William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne fall. The king and the Duke of Wellington urged him to stay on as prime minister. After Norton failed in court, Melbourne was vindicated, but he did stop seeing Norton. Nonetheless, as historian Boyd Hilton concludes, "it is irrefutable that Melbourne's personal life was problematic. Spanking sessions with aristocratic ladies were harmless, not so the whippings administered to orphan girls taken into his household as objects of charity." Melbourne was Prime Minister when Queen Victoria came to the throne (June 1837). Barely eighteen, she was only just breaking free from the domineering influence of her mother, the Duchess of Kent,
Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne of Cavan, but as it was an Irish peerage he was allowed to remain in the House of Commons. He was returned unopposed again as MP for Ludgershall at the elections in 1774 and 1780. In 1781 he was created Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales in 1783 and held the position until 1796. At the 1784 general election he stood for Malmesbury and was again returned unopposed. He switched again in 1790 and was returned unopposed at Newport,