Educated at the University of Oxford, he accompanied his father on several voyages between London and the Virginia colony, becoming a planter and official in Westmoreland County.
[1] Named after his paternal grandfather or uncle, John Lee was born near Tindall's Creek on the north side of the York River shortly after his newly married parents moved away from the Virginia colony's capital at Jamestown, and as an infant escaped with them from a major Native American raid in 1644 that killed many English settlers and their native allies.
[2] He grew up at his father's various newly established plantations in Virginia, then sailed to England to study at Oxford University in preparation to becoming a physician.
[5] John Lee inherited three islands in Chesapeake Bay from his father, as well as the Machodoc plantation in Westmoreland County.
In addition to operating the plantation (using his own, indentured and enslaved labor), Lee became an important person in Westmoreland County.