Thomas Lee (Virginia colonist)

Thomas Lee
Royal Governor of Virginia
Acting August 24, 1749 – November 14, 1750
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	John Robinson
Succeeded by	Lewis Burwell
Member of the Virginia Council of State
In office 1733–1750
Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from Westmoreland County
In office 1726–1733 Serving with George Eskridge
Preceded by	Daniel McCarty
Succeeded by	Daniel McCarty Jr.
Personal details
Born	c. 1690 Mount Pleasant at Machodoc River, Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia
Died	(1750-11-14)November 14, 1750 (aged 59-60) Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia
Spouse	Hannah Harrison Ludwell ​ ​ (m. 1722; died 1750)​
Children	11, including Philip, Richard, Thomas, Francis, William, Arthur, and Hannah
Parents	Richard Lee II Laetitia Corbin
Residence(s)	Machodoc River, later Stratford Hall Plantation
Alma mater	College of William & Mary

Colonel Thomas Lee (c. 1690 – November 14, 1750) was a planter and politician in colonial Virginia, and a member of the Lee family, a political dynasty. Lee became involved in politics in 1710, serving in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, and also held important positions as Naval Officer for the Northern Potomac Region and agent for the Northern Neck Proprietary. After his father died, Lee inherited thousands of acres of land as well as enslaved people in then-vast Northumberland and Stafford Counties in Virginia as well as across the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. These properties were developed as tobacco plantations. Northumberland County was later subdivided, so some of Lee's properties were in present-day Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William, and Loudoun counties and counties in the present-day Northern Neck of Virginia.

When Lee married Hannah Harrison Ludwell in 1722, he benefited from the connections of the already established Harrison family of Virginia. A year later, he would become a member of the House of Burgesses. Arson destroyed Lee's home, he used money from Caroline of Ansbach and Britain to build Stratford Hall overlooking the Potomac River. Four years later, in 1733, he was appointed to the Governor's Council, the upper house of the General Assembly. In 1747, he founded the Ohio Company of Virginia with fellow Virginian colonists who wished to expand Virginia's territory into the Ohio River Valley. For less than a year, in 1749 until his death in 1750, Lee served as the de facto royal governor of Virginia in place of the absent William Gooch.