The illegitimate son of Richard Thornton and his housekeeper Alice Lee, he was born at Clerkenwell, Middlesex, in about 1833.
[1] He attended St John's College, Oxford, where he studied law.
[2] Lee made what would be his only appearance in first-class cricket in 1852, when he played for the Surrey Club against the Marylebone Cricket Club at The Oval.
[4] He died at Sidmouth on 28 May 1876, having changed his name to Richard Napoleon Thornton in 1865 as a condition laid down in his father's will.
[7] The couple had four children,[7] with their three sons Richard, Albert and Walter all playing first-class cricket.