James Lee was a marine in the 35th (Portsmouth) Company when he arrived at Sydney aboard the Scarborough in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet. He received 100 lashes during the voyage for insolence to Corporal Richard Nicholas on 10 August 1787. He served in Captain James Campbell's detachment at Port Jackson.
After his term of service ended, Lee joined the New South Wales Corps on 9 April 1792. He shared, with seven others, a grant of 200 acres at Mulgrave Place; the land was sold to John Stogdell in September 1795. Lee was discharged from the corps on 9 April 1797. There are no further colonial records for him. He most likely returned to England.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 217
'Lee, James (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/lee-james-31391/text38843, accessed 27 December 2024.