Melbourne William Lamb

Melbourne, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount. was born in 1779, and entered the House of Commons in 1805 as a moderate Whig. Canning gave him the Chief Secretaryship for Ireland, which he held with much credit, and he also served under Lord Goderich and the Duke of Wellington. In 1828 he succeeded to the peerage, joined Earl Grey's Cabinet as Home Secretary, and had a large share in passing the Reform Bill. He became Premier in 1834, holding office until 1841, in spite of declining popularity. Every device was used to discredit him, and in 1836 he was unsuccessfully sued for misconduct with the Hon. Caroline Norton, the gifted daughter of Thomas Sheridan. He secured the thorough confidence and esteem of the youthful Queen, a circumstance that enabled him no doubt to keep in office for so long, in spite of incapacity for business and inattention to duties. After his retirement he took little interest in politics, dying at Melbourne House, Derbyshire, in 1848.