William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 1779 – 24 November 1848) was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria in the ways of politics, when she was between the ages of 18 and 21. Historians have concluded that Melbourne does not rank highly as a Prime Minister, for there were no great foreign wars or domestic issues to handle, he lacked major achievements, and he enunciated no grand principles. "But he was
Melbourne Hall is the heir to the Marquessate of Lothian as his brother the 13th Marquess, better known as the politician Michael Ancram, has no sons, though he has two daughters. Melbourne Hall Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, England was once the seat of the Victorian Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and thus is the origin of the name of the city of Melbourne, Australia. The house is now the seat of Lord and Lady Ralph Kerr and is open to the public. The house is a Grade II* listed building; more than twenty features in the grounds are Grade I listed.