Anne Lee

Biography

Anne Constable was christened on 21 Feb 1622 at St Gregory by St Paul, London, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Francis Lee and his wife Alice. She died on 6 Oct 1706 at the Lee plantation “Dividing Creek” in Lee Parish, Northumberland County, Virginia, and was buried there. Her name is sometimes shown as Anna. This is from church records which were [sometimes] written in Latin at that time.

According to Wikipedia, Richard Lee married his wife Anne or Anna[4] in the newly built brick church at Jamestown in late 1641 or early 1642, and outgoing Governor Francis Wyatt gave the bride away. Anne was the ward of Sir John Thoroughgood, a personal attendant of Charles I, King of England (1600-1649). She had accompanied the family of Virginia Governor Sir Francis Wyatt (1575-1644) from England to Virginia, and at the time of her marriage to Richard, she was residing at the Wyatt household in Jamestown.

They had the following children:

1. John Lee, of "Mount Pleasant", eldest son of Col. Richard Lee and wife Anne Constable, was born in 1642 in Virginia. He died in 1673 at his home, Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He never married and his estate reverted to his brother Richard Lee, II. He claimed 3100 acres of Headright land in Westmoreland Co., VA. for transporting 62 people, one of whom was Thomas Sparrow, 18 Oct 1668.
2. Col. Richard Lee II, Esq., of "Paradise", was born about 1647 in Northumberland County, Virginia, and died 12 Mar 1714 at about age 67 in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was a Colonel, planter, member of the Upper House and the King's Council. Married Laetitia Corbin; seven children. Known as "the Scholar."
3. Francis Lee was born about 1648 at Northumberland County, Virginia and died about 10 Nov 1714 in London, England. Francis and his wife Tamar, whose surname is not known, had at least seven children.
4. Capt. William Lee was born circa 1651 (plus/minus one year) at Northumberland County, Virginia. He died sometime between June 1681 and February 1697/8, probably closer to the latter. He is not known to have ever married or to have fathered any children, but who bequeathed considerable acreage to widow Mary Heath, who married Batholomew Schreever which caused considerable litigation before its return to the Lee family[24]
5. Anne Lee was born between 1652/1654 in Northumberland County, Virginia. She died in 1701 in Westmoreland, Virginia. Anne married Captain Thomas Youell, with whom she had at least three daughters.
6. Capt. Hancock Lee of “Ditchley” was born in 1653 in Northumberland, Virginia. He died on 25 May 1709 in Ditchley, Northumberland, Virginia. He was buried on 20 Oct 1709 in Ditchley, Northumberland, Virginia. He married Mary Kendall.
7. Elizabeth (Betsey) Lee was born in 1654 in Northumberland County, Virginia. She died about 1692/1700 in Great Wicomico, Northumberland County, Virginia, and was buried at Dividing Creek. She married 1) Leonard Howson Sr (1648–1704); 2) John Turberville (1650–1728), son of George Turberville IV (1638-c.1659).
8. Charles Lee of “Cobb’s Hall” was born on 5 Jun 1656 (also seen as 21 May 1657) at Dividing Creek, Northumberland, Virginia. He died before 17 December 1701, when his estate was probated in Northumberland County, and was buried at Cobb's Hall, Northumberland County. Virginia. He married Elizabeth Mestand.

Wikipedia shows also a son Henry Lee (born 1650) who is not accepted by the Lee Society, and a daughter Ann (born 1655) who died young.

After Richard's death in 1664, Ann, then aged about 44, married Edmund Lister of Northumberland County, Virginia.

Today the Lee family identifies different branches as: "Cobb's Hall", "Mount Pleasant", "Ditchley", "Lee Hall", "Blenheim", "Leesylvania", "Dividing Creek", and "Stratford". These were the estate names of the descendants of Richard Lee I that are still referred to today when talking of Lee descendancy. An interesting note is that Lee had patented somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15,000 acres (61 km2) on both sides of the Potomac, in Maryland and in Virginia.

