William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

Portrait by John Hoppner, 1796

Born in London in 1779 to an aristocratic Whig family, William Lamb was the son of the 1st Viscount Melbourne and Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne (1751–1818). However, his paternity was questioned, being attributed to George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, to whom it was considered he bore a considerable resemblance, and at whose residence, Petworth, Lamb was a visitor until the Earl's death; Lamb was called to Egremont's bedside when Egremont was dying.[3][4][5] Lamb nevertheless stated that Egremont being his father was 'all a lie'.[6]

He was educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (admitted 1796, graduated M.A. 1799[1]) and the University of Glasgow (1799–1801), as a resident pupil of Professor John Millar[7] alongside his younger brother Frederick.[8] Admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1797, he was called to the bar in 1804.[1] Against the background of the Napoleonic Wars, Lamb served at home as captain (1803) and major (1804) in the Hertfordshire Volunteer Infantry.[9]

He succeeded his elder brother as heir to his father's title in 1805, and married Lady Caroline Ponsonby, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat. The following year, he was elected to the British House of Commons as the Whig MP for Leominster. For the election in 1806 he moved to the seat of Haddington Burghs, and for the 1807 election he successfully stood for Portarlington (a seat he held until 1812).[10]

Lamb first came to general notice for reasons he would rather have avoided: his wife had a public affair with Lord Byron—she coined the famous characterisation of Byron as "mad, bad and dangerous to know".[11] The resulting scandal was the talk of Britain in 1812. Lady Caroline published a Gothic novel, Glenarvon, in 1816; this portrayed both the marriage and her affair with Byron in a lurid fashion, which caused William even greater embarrassment, while the spiteful caricatures of leading society figures made them several influential enemies. Eventually the two were reconciled, and, though they separated in 1825, her death in 1828 affected him considerably.

In 1816, Lamb was returned for Peterborough by Whig grandee Lord Fitzwilliam. He told Lord Holland that he was committed to the Whig principles of the Glorious Revolution but not to "a heap of modern additions, interpolations, facts and fictions".[10] He therefore spoke against parliamentary reform, and voted for the suspension of habeas corpus in 1817 when sedition was rife.[10]

Lamb's hallmark was finding the middle ground. Though a Whig, he accepted (29 April 1827) the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland in the moderate Tory governments of George Canning and Lord Goderich. Upon the death of his father in 1828 and his becoming the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan, he moved to the House of Lords. He had spent 25 years in the Commons, largely as a backbencher, and was not politically well known.[12]

In November 1830, the Whigs came to power under Lord Grey. Melbourne was Home Secretary. During the disturbances of 1830–32 he "acted both vigorously and sensitively, and it was for this function that his reforming brethren thanked him heartily".[10] In the aftermath of the Swing Riots of 1830–31, he countered the Tory magistrates' alarmism by refusing to resort to military force; instead, he advocated magistrates' usual powers be fully enforced, along with special constables and financial rewards for the arrest of rioters and rabble-rousers. He appointed a special commission to try approximately 1,000 of those arrested, and ensured that justice was strictly adhered to: one-third were acquitted and most of the one-fifth sentenced to death were instead transported.[10] There remains controversy regarding the hanging of Dic Penderyn, a protester in the Merthyr Rising who was then, and is now, widely judged to have been innocent. He appears to have been executed solely on the word of Melbourne, who sought a victim in order to 'set an example'.[13] The disturbances over reform in 1831–32 were countered with the enforcement of the usual laws; again, Melbourne refused to pass emergency legislation against sedition.[10]

After Lord Grey resigned as Prime Minister in July 1834, William IV was forced to appoint another Whig to replace him, as the Tories were not strong enough to support a government. Melbourne was the man most likely to be both acceptable to the King and hold the Whig party together. Melbourne hesitated after receiving from Grey the letter from the King requesting him to visit him to discuss the formation of a government. Melbourne thought he would not enjoy the extra work that accompanied the office of Premier, but he did not want to let his friends and party down. According to Charles Greville, Melbourne said to his secretary, Tom Young: "I think it's a damned bore. I am in many minds as to what to do". Young replied: "Why, damn it all, such a position was never held by any Greek or Roman: and if it only lasts three months, it will be worth while to have been Prime Minister of England [sic]." "By God, that's true," Melbourne said, "I'll go!"[14]

Compromise was the key to many of Melbourne's actions. As an aristocrat, he had a vested interest in the status quo. He was opposed to the Reform Act 1832 proposed by the Whigs, arguing that Catholic emancipation had not ended in the tranquility expected of it,[15] but reluctantly agreed that it was necessary to forestall the threat of revolution. Later he opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws, arguing not only that Catholic emancipation had failed, but also that the Reform Act had not improved the condition of the people.[15] Melbourne was also a strong supporter of slavery, calling Britain's abolishment of slavery a "great folly" and if he had had his own way (as opposed to what many Whigs wanted), he would "have done nothing at all!"[16]

