FitzRoy Henry Lee
Quick Facts
Biography
Fitzroy Henry Lee (2 January 1699 – 14 April 1750) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served as Commodore Governor of Newfoundland, Canada. He was supposedly the model for Hawser Trunnion from Tobias Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle.
Life
Lee was the seventh son of 1st Earl of Lichfield and Charles II's illegitimate daughter Lady Charlotte Fitzroy. He was born in Oxfordshire, England. He entered the Royal Navy in 1716, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1722. He became captain of HMS Falkland in 1734 and was commissioned Governor of Newfoundland in May 1735. Lee was known for debauchery and drunkenness which subsequently led to his being relieved of his naval command around 1746. Apparently the complaints could not be substantiated; for Lee was not tried, and on his arrival in England, in October 1747, his promotion to be rear-admiral, which had been suspended, was dated back to 15 July 1747. On 12 May 1748, he was advanced to be vice-admiral of the white, but he had no further service, and died suddenly on 14 April 1750.