George Henry Lee, 2nd earl of Litchfield

Date of Brass:

1743

Place:

Spelsbury

County:

Oxfordshire

Country:

Number:

Style:

Description

September 2026 

This month’s brass raises the question of definition: when does a brass plate with an engraved memorial inscription not qualify as a monumental brass? Some would answer that to qualify it needs to be flat; others will question whether it can qualify if it was meant to be attached to a coffin, so as to be buried or placed in a vault, rather than set on a floor, wall or other surface within a church. 

The walls of All Saints church in Spelsbury, Oxfordshire, have a number of brass plates on them. That with the wording ‘John Earle of Rochester 1680’ is behind glass and very well cut. Its lettering contrasts with the italics on that of Richard Welch, which is rather more informative, telling us when and where he was born as well as his date of death in 1680. Its colour suggests a composition containing more copper.

The plate for Richard Welch's wife Anne is cut and shaped along the outer edges of scrolls. It tells us that she was the daughter of Thomas Orton of Clardon in Warwickshire, which was also her husband’s place of birth. She died in 1677.

Another plate, wooden framed and tightly lettered, is to Francis Henry Lee, baronet, of Ditchley, died 1639. He was son to Henry Lee, Bart, died 1631, commemorated by a large alabaster monument in the church. The plate also commemorates his youngest daughter Eleanor, by his wife, Anne, Countess of Rochester. Eleanor died in 1640. The first words of her part of the inscription, In hac Capsula, reveal that this was a coffin plate. This plate is not listed in Mill Stephenson’s List of Monumental Brasses (1926), nor is the Earl of Rochester’s, but Stephenson does include both Welch inscriptions, although they too may be coffin plates.

The plate engraved with the mostly italic inscription The Right Hon^ble: George Henry Lee Earl of Litchfield. Viscount Quarindon. Baron of Spelsbury & Bar^t: Died Febr:15^th 174²₃ Aged 52: Years is decorated by a mixture of metalworking techniques, namely repoussé and embossing. Repoussé is when the back side of the plate is hammered to created raised patterns. On this particular plate the front is also hammered (embossed), to sharpen the images created by repoussé. The thinness of the plate explains the lightness of the engraving; it would be very easy to puncture it.

George Henry Lee was descended from Charles II and Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine, through their daughter, Charlotte Fitzroy. She married Edward Henry Lee, first Earl of Litchfield. George was born in 1690 and became the second Earl on his father's death in 1716. In 1718 he married Frances Hales in Lichfield. From 1722 onwards he built the present mansion at Ditchley Park, designed by James Gibbs. He also rebuilt the chancel of All Saints.

The coat of arms on the plate shows the arms of Lee, Argent a fess between three crescents sable, impaling Three arrows, points down, for Hales.

Copyright: Jon Bayliss (text and photo)