Miss Lee is the chief tycoon over the Three Islands in China. She holds the rank of "twenty-two gong tycoon" and maintains the hard-won but long peace among the Three Islands tycoons, in accordance with her late father's wishes.
Early life
Miss Lee's father was Olo Lee; her mother died when she was a little girl. Olo Lee insisted on an English education for his daughter, sending her to Hong Kong, where she adopted the Western style name Miss Lee; the name stuck, pronounced "Missee Lee" by her father's countryfolk, when she returned for school holidays. Her father encouraged her to sit in council with him, then later sent her to Great Marlow school in England where she gained the Higher Certifcate with Honours and entry to the University of Cambridge. (ML13)
Return and accession
Before Miss Lee completed her first year at Cambridge, her father called her home, by steamer to Hong Kong then by junk to the Three Islands. When she returned her father was very ill. He nominated her as his sucessor, set her in his chair, and had the twenty-two gongs rung for her. Olo Lee died that night, leaving Miss Lee to continue his work, and was buried on the temple island. (ML13)
Dr Lee, MA, LittD etc
Miss Lee's inscription in her Virgil text (ML5) apparently expressed her aspirations, not her actual qualifications, since she explained (ML13) that she did not even complete her first year at Cambridge.
Incidentally, the Japanese version has Miss Lee's Chinese calligraphy re-done (by Jingu Teruo?), perhaps the originals (by Arthur Ransome himself?) were not deemed to be tidy enough.