Charles Lee (Australian politician)
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The Honourable Charles Lee JP |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Secretary for Public Works | |
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In office 3 July 1899 – 13 September 1899 |
|
| Premier | George Reid |
| Preceded by | James Young |
| Succeeded by | Edward O'Sullivan |
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In office 29 August 1904 – 20 October 1910 |
|
| Premier |
Sir Joseph Carruthers Charles Wade |
| Preceded by | Walter Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Richard Ball |
| Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Tenterfield |
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In office 20 November 1884 – 18 February 1920 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Parkes |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 November 1842 Parramatta, Colony of New South Wales |
| Died | 16 August 1926 (aged 83) Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia |
| Spouse(s) | Clara Jane Tinsdale |
| Relations | Benjamin Lee (brother) |
| Children | LtCol. Charles Arthur Lee Cpt. Frederick Edward Lee Sgt. Lionel Kenneth Lee |
| Residence | Claremont House, Tenterfield |
| Occupation | Shopkeeper |
| Religion | Church of England |
Charles Alfred Lee JP (13 November 1842 – 16 August 1926) was an Australian shopkeeper and conservative parliamentarian who served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 35 years. Serving from 1884 for Tenterfield, he entered the Free Trade Party cabinet of George Reid in 1898 as Minister for Justice and briefly as Secretary for Public Works in 1899 until he returned to opposition in late 1899. Following Federation and the change of focus of the old party system in 1901, Lee was elected as the compromise leader of the new Liberal Reform Party and consequently the first official Leader of the Opposition. After leading the party to electoral defeat in 1901, he resigned owing to ill health in 1902. When the Liberal Reformers won office under Sir Joseph Carruthers in 1904, he was made Secretary for Public Works. He served with distinction, overseeing the expansion of rural infrastructure, under Carruthers and his successor Charles Wade, until the government lost office to the Labor Party in 1910. He thereafter served in the backbenches until his retirement to Tenterfield in 1920, where he died six years later.
Charles Alfred Lee was born in Parramatta, New South Wales in 1842, the son of Benjamin Lee, a Waterloo veteran, publican and landowner, and Lucy Ann Poulton, who had emigrated to New South Wales in 1829. His elder brother, Benjamin Lee, was also to become a NSW politician and civil servant. Educated at West Maitland Grammar School, Charles entered a Maitland store, rising to become partner. On 18 July 1865 in Penrith he married Clara Jane Tindale. They were to have six sons, Walter Lee (1868–1925), Lieutenant Colonel Charles Arthur Lee (1874–1918), Captain Frederick Edward Lee (1875–?), Reginald Lee (1878–?), Sergeant Lionel Kenneth Lee (1882–1919) and Cecil Lee (1885–1895); and four daughters, Clara Isabel Stuart (1870–1953), Constance Maude Addison (1872–1949), Emilie Mabel Lee (1877–?) and Ruby Violet Lee (1880–1881).
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