King William IV's opposition to the Whigs' reforming ways led him to dismiss Melbourne in November. He then gave the Tories under Sir Robert Peel an opportunity to form a government. Peel's failure to win a House of Commons majority in the resulting general election (January 1835) made it impossible for him to govern, and the Whigs returned to power under Melbourne that April. This was the last time a British monarch attempted to appoint a government to suit his own preferences.[17]

Continued rule

Satire of the Bedchamber crisis by John Doyle, 31 December 1840

On 7 May 1839, Melbourne announced his intention to resign. This led to the Bedchamber Crisis. Prospective prime minister Robert Peel requested that Victoria dismiss some of the wives and daughters of Whig MPs who made up her personal entourage, arguing that the monarch should avoid any hint of favouritism to a party out of power. The Queen refused to comply—supported by Melbourne, although he was unaware that Peel had not requested the resignation of all the Queen's ladies as she had led him to believe—and hence, Peel refused to form a new government, and Melbourne was persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister.

Among his government's acts were a reduction in the number of capital offences, reforms of local government, and the reform of the Poor laws. This restricted the terms on which the poor were allowed relief and established compulsory admission to workhouses for the impoverished.

On 25 February 1841, Melbourne was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society.[27]

Following a vote of no confidence initiated by Conservative MP John Stuart-Wortley, Melbourne's government fell, and he resigned as Prime Minister on 30 August 1841.[28]

A plaque marking the burial of Melbourne at St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, England

After Melbourne resigned permanently in August 1841, Victoria continued to write to him about political matters, but as it was deemed inappropriate after a time their letters became cordial and non-political without issue.[29] It has been observed that Melbourne's role faded as Victoria increasingly relied on her new husband Prince Albert. Though weakened, Melbourne survived a stroke on October 23, 1842, fourteen months after his departure from politics.[30] In retirement, he lived at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire. He died at home on 24 November 1848[31] and was buried nearby at St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.[32]

On his death, his titles passed to his brother Frederick, as both of his children—a son, George Augustus Frederick (1807–1836) and a premature daughter (born 1809, died at birth)—had predeceased him.

• Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, Australia, was named in his honour in March 1837. He was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time.[33][34]
• Mount Melbourne, a stratovolcano in Antarctica, was also named in his honour by the British naval officer and explorer James Clark Ross, in 1841.[35]

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem Lord Melbourne, which was published in 1836, is one of the rare instances in which she allowed herself any political comment.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Lord Melbourne, a poem by L. E. L.

• On screen, Lord Melbourne has been portrayed by several actors:
  • Rufus Sewell in the UK TV series Victoria.[36]
  • Paul Bettany in The Young Victoria (2009)
  • Nigel Hawthorne in Victoria & Albert (2001)
  • Joseph O'Conor in Edward the Seventh (1975)
  • Jon Finch in the film Lady Caroline Lamb (1972)
  • Karl Ludwig Diehl in the Austrian film Victoria in Dover (1954)

• Lloyd Charles Sanders, ed. (1889). Lord Melbourne's papers. London: Longmans, Green, and Company.

• Cecil, David (1954). Melbourne. London: Constable. major biography focused on his psychology
• Cecil, David (1939). The Young Melbourne: And the Story of His Marriage with Caroline Lamb.
• Dunkley, Henry ("VERAX") (1890). Lord Melbourne.
• Hibbert, Christopher (2000) Queen Victoria: A Personal History, London: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-638843-4
• Mandler, Peter (1 January 2008) [1 September 2004]. "Lamb, William, second Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15920. Retrieved 27 December 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Marshall, Dorothy (1975). Lord Melbourne. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297767732.
• Mitchell, L. G. (1997). Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198205920.
• Newbould, I. D. C. (December 1976). "William IV and the Dismissal of the Whigs, 1834". Canadian Journal of History. 11 (3): 311–330. doi:10.3138/cjh.11.3.311.
• Newbould, Ian D. C. (1980). "Whiggery and the Dilemma of Reform: Liberals, Radicals, and the Melbourne Administration, 1835-9". Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. 53 (128): 229–241. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.1980.tb01745.x.
• Weintraub, Stanley (1997). Albert : uncrowned king. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5756-9. OCLC 36727394.
• Weintraub, Stanley (1987). Victoria : biography of a queen. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-0-04-923084-2. OCLC 15016119.
• Ziegler, Philip (1987). Melbourne: A Life of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-217957-7.

• Hilton, Boyd (2006). A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783–1846. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0199218912.
• Cameron, R. H. (1976). "The Melbourne Administration, the Liberals and the Crisis of 1841". Durham University Journal. 69 (1).
• Cecil, David. "Melbourne and the Years of Reform." History Today (Aug 1954) 4#8 pp 529–536.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

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• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Lamb
• "Melbourne, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 90.
• More about William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne on the Downing Street website
• Historica's Heritage Minute video docudrama "Responsible Government" (Adobe Flash Player)
• "Archival material relating to William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne". UK National Archives.
• Portraits of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne at the National Portrait Gallery, London