Editing William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne

{{Short description|British politician (1779–1848)}}
{{redirect2|Lord Melbourne|The Viscount Melbourne|other holders of the title|Viscount Melbourne}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Viscount Melbourne
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|PCi|FRS}}
| image               = William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.jpg
| caption             = ''[[Portrait of Lord Melbourne (Partridge)|Portrait of Lord Melbourne]]'' by [[John Partridge (artist)|John Partridge]], 1844
| order               = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| term_start1         = 16 July 1834
| term_end1           = 14 November 1834
| monarch1            = William IV
| predecessor1        = [[The Earl Grey]]
| successor1          = [[The Duke of Wellington]]
| term_start          = 18 April 1835
| term_end            = 30 August 1841
| monarch             = {{ubl|[[William IV]]|[[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]}}
| predecessor         = [[Robert Peel]]
| successor           = Robert Peel
| order2              = [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start2         = 30 August 1841
| term_end2           = October 1842
| predecessor2        = Robert Peel
| successor2          = [[Lord John Russell]]
| term_start3         = 14 November 1834
| term_end3           = 18 April 1835
| predecessor3        = The Duke of Wellington
| successor3          = Robert Peel
| order6              = [[Home Secretary]]
| term_start6         = 22 November 1830
| term_end6           = 16 July 1834
| predecessor6        = Robert Peel
| successor6          = [[John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough|The Viscount Duncannon]]
| order7              = [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]]
| term_start7         = 29 April 1827
| term_end7           = 21 June 1828
| predecessor7        = [[Henry Goulburn]]
| successor7          = [[Lord Francis Leveson-Gower]]
| order4              = [[Leader of the House of Lords]]
| term_start5         = 16 July 1834
| term_end5           = 14 November 1834
| predecessor5        = The Earl Grey
| successor5          = The Duke of Wellington
| term_start4         = 18 April 1835
| term_end4           = 30 August 1841
| predecessor4        = The Duke of Wellington
| successor4          = The Duke of Wellington
| birth_name          = Henry William Lamb<ref name="cantab"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Arnold-Baker|first=Charles|date=2001|title=The Companion to British History|publisher=Psychology Press|page=875|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D71aIFaur3EC&q=%22Henry+William+Lamb%22&pg=PA875|access-date=9 July 2019|isbn=9780415185837}}</ref>
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1779|3|15|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[London]], [[England]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1848|11|24|1779|3|15|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Welwyn Garden City]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
| resting_place       = [[St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield]]
| education           = [[Eton College]]
| alma_mater          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
* [[University of Glasgow]]}}
| party               = [[British Whig Party|Whig]]
| parents             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne]]
* [[Elizabeth Milbanke]]}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Lady Caroline Ponsonby]]|3 June 1805|25 January 1828|reason=died}}
| children            = Stillborn child<br/>George Augustus Frederick<br/>A daughter
| signature           = William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
}}
'''Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne''' (15 March 1779{{snd}}24 November 1848) was a British [[Whig (political faction)|Whig]] politician who served as the [[Home Secretary]] and twice as the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].

His first premiership ended when he was dismissed by [[King William IV]] in 1834, the last British prime minister to be dismissed by a monarch. Five months later, he was re-appointed and served for six more years, into the reign of [[Queen Victoria]]. He is best known for helping Victoria settle into her role as Queen, acting almost as her private secretary, and the political scandals that resulted from it, most notably the [[Bedchamber Crisis]]. His legacy as prime minister was not favourable, as he had no great foreign wars or domestic issues to handle, and he was involved in several political scandals in the early years of Victoria's reign.

== Early life ==
In 1779, William Lamb was born in [[London]] to an aristocratic [[British Whig Party|Whig]] family, and was the son of [[Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne|Peniston]] and [[Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne|Elizabeth Lamb]] (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 [[Petworth House|residence]] he was a visitor until the Earl's death. Lamb was called to Egremont's bedside when Egremont was dying but,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/lamb-hon-william-1779-1848 | title=LAMB, Hon. William (1779-1848), of Brocket Hall, Herts. &#124; History of Parliament Online}}</ref><ref>Petworth- From 1660 to the present day, Peter Jerrome, The Window Press, 2006, pp. 62–63</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1057/9780230227255_12 |chapter=William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne — Mentor to a Young Monarch |title=Nineteenth-Century British Premiers |date=2008 |last1=Leonard |first1=Dick |pages=163–179 |isbn=978-0-230-20985-5 }}</ref> nevertheless, stated that Egremont being his father was "all a lie".<ref>Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848, L. G. Mitchell, Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 6–7</ref>[[File:John Hoppner (1758-1810) - William Lamb (1779-1848), 2nd Viscount Melbourne - RCIN 400973 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Portrait by [[John Hoppner]], 1796]]

