THE LEE WOMEN
The Lee women influenced many aspects of life at Stratford Hall including the architecture and design of the Great House. The women also brought money, land, and the social and political connections of their families to the Lee men.
ANNE CONSTABLE LEE (1622-?)
born in England and married Richard Lee I in 1641 at Jamestown
LAETITIA CORBIN LEE (1657-1706)
eldest daughter of Henry Corbin, one of the most powerful men in the Virginia colony, married Richard Lee II in 1674.
HANNAH LUDWELL LEE (1701-1750)
second daughter of Philip Ludwell II and Hannah Harrison Ludwell of Green Spring, married Thomas Lee in 1722 and together they reared eight children. Hannah brought a sizeable dowry, as well as social and political prestige, to the marriage.
HANNAH LEE CORBIN (1729-1782)
eldest daughter of Thomas Lee, married her cousin Gawin Corbin and was widowed while still young. Gawin’s will reduced her portion of his estate if Hannah were to remarry, so she chose to live with her new love, Dr. Hall, without the benefits of marriage. Hannah managed her former husband’s vast estates and was an advocate for the women’s right to vote.
ELIZABETH STEPTOE LEE (1743-1789)
married Thomas Lee’s eldest son, Philip Ludwell Lee, when she was around 20 years old. Together they had two daughters. Matilda and Flora, and one son, also named Philip Ludwell Lee. Her son was born just days after her husband’s death, and tragically died as a small child. A few year’s later, she married her husband’s cousin, Philip Richard Fendall.
MATILDA LEE (1764-1790)
eldest daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee, married her cousin Henry Lee III of Leesylvania in 1782. They had two children to survive into adulthood. The Stratford Hall property eventually passed to Matilda.
ALICE LEE SHIPPEN (1736-1817)
younger daughter of Thomas Lee, sold her inheritance and moved to England where she married Dr. William Shippen of Philadelphia. Alice hosted her brothers and many other patriots in her Philadelphia home during the early years of the American Revolution and, when the British occupied Philadelphia, she sometimes lived in General Washington’s encampment where her husband was chief physician.
ANN HILL CARTER (1773-1829)
married Henry Lee III in 1793; they had five surviving children, with Robert E. Lee the last to be born at Stratford Hall.
ANNE MCCARTY LEE (1798 – 1840)
married Henry Lee IV in 1817; together they had one daughter, Margaret, who died from a fall down the stairs at the age of two.