Leeds Parish was formed in 1769 largely within the Manor of Leeds, an estate that Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax, carved out of his Northern Neck Proprietary and named for his birthplace, Leeds Castle in England. The parish's first rector was the Rev. James Thomson, who lived in the household of Thomas Marshall and tutored his son, John Marshall, later Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Bishop William Meade consecrated the Gothic Revival parish church here in 1842. Interred in the cemetery is James M.M. Ambler, U.S. Navy surgeon, who perished in Siberia while attempting to save his colleagues during the ill-fated expedition of the USS Jeannette to the Artic in 1881.