Laetitia Corbin Lee | |
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| Born | Laetitia Corbin (1657-08-25)August 25, 1657 |
| Died | October 6, 1706(1706-10-06) (aged 49) |
| Resting place | Mount Pleasant inWestmoreland, Virginia |
| Spouse | Richard Lee II |
| Children | 8, includingThomas,Philip, andHenry |
| Parent(s) | Henry Corbin Alice Eltonhead Burnham |
Laetitia Corbin Lee (August 25, 1657 – October 6, 1706) was an American colonist. She was the daughter ofHenry Corbin, one of the most powerful and influential political leaders in theColony of Virginia. In 1674 she married the politicianRichard Lee II, and joined the prominentLee family of Virginia. The Maryland branch of the Lee family descends from her through her son,Philip Lee ofBlenheim Plantation. Another of her sons,Thomas, builtStratford Hall, the futurefamily seat of the Lees.
Born Laetitia Corbin on August 25, 1657, toHenry Corbin, an English-born Virginia merchant and planter, and his wife, Alice Eltonhead Burnham.[1][2] She was one of eight children, and had relatives in many of what became theFirst Families of Virginia andMaryland. 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 planterWilliam Tayloe.[3] After her father's death in 1675, Lee's mother married Captain Henry Creyke.[4]
In 1660, although she was an infant, her father deeded her 2,000 acres of land in what was thenStafford County, which later becamePrince William County, Virginia.[5]In 1674, having reached legal age for her gender, she marriedRichard Lee II, a military officer, planter, and member of the prominentLee family of Virginia.[6] The land that she brought to the marriage would become Leesylvania, the home of a branch of the Lee family for generations, and now astate park. Letitia bore eight children during the marriage, includingThomas,Philip, andHenry.[7] A granddaughter,Laetitia, was named after her. Shortly after her marriage, Lee's husband was elected to theVirginia House of Burgesses and later served as a member of theVirginia Governor's Council.
She and her husband maintained one of the largest libraries in theColony of Virginia atMachodoc, theirplantation along thePotomac River inWestmoreland County, Virginia.
She died on October 6, 1706, at Machodoc and was buried at the Burnt House Cemetery nearMount Pleasant.[8]