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,
Sir Matthew Lamb, 1st Baronet Sir Matthew Lamb, 1st Baronet Sir Matthew Lamb, 1st Baronet (1705 – 6 November 1768) was a British barrister and politician. He was the grandfather of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Lamb was the son of Matthew Lamb, of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and nephew of Peniston Lamb. His brother was Robert Lamb, bishop of Peterborough. He sat as Member of Parliament for Stockbridge between 1741 and 1747 and for Peterborough between 1747 and 1768. In 1755 he was created a Baronet, of Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire. He married with Charlotte, daughter and heiress of Thomas Coke. He died in