Lee's sister Favell (1780-1841) married the Quaker banker David Bevan. When their son Robert Cooper Lee Bevan, another banker, died he left £953,000 and is in the ODNB.


Sources

  1. 1841 and 1851 census online.

  2. William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? 1860- (Volumes 3 and 4, manuscripts in preparation), reference 1857/25 'Richard Lee'; Will of Richard Lee of Calverley Park Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 10/2/1857, PROB 11/2246/158; Anne M. Powers, A Parcel of Ribbons: Letters of the 18th Century Lee Family in London and Jamaica (lulu.com, 2012), pp. 334-37.

  3. Leslie Hannah, ‘Bevan, Robert Cooper Lee (1809–1890)’, ODNB online; Louisa Clara Meyer, The Peep of Day: Being the life story of Mrs. Mortimer (London, 1901), p.163; Audrey Nona Gamble, A History of the Bevan Family (London, 1923), p. 83.

We are grateful to Christina Eastwood for her help compiling this entry.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Name in compensation records
Richard Lea
Wealth at death
£600,000
Occupation
Merchant
Rubinstein
1857/25

Associated Claims (5)

£2,515 11s 0d
Awardee (Trustee)
£1,914 2s 8d
Awardee (Assignee)
£3,986 5s 11d
Awardee (Trustee)
£5,842 13s 2d
Awardee (Trustee)
£3,662 14s 11d
Awardee (Executor or executrix)

Associated Estates (5)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1814 [EA] - → Trustee and Executor
1834 [EA] - → Assignee
1814 [EA] - → Trustee and Executor
1799 [EA] - 1834 [LA] → Other
1839 [EA] - 1857 [LA] → Joint owner

Richard Lee inherited his sister Frances Lee's interest in Wheelerfield in 1839 after Emancipation and still held it at his own death in 1857.


Legacies Summary

Commercial (1)

Firm Investment
Richard Lee
West India merchant  
 

Relationships (4)

Brother-in-laws
Brother → Sister
Son → Father
Brother → Sister

Addresses (2)

12 Weymouth Street, London, Middlesex, London, England
Calverley Park, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, South-east England, England