Laetitia Corbin Lee (August 25, 1657 – October 6, 1706) was an American colonist. She was the daughter of

Henry Corbin Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978) was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was influential in extending the modern study of traditional Islami ...

, one of the most powerful and influential political leaders in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

. In 1674 she married the politician Richard Lee II, and joined the prominent

Lee family of Virginia Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Lee (2007 film), ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * Lee (2017 film), ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * Lee (2023 film), ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama ab ...

. The Maryland branch of the Lee family descends from her through her son, Philip Lee of Blenheim Plantation. Another of her sons,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, built Stratford Hall, the future

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

of the Lees.

Early life

Born Laetitia Corbin on August 25, 1657, to

, an English-born Virginia merchant and planter, and his wife, Alice Eltonhead Burnham. She was one of eight children, and had relatives in many of what became the

First Families of Virginia The First Families of Virginia, or FFV, are a group of early settler families who became a socially and politically dominant group in the British Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. They descend from European colonists who ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Through her father, she was a granddaughter of Sir Thomas Corbin and a great-granddaughter of Sir Gawen de Sutton Grosvenor. Her sister, Anne Corbin, married the planter William Tayloe. After her father's death in 1675, Lee's mother married Captain Henry Creyke.

Career

In 1660, although she was an infant, her father deeded her 2,000 acres of land in what was then Stafford County, which later became

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas. A part ...

. In 1674, having reached legal age for her gender, she married Richard Lee II, a military officer, planter, and member of the prominent

. The land that she brought to the marriage would become Leesylvania, the home of a branch of the Lee family for generations, and now a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

. Letitia bore eight children during the marriage, including

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, and

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

. A granddaughter, Laetitia, was named after her. Shortly after her marriage, Lee's husband was elected to the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

and later served as a member of the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council, also known as the Privy Council and Council of State, was the upper house of the legislature of the Colony of Virginia (the House of Burgesses being the other house). It also served as an advisory body to the List of colon ...

. She and her husband maintained one of the largest libraries in the

at Machodoc, their

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

along the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

Westmoreland County, Virginia Westmoreland County is a County (United States), county located in the Northern Neck of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population sits at 18,477. Its county seat is Montross, Virginia, Montross ...

Death and legacy

She died on October 6, 1706, at Machodoc and was buried at the Burnt House Cemetery near Mount Pleasant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbin Lee, Laetitia 1657 births 1706 deaths 17th-century American women Laetitia Lee family (Virginia) Spouses of British politicians Spouses of Virginia politicians People from colonial Virginia