George Hay Lee was born in Winchester, Virginia

Winchester, Virginia

Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...

, in 1808. He attended the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 in 1827-28 and studied law under Judge Henry St. George Tucker

Henry St. George Tucker, Sr.

Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. was a Virginia jurist, law professor, and U.S. Congressman .-Biography:Tucker was born in Williamsburg, Virginia on December 29, 1780. As a young man, Tucker pursued classical studies at the College of William & Mary; he graduated in 1798...

 in Winchester. In 1854, he was elected to the Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 Court of Appeals. He was living, at that time, in what is now West Virginia so he did not sit on the court after the April 1861 term when the state of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

was formed as a result of the northwestern counties of Virginia refusing to join the remainder of the state in joining the Confederacy.