-----------------------------------------

Anne's family of origin

Francis and Alice Constable were the parents of fifteen Children, four sons and eleven daughters:

1. Alice, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul, London 24 September 1615 [PR]
2. Sarah, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul 16 March 1616/7 [Pr] ~ Bishop of London license, 6 October 1646, to marry Anthony Savage - note misstatement of her age in the allegations. Francis Constable apparently signed the instrument himself. She probably died before going to Virginia but her husband went and bought 50 acres of land from (Col.)Richard Lee [Va. Patents 2:153]). She and her husband were among those who presented the will of her mother for probate 22nd. September 1647.
3. Joan, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul 11 September 1618 [PR].
4. Mary, bapt. St. Andrew, Enfield, Co. Middlesex 21st October 1619 [Enfield PR]. Still unmarried, she was among those who presented her mother's will for probate.
5. Elizabeth, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul 24 October 1620 [PR], no further record.
6. ANNE, bapt. St. Gregory by St.Paul 21 February 1621/2. She was not among those who presented her mother's will for probate but this may mean only that she was already out of the country. Gibbon stated that Anna Constable was the wife of (Col.) Richard Lee. See “John Gibbon’s manuscript script notes concerning Virgina.” The surname of Madam Lee was Constable but she came into Virginia with Sir Francis Wiat and had lived with Sir Jno Thorowgood one of the Gentle-men pensioners
7. Margaret, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul 26 June 1623, married St. Margaret, Westminster, Robert Hunny.
8. Rachel, bapt. St. Gregory by St. Paul 24 September 1624 [PR], no further record.
9. Simon, bapt. Datchet, co. Bucks 14 August 1625, bur. St. Andrew Undershaft, London 29 November 1627.
10. Robert, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 24 August 1626 [PR], twin, bur.10 September 1626 [PR].
11. Roger, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 24 August 1626 [PR], twin, bur. 10 September 1626 [PR].
12. Alice, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 16 March 1627/8 [PR], no further record.
13. Frances, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 5th July 1629, she was among those who presented her mother's will for probate.
14. Rachel, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 18 July 1630, married York County, Va. after 3 April 1651 [York co. Records 1:132] John Chew, Gent.; Richard Lee was one of her trustees in the pre-nuptial agreement. She was among those who presented her mother's will for probate.
15. Robert, bapt. St. Andrew Undershaft 2 October 1631 [PR], bur. St. Margaret, Westminster 28 August 1647.

Francis Constable died 1st. August 1647 of the plague and was buried the following day from St. Margaret, Westminster, while his widow was buried 4 August 1647. These registers are published and it should be noted that "Mr." is misread "Mrs." in his burial entry. Their only remaining son Robert was carried off by the plague the same month (buried 28 August) and it was after his death that the will of Alice Constable was filed for probate, on September 22, 1647.

Records

1655-1664 Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book No. 4; [Nell Marion Nugent]; Page 343

COL. RICHARD LEE 600 acs. Northumberland Co., 4 Mar. 1656, p.

1, (123). Upon S. side of the dividing creek, S. E. upon his own land & N. W. Nly. upon Freemans Ford. Trans. of 12 pers: Col. Richd. Lees 3d adventure, Mrs. Anne Lees 2nd adventure, John Roper, Nich. Britton, Owen Kelly, Richd. Porke, Walter English, Coniers Murally, Anne Firsh, Morris Roch, Doctar Goodrand (?), Alice Parker.

1655-1664 Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book No. 4; [Nell Marion Nugent]; Page 344

CAPT. HUGH WILSON, 4 Mar. 1656, Page 85, (124). 500 acs. Northumberland Co., upon N. E. side of the Dividing Cr., S. upon Bluff Point Cr. & N. W. from a creek dividing this & land of Mr. Miles Dixon. Trans. of I0 pers: Wm. Thorpe, Tho. Robinson, Michaell Allen, Gowen Canada, Richd. Lilborne, Wm. Barefott, Lawrence Stockwell, Richd. Lee, Anne Lee, Clorentine Paine. By assignment of Col. Lee.

------------------------------------------------

Burial

<From FindAGrave >

Inscription:

Within this enclosure was buried

~ Richard Lee ~

of an ancient family of Nordley Regis in Shropshire, who emigrated from London to Virginia in 1639. He was successively clerk of the quarter court at Jamestown, Attorney General of Virginia, Secretary of State, and a member of the council. Having long traded with the nearby Wicomico Indians, in 1656 he established his home on Dividing Creek, at a point 400 feet to the Northeast of this stone. He died there in 1664 and was buried here in his garden.