Lamb was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]], then at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he was admitted in 1796 and graduated a [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] in 1799,<ref name="cantab">{{acad|id=LM796HW|name=Lamb, the Hon. Henry William}}</ref> and finally at the [[University of Glasgow]] (1799–1801), where he was a resident pupil of Professor [[John Millar (philosopher)|John Millar]] alongside his younger brother [[Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne|Frederick]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Torrens|first=William McCullach|author-link=William McCullagh Torrens|date=1878|place=London|publisher=Macmillan|title=Memoirs of the Right Honourable William, Second Viscount Melbourne|volume=1|page=39|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5vUpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22William+Lamb+spent+the+winter+of+1799%22&pg=PA39|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lehmann|first=William C.|date=1960|title=John Millar of Glasgow 1735–1801|pages=37–38|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dg0fAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Viscount+Melbourne%22+%22Millar%22+%22Glasgow%22+%22brother+Frederick%22|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref>

Admitted to [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1797, Lamb was [[called to the bar]] in 1804.<ref name="cantab" /> Against the background of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Lamb served at home as [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] (1803) and [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] (1804) in the Hertfordshire Volunteer Infantry.<ref>[http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1790-1820/member/lamb-hon-william-1779-1848] History of Parliament article by R.G. Thorne.</ref>

Lamb succeeded his elder brother [[Peniston Lamb (1770–1805)|Peniston]] as heir to his father's title in 1805 (and as captain of the [[Midland Troop, Hertfordshire Yeomanry]], when he resigned his commission in the Volunteer Infantry<ref>Lt-Col J.D. Sainsbury, ''The Hertfordshire Yeomanry: An Illustrated History 1794–1920'', Welwyn: Hart Books/Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Historical Trust, 1994; ISBN 0-948527-03-X, p. 35.</ref>) and married [[Lady Caroline Ponsonby]], an [[Anglo-Irish]] aristocrat. After two miscarriages and a stillborn child, she gave birth to George Augustus Frederick in 1807 and was devoted to him. George was [[epileptic]] and mentally handicapped, requiring significant medical care. He died in 1836.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-lamb-2nd-viscount-melbourne Profile of Viscount Melbourne], gov.uk. Accessed 28 December 2022.</ref> In 1809, they had a daughter. She was born prematurely and lived only one day.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Douglass |first=Paul |date=1999 |title=The Madness of Writing: Lady Caroline Lamb's Byronic Identity |journal=Pacific Coast Philology |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=53–71 |doi=10.2307/1316621 |jstor=1316621 |url=https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/eng_complit_pub/15 }}</ref>

== Early political career ==
=== Election to Parliament ===
The following year, Lamb was elected to the [[British House of Commons]] as the Whig MP for [[Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)|Leominster]]. For the election in 1806 he moved to the seat of [[Haddington Burghs]], and for the 1807 election he successfully stood for [[Portarlington (UK Parliament constituency)|Portarlington]] (a seat he held until 1812).<ref name="ODNB">Peter Mandler, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/15920 "Lamb, William, second Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008. Accessed 27 December 2009.</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article830128.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712210453/http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article830128.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |title=Ireland: Poetic justice at home of Byron's exiled lover |work=[[The Times|The Sunday Times]] |date=17 November 2002 |quote='Mad, bad and dangerous to know' has become Lord Byron’s lasting epitaph. Lady Caroline coined the phrase after her first meeting with the poet at a society event in 1812. |access-date=21 February 2010 |location=London }}</ref> The resulting scandal was the talk of Britain in 1812.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

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.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

