Brocket Hall early held variously of Hatfield Manor and the Bishop of Ely. Sir Matthew Lamb's son was Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne and he was often visited at Brocket Hall by the Prince Regent, who had a liaison with Lady Melbourne. The next owner was William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who was Queen Victoria's first Prime Minister from 1835–41, when she regularly visited. His wife, Lady Caroline, infamously had an affair with Lord Byron causing Lord Melbourne much embarrassment. For one of his birthdays she held a state banquet in the Saloon, at which she had herself served from a large
Sir Matthew Lamb, 1st Baronet November 1768 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Peniston, who was raised to the peerage as Viscount Melbourne in 1770. His daughter Charlotte married Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg. 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