Captain Thomas Lee died 1601
Thomas Lee, an English Protestant who was a half-first cousin to Sir Henry Lee,
Quarendon, Buckinghamshire, came to Ireland as an undertaker in 1574, and was
given land.
His lineage is as follows: Sir Robert Lee who died 1539, married firstly, a
Miss Cope, and there were two sons, Anthony, who married a Miss Wyatt, and died
in 1549, having had Sir Henry Lee, born 1588 died 1611, and Robert's other son
was Francis Jesse(?).
Sir Robert secondly married in 1531, Lettice Poniston, who died 1557, and there
were three children, Benedict, Elizabeth, and Margaret. Benedict, who married
Margaret Pakington, had William, who married Judith Wirley; and Thomas.
By the terms of his grant Thomas Lee gave an 'undertaking' to maintain his principal
dwelling on his estate, to use English language and dress, to keep in his employ
or as a tenant no Irishman able to bear arms who was born outside the county,
and not to part with any of his lands without the consent of the Lord Deputy.
Any female of his family who married an Irishman should forfeit her inheritance
or dowry.
He married Elizabeth Eustace, wealthy widow of John Eustace, whose maiden name
had been Peppard, who was described as a 'mere Irish' (ie native: from merus,
which is Latin; pure, unmixed; but, contrarily, her maiden name and married
name were Anglo-Norman), and who acted as his translator. They had two children,
Henry who died in 1657, and Margaret, who married a Charles Manners.
He and Elizabeth separated in 1587, when, while translating for him, she discovered
and revealed his plot to capture Walter Reagh Fitzgerald by deception, but they
were reconciled some time later.
When Elizabeth died, he married, secondly, Kinborowghe Valentine.
He was employed by the Crown to protect the borders of the Pale against raids
by the Irish, and he campaigned against the O'Moores and O'Tooles, as Captain-General
of the Kern (foot-soldiers). He owned a substantial estate in Kildare, and bought
or built a castle at Castlereban, on the river Barrow, north of Athy, on a site
obtained from Sir Walter Fitzgerald, otherwise known as Sir Walter de St Michael.
He was active in the campaign in which Sir Henry Bagenal and Hugh O'Neill were
slightly injured while suppressing the revolt of Hugh Maguire in a rout at Beleek
on 10th October 1593, and he was on friendly terms with them, to the extent
that he allowed both to claim credit for his own efforts.
In 1594, he wrote a tract entitled A Brief Declaration of the Government of
Ireland, in which he described the hanging of Hugh Gaveloc O'Neill by the Earl
of Tyrone, to clear the way for his own leadership of the O'Neill;
'And where the earl's adversaries have, in times past, incensed your majesty
against him, for hanging and cutting off one Hugh Gaveloc, a notable traitor,
and son to Shane O'Neale, informing your majesty the said Hugh was your majesty's
subject; it shall be well proved that he [Gaveloc], was ever a traitor against
your majesty, a daily practiser with foreigners [as the Scots and others], for
the disturbances of that kingdom, and one who sought, by all means, to overthrow
the earl who, by martial law, which he then had, did cut him off for his offences.
For the doing whereof he did incur your highness's displeasure; and the said
martial law, which kept the whole country in awe, was taken from him; the want
whereof has made his country people grow insolent against him, and careless
of observing any humanity or duty; which hath bred the outrages now in practice,
so that in my poor opinion, it were requisite the same authority were restored
unto him.'
Lee accompanied Sir William Russell into Wicklow to hunt for Fiach McHugh O'Byrne
early in 1597. Relatives of the outlaw had given away his hiding place, and
on 8 May, when O'Byrne was attempting to escape from Russell's column, he ran
into Lee. O'Byrne was captured and killed by Lee's men when he hid in a cave.
Lee had the outlaw's head preserved in salt and sent to the Queen, to claim
his reward, signing his letter 'your bog Irishman'. The impropriety of dealing
directly with Elizabeth in this manner became a cause for anger when the court
officials needed to defend themselves against criticism for the embarrassing
loss of the outlaw's head, which had been found in a tree in someone's garden,
in Enfield Chase.
Lee became more disenchanted with the English court, his sympathies began to
change towards the Irish, and he 'went native', wearing the garb of a Gaelic
chieftain, and becoming involved in skirmishes with various landowners and sheriffs.
His friendship with O'Neill and Bagenal became a problem after they became enemies.
Hugh O'Neill had eloped with Henry Bagenal's sister Mabel, and then married
her under circumstances of dubious legality, as he had at least one other wife.
By the time Bagenal and O'Neill met at the Yellow Ford in August 1598, the cause
of Ireland may have been intertwined with an in-law squabble, as O'Neill's womanising
had by now driven Mabel to run away. She was to return to live with him again
for a time before her early death.
Bagenal's forces were already close to defeat when he was shot in the face and
killed, after he lifted the visor of his helmet to have a look around.
Also killed was a Thomas Leigh, (or Lee in some versions), who was one of the
captains of an advance party with Bagenal's army. The advance force was wiped
out.
[Thomas Leigh had two brothers, Urian Leigh, and Ed. Leigh. Sir Urian Leigh
is mentioned by a traveller in Ireland, William Brereton, who arrived in Carrickfergus
in 1635, and while suffering from constant diarrhoea, was advised by Leigh to
burn sage wood on hot coals in a container, which he should then place under
himself while on the toilet. Brereton concluded that drinking whiskey was more
efficacious.]
After the defeat, Thomas Lee's friendship with O'Neill came under suspicion,
and he was jailed in Dublin castle for a few months, suspected of aiding the
Irish with information.
On 12 February 1601 Lee was arrested in England, having gone there in support
of Robert Deveraux, second Earl of Essex, returning from a disastrous and expensive
campaign in Ireland. Essex was in disgrace for having made peace with O'Neill,
when he had been expected to defeat him. Essex had attempted to foment a rebellion
against Elizabeth.
Lee was apprehended while secretly watching the Queen in her chamber (according
to one version, in Notes and Queries, 1943, he waited under her bed), as part
of his plot to hold her to ransom his friends the Earls of Essex and Southampton,
who were both under suspicion of conspiracy against the Queen. He was tried
the day following his arrest, was found guilty, and was hanged drawn and quartered
the next morning at Tyburn, at the site of Marble Arch, in London.
Essex, being of noble birth, was spared the hanging, and was beheaded for treason.
In the Genealogical Office, in Dublin, there are manuscript letters regarding
Lee's views on the problems of Ireland. There are also records of letters from
his cousin, Sir Richard Lee, supported by Richard's brother, Sir Harry Lee,
to Elizabeth I, asking her not to confiscate the property in county Kildare,
because of the suffering which would be caused to Lee's son.
Other subsequent letters applying for a grant of the land, indicate that it
was indeed confiscated, as part of the punishment for treason.
Thomas Lee's portrait, painted in 1594 by Marcus Gheevaerts, showing him in
an exaggerated pose and the attire of a Gaelic chieftain, is in the Tate gallery,
London. The same artist was commissioned by Sir Henry Lee to paint Queen Elizabeth
at Ditchley, suggesting a close connection between the two men.