===Member of Parliament===
[[File: Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne - NPG 5185 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Portrait of Lord Melbourne (Lawrence)|Portrait of Lord Melbourne]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], {{circa|1805}}]]
In 1816, Lamb was returned for [[Peterborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Peterborough]] by Whig grandee [[William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam|Lord Fitzwilliam]]. He told [[Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland|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".<ref name="ODNB" /> He, therefore, spoke against parliamentary reform, and voted for the suspension of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' in 1817 when [[sedition]] was rife.<ref name="ODNB" />

Lamb's hallmark was finding the middle ground. Though a Whig, he accepted the post of [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] in the moderate Tory governments of [[George Canning]] and [[Lord Goderich]] on 29 April 1827. Upon the death of his father in 1828 and his becoming the 2nd [[Viscount Melbourne]], of [[Kilmore, County Cavan|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.<ref>Henry Dunckley, ''Lord Melbourne'' p 135</ref>

==Home Secretary==
In November 1830, the Whigs came to power under [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|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".<ref name="ODNB" /> 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.<ref name="ODNB" />

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".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/trade-unions-remember-legacy-dic-5414270| title = Wales ''Online: Trade unions to mark the legacy of Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Uprising on 70-mile memorial walk'': Robin Turner 2 August 2013: Accessed 12 August 2017| date = 2 August 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ODNB" />

Melbourne supported the 1834 prosecution and [[Penal transportation|transportation]] of the [[Tolpuddle Martyrs]] to [[Australia]] for their attempts to protest against the cutting of agricultural wages.

==Prime Minister<span class="anchor" id="First premiership"></span><span class="anchor" id="Second premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[First premiership of Lord Melbourne]], [[First premiership of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne]], [[First premiership of the Viscount Melbourne]], [[First prime ministership of Lord Melbourne]], [[First prime ministership of the Viscount Melbourne]], [[Second premiership of Lord Melbourne]], [[Second premiership of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne]], [[Second premiership of the Viscount Melbourne]], [[Second prime ministership of Lord Melbourne]], [[Second prime ministership of the Viscount Melbourne]] -->==
=== Government ===
{{Further|Whig government, 1830–1834|Second Melbourne ministry}}
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, who was the man most likely to be both acceptable to the King and to hold the Whig Party together, hesitated after receiving from Grey a letter from the King requesting Melbourne to visit him to discuss the formation of a government. Melbourne feared 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 (diarist)|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 worthwhile to have been Prime Minister of England{{sic}}." "By God, that's true", Melbourne said, "I'll go!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Cecil |first=David |year=2001 |title=The Young Melbourne & Lord M |publisher=W&N |isbn= 9781842124970 |page=321 }}</ref>

Compromise was the key to many of Melbourne's actions. He was personally opposed to the [[Reform Act 1832]] proposed by the Whigs and later opposed the repeal of the [[Corn Laws]], but he reluctantly agreed to both.<ref name="Cecil, David 1954 p.422">Cecil, David, ''Melbourne'', (Indianapolis, 1954), p. 422</ref>

Melbourne was also a strong supporter of slavery.<ref name="Lord Melbourne 1848, pp. 198-199">Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848, L. G. Mitchell, Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 198-199</ref> He called [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|Britain's abolition of slavery]] in 1833 a "great folly" and said that if he had had his own way (as opposed to what many Whigs wanted), he would "have done nothing at all!"<ref>Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848, L. G. Mitchell, Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 198</ref> He had told his sister-in-law that "slavery was a matter of necessity", was hesitant to pressure foreign governments about slavery, and saw slavery as "no bar to the recognition of [[Texas Revolution|Texan independence]]."<ref name="Lord Melbourne 1848, pp. 198-199"/>

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 [[1835 United Kingdom general election|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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Newbould |first1=I. D. C. |year=1976 |title=William IV and the Dismissal of the Whigs, 1834 |journal=Canadian Journal of History |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=311–30 |doi=10.3138/cjh.11.3.311 }}</ref>

=== Blackmail ===
[[File:A large sheep with the head of a man perches on the knees of Wellcome V0050210.jpg|thumb|Cartoon about the affair by John Doyle. Credit: Wellcome Collection]]
The next year, Melbourne was once again involved in a sex scandal. This time, he was the victim of attempted blackmail from the husband of a close friend, the society beauty and author [[Caroline Norton]]. The husband demanded £1,400, and when he was turned down, he accused Melbourne of having an affair with his wife.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wroath|first=John|title=Until They Are Seven, The Origins of Women's Legal Rights|year=1998|publisher=Waterside Press|isbn=1-872-870-57-0|url=https://archive.org/details/untiltheyareseve00wroa}}</ref> At that time, such a scandal would have been enough to derail a major politician and so it is a measure of the respect that contemporaries had for his integrity that Melbourne's government did not 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 stopped seeing Caroline Norton.<ref>David Cecil, ''Melbourne'' (1954) ch 11</ref>

