Charles Lee (Australian politician)

The Honourable Charles Lee
Secretary for Public Works
In office 3 July 1899 – 13 September 1899
Premier	George Reid
Preceded by	James Young
Succeeded by	Edward O'Sullivan
In office 29 August 1904 – 20 October 1910
Premier	Sir Joseph Carruthers Charles Wade
Preceded by	Walter Bennett
Succeeded by	Arthur Griffith
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Tenterfield
In office 20 November 1884 – 18 February 1920
Preceded by	Henry Parkes
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	(1842-11-13)13 November 1842 Parramatta, Colony of New South Wales
Died	16 August 1926(1926-08-16) (aged 83) [1] Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse	Clara Jane Tinsdale
Relations	Benjamin Lee (brother)
Children	LtCol. Charles Arthur Lee Cpt. Frederick Edward Lee Sgt. Lionel Kenneth Lee
Residence(s)	Claremont House, Tenterfield[2]
Occupation	Shopkeeper

Charles Alfred Lee (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.^[1]