Peter Lee (1864–1935) was a miner's leader, county councillor and Methodist local preacher, born in Trimdon Grange, County Durham. He started working in a colliery at the age of ten. He became the chairman of England's first Labour county council at Durham in 1919. He also served as general secretary and then president of the MFGB. The new town of Peterlee was named after him.