=== Further scandal ===
As the historian [[Boyd Hilton]] concludes, "it is irrefutable that Melbourne's personal life was problematic. [[Spanking]] sessions with aristocratic ladies were harmless, not so the [[whipping]]s administered to orphan girls taken into his household as objects of charity".<ref>Boyd Hilton, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FDFHmqU_6SEC&pg=PR202 A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783–1846]'' (2006), p. 500.</ref>

===Queen Victoria===
Melbourne was Prime Minister when [[Queen Victoria]] came to the throne (June 1837). Barely eighteen, she was only just breaking free from [[Kensington System|the domineering influence]] of her mother, the [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Duchess of Kent]], and her mother's adviser, [[Sir John Conroy]]. Over the next four years, Melbourne trained her in the art of politics, and the two became friends: Victoria was quoted describing him as a father figure (her own had died when she was eight months old), and Melbourne's son had died at a young age.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-lamb-2nd-viscount-melbourne|title=History of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne – GOV.UK|website=gov.uk|access-date=30 September 2016}}</ref> Melbourne was given a private apartment at [[Windsor Castle]], and unfounded rumours circulated for a time that Victoria would marry Melbourne, 40 years her senior. Tutoring Victoria was the climax of Melbourne's career: the prime minister spent four to five hours a day visiting and writing to her, and she responded with enthusiasm.<ref>Cecil, ''Melbourne'' ch 14</ref>

[[File:Sir Francis Grant (1803-78) - Queen Victoria (1819-1901) riding out - RCIN 400749 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|''[[Queen Victoria Riding Out]]'' by [[Francis Grant (artist)|Francis Grant]]'', 1840]]
Lord Melbourne's tutoring of Victoria took place against a background of two damaging political events: first, the [[Lady Flora Hastings]] affair, followed not long after by the [[Bedchamber Crisis]]. Victoria's reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when Hastings, one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy.<ref name="Hibbert p. 77-78">Hibbert, p. 77-78; Weintraub, 119-121</ref> Victoria believed the rumours, as did Lord Melbourne.<ref name="Hibbert p. 77-78"/> When Victoria told Melbourne of her suspicions, he planted the idea in her head that her mother, [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|the Duchess of Kent]], was jealous of Hastings's closeness to Conroy, which made Victoria excited and more resolute on the matter.<ref name="Weintraub, 119">Weintraub, 119</ref> Initially, Melbourne "suggested quiet watchfulness" over Hastings's body changes.<ref name="Weintraub, 119"/> But after the court physician, Sir James Clarke, had examined Hastings and generally concluded she wasn't pregnant, Melbourne was wholly persuaded Hastings must be pregnant from a throwaway comment that Clarke made about the appearance of virginity in spite of pregnancy. Melbourne immediately informed the queen. When Victoria observed to him that Hastings had not been seen in public for a while because "she was so sick," Melbourne "repeated, 'Sick?' with what the queen described as 'a significant laugh.{{' "}}<ref>Hibbert, p. 79</ref>

=== Foreign affairs ===
The [[Rebellions of 1837–1838]] led directly to [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]]'s ''[[Report on the Affairs of British North America]]'' and to [[Act of Union 1840|The British North America Act, 1840]] which established a new political entity, the [[Province of Canada]].

The Whig cabinet under Melbourne decided on 1 October 1839 to send an expeditionary force to China to protect British interests in the trafficking of [[opium]] into China, against the wishes of the Chinese [[Daoguang Emperor]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dartnell |first=Lewis |date=2023-05-23 |title=Out of our minds: opium's part in imperial history |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/23/out-of-our-minds-opium-imperial-history-opium-wars-china-britain |access-date=2023-06-21 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The [[First Opium War]] was fought between China and the United Kingdom from 1839 to 1842, one of the outcomes of the war was that [[Hong Kong]] would be ceded to the UK and become a British crown colony.

