\"Royal Astronomical Soc\" Dr John Lee Hand Written Letter For Sale

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\"Royal Astronomical Soc\" Dr John Lee Hand Written Letter:
$279.99

Up for sale the "Royal Astronomical Society" Dr John Lee Hand Written Letter Dated 1851.

ES-3960D

John Lee LL.D, FRS (28 April

1783 – 25 February 1866), born John Fiott, was and numismatist. He was the

eldest son of John Fiott and Harriet, daughter of William Lee, of Totteridge,

MP for Appleby, of the family of the Lee baronets of Hartwell. His father was

involved in the family counting house business and was a failed East India merchant. He was orphaned when young and was brought up by his

maternal uncle, William Lee Antonie. Lee

read Mathematics at St John's College, Cambridge between

1802 and 1806, graduating fifth wrangler in his

year. He was elected a fellow in 1808. Following his studies from

1807–1815 he travelled extensively in the Middle East and Europe as a travelling bachelor. During this time he gained an interest in antiquities. He took the name Lee in 1816 following the death

of his uncle William Lee Antonie in 1815. In 1833 Lee married Cecilia Rutter

(23 July 1782 – 1 April 1854), of Lymington, whom he described as of "humble station but

excellent character and good disposition". She died in 1854 and was buried

in the graveyard of Hartwell Church, in

Buckinghamshire. In 1855, he married again, this time to Louisa Catherine,

daughter of Lee's friend Robert Wilkinson, who ran a private school at

Totteridge Park, the old Lee family seat (other sources indicate her to be daughter of

Richard Ford Heath, of Uxbridge). Lee died at Hartwell House in

1866. An obituary was published the following year in the monthly notices of

the Royal Astronomical Society.

Lee inherited several properties from William Lee Antonie in 1815. Antonie's

will predicated the inheritance on Lee changing his name by royal licence from

Fiott. The properties included Colworth Buckinghamshire (formerly in Hertfordshire). In 1827, Lee inherited Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire and

all the Lee family estates on the death of Sir George Lee, 6th and last

Baronet; this became his main residence from 1829 until his death. Lee would

"invite thirty or forty scientists to stay with him for anything up to a

month, discussing their latest theories" "year after year";

these regular guests included William Henry Smyth and

his daughter Henrietta, mother 1st Baron Baden-Powell. His scholarly nature meant Lee

cared nothing for "the aristocratic world which his house so vividly

evoked" for visitors. He dressed plainly, and was opposed to any

indulgence in tobacco and alcohol. Lee had no children; he was succeeded in his

estates by his nephew Edward Dyke Lee, only surviving son of his brother

Nicholas Fiott, later Lee. Between 1830 and 1839, Lee built an astronomical

observatory in the south-west corner of Hartwell House. Lee

helped found the Royal Meteorological Society in

1850 and was its president from 1855–1857.On 14 May 1824, Lee was elected as

fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and

was its president between 1861 and 1863. He became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of

London in 1828 and a Fellow of the Philological Society in

1831. Lee was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in

1831 and the first president of the Numismatic Society of London in

1836. He also served as Chairman of the London Peace Society.In 1863 at the age of 80, he was made a

barrister of Gray's Inn and a Q.C. the following year. The lunar crater Lee is named after him.

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