Born to an established Virginia planter and politician, Thomas Lee proved that an ambitious, determined young person could rise to great political, social, and financial heights, even under the disadvantages of primogeniture. The term refers to the English practice of leaving everything to one's eldest son, and next to nothing to other offspring.

Lee was born with the drive and ambition, but he was also born fourth son, which meant he would receive very little inheritance. He did not let this stop him from personal and professional success. First, he attended the College of William and Mary and learned the tobacco business from his uncle. Gradually he was able to patent land of his own. When he was only twenty years old he began his political career, first as a Naval Officer of the Potomac River, a position his own father vacated so that his son could benefit. Next, his uncle, Thomas Corbin, used his English connections to arrange for Lee's appointment as the Virginia agent for the rich Northern Neck Proprietary, a stretch of land encompassing more than six million acres. This placed him in the orbit of English nobility, as the Proprietary was owned by Catherine Culpeper Fairfax, Lady Fairfax. This position allowed Lee to rise quickly in the colony.

The primary reason that Lee was granted such an elevated position at such a young age was due to the fact that his cousin, Edmund Jenings, who was Lady Fairfax's usual agent, was residing in London for several years. While he was gone, Thomas Lee served as agent. However, within a couple of years, Lady Fairfax died and left the entire Proprietary to her son, the Sixth Lord Fairfax. He chose to appoint Robert "King" Carter as his agent, taking away Lee's status and primary income.

Due to Carter's greed and self-interest, the property was ill-managed during those years. As a result of his poor management and for usurping the Lee and allied families control of the property, the Lees and Carters -- two of Virginia's most prominent colonial families -- became enemies. Thomas Lee continued his ambitious rise through the ranks of Virginia aristocracy. Upon his father's death he inherited more land in Virginia as well as in Maryland. Despite his growing holdings, he chose to rent his brother's estate, Machodoc. The rent was paid yearly, and consisted of "one peppercorn, due on Christmas Day."

Lee took his social and political rise seriously, even with regard to matters of marriage. He attempted to arrange a marriage with a well-born English woman, but she married someone else instead. He finally settled on Hannah Harrison Ludwell, from two prominent Virginia families with deep roots in the colony. It was apparently a love match, and his marriage also brought him additional wealth and land. He is said to have believed that "the first fall and ruin of families and estates was mostly Occasioned by Imprudent Matches to Imbeggar families and estates and to beget a race of beggars." The couple had eleven children, eight surviving to adulthood, including some of the most notable individuals during the American Revolutionary period. Sons Richard  Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee both signed the Declaration of Independence. Sons Arthur and William served as prominent diplomats for the fledgling United States.

The family first lived in Machodoc, the house Lee rented from his brother. However, in 1729, some local, disgruntled indentured servants robbed the Lee home and set it ablaze. The family lost all their belongings and had to save their own lives by leaping out of the second-story windows. Lee's wife, heavily pregnant, lost the baby within a week. The theft and arson of a prominent family drew attention to a growing problem in the colony.

The Lee family resettled on land Thomas had purchased some years before, above cliffs and the Potomac River. The house he built to this day stands as a near-impenetrable fortress, named Stratford Hall, after his immigrant ancestor, Richard Lee's home that was purchased outside of London after the latter achieved a high level of success in Virginia. Thomas and Hannah Lee's Stratford Hall became the region's best-known social center, and the couple entertained frequently.

Lee continued to acquire land, and in 1747 founded the Ohio Company of Virginia. In 1749 he became the de facto Governor of Virginia, filling in for the absent William Gooch. King George II was planning to officially appoint Lee as governor, but Lee died the following year, at age sixty. He was able to leave each of his surviving eight children with a noteworthy inheritance.