Also buried within this enclosure were

• Anne Constable, the wife of Richard Lee;
• their son, Charles Lee (1656-1701), and
• his wife Elizabeth Medstand;
• their son, Charles Lee of Cobbs Hall (1684-1734); and
• his son, Charles Lee (1722-1747), and his wives,
• Mary Lee of Ditchley and
• Leeanna Jones of Hickory Neck.

In 1761 this Leeanna Lee ordered the erection of the original enclosing wall. Later members of the Cobbs Hall family, Lees and Harveys, were buried nearby outside the wall.

~ Erected by The Society of the Lees of Virginia ~ 1958

Legacy

excerpt from The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family

Of incalculable importance to his progress was Richard Lee’s fortunate marriage. When the young man accompanied Governor Wyatt to Jamestown, the official household also included a young woman, Anne Constable, whose identity later became lost to the family record. Even her name was unknown for two hundred years. Now, thanks to particularly to the work of David Halle, genealogist foe the Society of the Lees of Virginia, we know that Anne was baptized in London during 1622 and that she was one of many daughters born to Francis Constable. Perhaps because of her father's connections, Anne became a ward of Sir John Thorowgood, a personal attendant upon King Charles I. This affiliation would have made it easy for her to know the family of Sir Francis Wyatt and to accompany them to North America. Anne's background and early associations meant that Richard Lee moved socially upward when she took him as husband. There is a legend which speaks of Richard and Anne being wed in the new brick church at Jamestown during 1641 or 1642, with Governor Wyatt giving the bride away. Anne's decision to marry may have owed something to King Charles's impatience with Governor Wyatt for being unable toreduce long-standing political bickering in Virginia. In 1641 the Crown summoned Sir Francis home, appointing in his stead Sir William Berkeley, who arrived at Jamestown during February 1642. Instead of returning to England with the Wyatt entourage, Miss Constable evidently preferred life in the colony as young Richard Lee's wife. Source: The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family; pp.9-10 By Paul C. Nagel; < GoogleBooks > accessed 21 April 2023.

References

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMWX-3QH : 6 December 2014, Anne Constable, 21 Feb 1621); citing SAINT GREGORY BY SAINT PAUL,LONDON,LONDON,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 375,028
• London Metropolitan Archives, St Gregory by St Paul, Composite register: baptisms 1559 - 1627, marriages 1559 - 1626/7, burials 1559 - 1627, P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023
• Martha W. Hiden and Henry M. Dargan. "John Gibbon's Manuscript Notes concerning Virginia." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 74, No. 1, Part One (Jan., 1966), pp. 3-22; JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4247175 : accessed 3 November 2020). Page 19. (document attached).
• Wikipedia contributors, "Richard Lee I," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Lee_I&oldid=1149... (accessed April 22, 2023).
  • 4. Anna in Richard Lee's will executed before his final voyage, and Anne in documentation of 24 September 1666
  • Nagel, Paul C. (1990). The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family. Oxford University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-19-975485-4. Retrieved 9 June 2022. < GoogleBooks >
  • 24. Nagel p. 18-19 < GoogleBooks >
• Virginia Find a Grave Memorial Burial: Cobbs Hall Burying Ground, Northumberland County, Virginia, USA Maintained by: BeNotForgot Originally Created by: P Fazzini Record added: Oct 22, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 43396111
• Montague, Ludwell Lee. "Richard Lee, the Emigrant 1613 (?)-1664." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 62, no. 1 (1954): 3-49. Accessed November 2, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4245981.
• Lee, E.J., Lee of Virginia, 1642–1892: Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of the descendants of Colonel Richard Lee. Page 65. < GoogleBooks >
• “Lees of Virginia”
• GenealogyMagazine.com Ahnentafel of President Zachary Taylor
• “Portraits of the Founders” < link >
• https://jacquelifinley.com/f/anne-constable
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 02 November 2017, 07:14), entry for Anne Owen Constable(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:MZT5-Z2R); contributed by various users.
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Constable-37
• [http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/f/i/n/Jacqueli-C-Finley/BOOK-0001/0002...] Ahnentafel Book by Jacqueli Finley
• https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I2421... cites
  • 1. [S209] John Frederick Dorman, The Virginia Genealogist Volume 11, 1967, 15.
  • 2. [S186] Sturman. Genealogies of Virginia Families Vol IV
  • Sturman Family Notes By Mary Hope West, Chevy Chase Md, and Juliet Faunteroy