Frederick Richard Lees, an English temperance orator, born at Meanwood Hall, near Leeds, Yorkshire, March 15, 1815. When 19 years old he connected himself with the temperance cause, and in the following year with the total abstinence movement. From 1837 to 1840 he held various discussions with the Owenites, and published in 1838-9 "The Metaphysics of Owenism Dissected." From 1841 to 1844 he gained several prizes for essays on temperance; and in 1856 he gained £100, offered by the United Kingdom alliance for an argument for the legislative prohibition of the liquor traffic. In 1843 he held a discussion with Mr. Jefferson, a surgeon, in which he explained the bearing of the discoveries of Liebig on the temperance question. In 1845 he started " The Truth Seeker in Literature, Philosophy, and Religion," a magazine devoted to free and catholic inquiry, and to transcendental and spiritual philosophy, which continued through six volumes. In 1848 he held discussions with several of the physicians of Newcastle, and was presented with a public testimonial.

In 1853 he visited the world's temperance convention in New York as the representative of the British temperance association of the north of England. In 1860 he received a public testimonial of 1,000 guineas from the friends of temperance in Great Britain. He is the author of a "History of Alcohol " (1843), and of a "Treatise on Logic, or the Method, Means, and Matter of Argument."