| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Reverend |
| James Prince Lee | |
| Bishop of Manchester | |
| Diocese: | Manchester |
| Elected: | 11 November 1847 |
| Term Start: | 11 February 1848 |
| Term End: | 24 December 1869 |
| Successor: | James Fraser |
| Ordination: | 1830 |
| Consecration: | 23 January 1848 |
| Birth Date: | 28 July 1804 |
| Birth Place: | London |
| Death Place: | Mauldeth Hall, Heaton Norris, Lancashire |
| Buried: | Heaton Mersey churchyard |
| Nationality: | English |
| Religion: | Church of England |
| Residence: | Mauldeth Hall |
| Parents: | Stephen and Sarah Lee |
| Spouse: | Susannah Penrice |
| Children: | Two daughters: Sophia ; Susannah[1] |
James Prince Lee (28 July 1804 – 24 December 1869) was an English clergyman and schoolmaster who became head master of King Edward's School, Birmingham, and was later the first Bishop of Manchester.
Born in London, Lee was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he displayed exceptional ability as a classical scholar, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1828; this was promoted by seniority to master of arts in 1831 and in 1861 he was awarded the degree of doctor of divinity. He married Susannah, elder daughter of George Penrice, of Elmbridge, Worcestershire, on 25 December 1830, and they had two daughters.
After his ordination into the Church of England priesthood in 1830, Lee served as an assistant schoolmaster at Rugby School under Thomas Arnold, who thought highly of him. In 1837, he became rector of Ayot St Peter, Hertfordshire, and in 1838 headmaster of King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he had among his pupils Edward Burne-Jones, Richard Watson Dixon, Edward White Benson, Joseph Barber Lightfoot, and Brooke Foss Westcott. There is also a house of the school named after him. In 1847 he was appointed as an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral.
On 23 October 1847, Lee was nominated as the first bishop of the newly constituted Anglican Diocese of Manchester by Queen Victoria, on the advice of the prime minister of the day, Lord John Russell. His election took place on 17 November 1847, followed by consecration on 23 January 1848, and enthronement at Manchester Cathedral on 11 February 1848.
Lee's schoolmasterly manner was an irritation to his clergy. However, he carried out great work in church extension. During his twenty-one years' tenure of the see, he consecrated 130 churches. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1849.[2] He took a foremost part in founding the Manchester free library in 1852, and bequeathed his own valuable collection of books to Owens College.
He died at his home, Mauldeth Hall,[3] Stockport, in 1869, and was buried in Heaton Mersey churchyard. His memorial sermon was preached by the Rev. Edward Benson (afterwards archbishop of Canterbury) and was published with biographical details by J. F. Wickenden and others.
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