William Lamb (15 March 1779 – 24 November 1848), also known as Lord Melbourne, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 16 July to 14 November 1834, succeeding Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey and preceding the Duke of Wellington, and from 18 April 1835 to 30 August 1841, succeeding Robert Peel and preceding Peel.
Biography[]
William Lamb was born in London, England on 15 March 1779 to an aristocratic Whig family, and he befriended radicals such as Lord Byron (with whom his wife would have a famous affair in 1812). He served in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, staying in England during the wars with France. In 1806, he was elected to the British Parliament from Leominster as a Whig, and he was a conservative Whig, supporting the original ideals of the Glorious Revolution but not the modern additions of principles; he opposed parliamentary reform and supported the suspension of habeas corpus in 1817 when radical sedition was rife. In 1827, he became Chief Secretary for Ireland in the moderate Tory Party governments of George Canning and Frederick John Robinson. In 1828, he became a member of the House of Lords from County Cavan, and he served as Home Secretary from 1830 to 1834. In 1834, after the resignation of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey as Prime Minister, Lamb became the new Prime Minister. He had opposed Catholic emancipation and the repeal of the Corn Laws, and his opposition to reform led to King William IV of Britain dismissing him after less than just four months in office. In 1835, he returned to office due to Tory Party leader Robert Peel's failure to form a majority government; this was the last time that a monarch of Britain would appoint a Prime Minister from a party that did not hold a parliamentary majority. He tutored Queen Victoria, and he attempted to resign in 1839 after one of his bills narrowly failed; after the Duke of Wellington and Peel refused to form Tory governments, Lamb was persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister. In 1841, he was voted out of office in a vote of no confidence. He died in Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, England in 1848 at the age of 69; Melbourne, Australia was named for him in 1837.
