User:H0n0r/sandbox/RuthMooreLee

Ruth Moore Lee
Ruth Moore (later Viscountess Lee of Fareham) painted by Philip de László
Born	Ruth Moore (1874--{{{day}}}), 1874 Brooklyn, New York
Died	Westminster, London, England
Occupation	Heiress
Spouse	Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham ​ ​ (m. 1872; died 1890)​
Relatives	Faith Moore (sister)

Ruth Moore Lee, Viscountess of Fareham (1974 – November, 1966) was an American heiress, philanthropist and patron of the arts.

Early life

Moore was born in 1874 in Brooklyn. She was the daughter of New York banker John Godfrey Moore and Miriam Jane Aldrich.

Death, family

Moore died in 1966,.

Ruth married Arthur Lee, a British military officer, later in 1899, just after her father's death. The couple had met in Kingston, Ontario, where Lee was a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. With her inheritance, the Viscount was able to retire from the military in his early 30s, and start a very successful political career in Britain, being elected to the House of Commons in 1900. The couple later donated their country estate – Chequers – in 1917 to the British government for use in perpetuity by successive prime ministers. Lee became Viscount Lee of Fareham, a member of the House of Lords, and Ruth became a Viscountess until her death in 1965; the couple had no children.