The [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] occurred between 1839 and 1842. At the beginning of the conflict, the [[East India Company]] troops had defeated the forces of Afghan Emir and in 1839 occupied [[Kabul]].

The [[Treaty of Waitangi]] was signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and [[Māori people|Māori]] chiefs. In November 1840 a royal charter was signed by Queen Victoria, establishing [[New Zealand]] as a [[Crown colony]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/letters-patent-issued-making-new-zealand-a-colony-separate-from-new-south-wales |title=New Zealand officially becomes British colony |date=23 December 2016 |website=NZ History |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage |access-date=25 July 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518113743/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/letters-patent-issued-making-new-zealand-a-colony-separate-from-new-south-wales |archive-date=18 May 2017}}</ref>

=== Rule and resignation ===
{{more citations needed section|small=y|date=January 2017}}
<!-- [[File:William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, painted by John Partridge.jpg|thumb|upright|Lord Melbourne (1844, age 65); detail from a painting by [[John Partridge (artist)|John Partridge]].<ref name="npg941">Partridge, John (1844). William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. NPG 941. Retrieved from http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04359/William-Lamb-2nd-Viscount-Melbourne.</ref>]] -->
[[File:The Taking of Chusan (satire).jpg|thumb|Satire of the [[Bedchamber crisis]] by [[John Doyle (Irish artist)|John Doyle]], 31 December 1840]]
On 7 May 1839, Melbourne intended to resign, which began a series of events that led to the [[Bedchamber Crisis]]. A 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 and was supported by Melbourne although he was unaware that Peel had not requested the resignation of all of 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC - Radio 4 - This Sceptred Isle - The Bedchamber Crisis and Afghanistan|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/sceptred_isle/page/141.shtml?question=141|access-date=2021-07-14|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Among his government's Acts were a reduction in the number of capital offences, reforms of local government, and the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834|reform of the Poor laws]]. This restricted the terms on which the poor were allowed relief and established compulsory admission to [[workhouse]]s for the impoverished.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

After Victoria fell in love with and became engaged to [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] on 15 October 1839, Melbourne helped to push through approval for the marriage in parliament, although with some stumbling blocks, including Victoria's insistence that Albert be made [[king consort]], to which Melbourne asked Victoria "to hear no more of it."{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=84, 86, 88}} On the eve of Victoria's wedding on 10 February 1840, Melbourne reported Victoria being "very angry" with him after she had remarked it pleased her Albert did not look at other women, only for Melbourne to respond "no, that sort of thing is apt to come later."{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=16}} Melbourne reported Victoria responded "I shan't soon forgive you for that", rubbing his hands and chuckling over it while telling the story to Lord Clarendon.{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=16-17}} The morning after [[Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert|her wedding]], Victoria wrote to Melbourne of her "most gratifying and bewildering night" with Albert, and how she never thought she "could be so loved."{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=98}}

On 25 February 1841, Melbourne was admitted as a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727 | title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows | access-date=15 December 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122204215/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727 | archive-date=22 January 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Following [[August 1841 vote of no confidence against the government of the Viscount Melbourne|a vote of no confidence]], initiated by Conservative MP [[John Stuart-Wortley, 2nd Baron Wharncliffe|John Stuart-Wortley]], Melbourne's government fell, and he resigned as Prime Minister on 30 August 1841.<ref>{{Cite Hansard|house=House of Commons|title=Confidence in the Ministry—Adjourned Debate (Fifth Day)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1841/jun/04/confidence-in-the-ministry-adjourned|volume=58|date=4 June 1841|column_start=1121|column_end=47|access-date=20 February 2016}}<!--NOTE, APA 6th GIVES PROPER FORMAT FROM HANSARD AS: ''Hansard'' HL/HC [abbrev. Lords or Commons] Deb vol 58 cols 1121-1247 (4 June 1841) [Electronic version].--></ref>

==Later life==
[[File:ViscountMelbournePlaque.jpg|thumb|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.{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=131}} On 1 October 1842, in reflecting on a prior journal entry from 1839 in which she had described her "happiness" with Melbourne, Victoria wrote that she "looked over and corrected one of my old journals, which do not now awake very pleasant feelings. The life I led then was so artificial and superficial, and yet I thought I was happy. Thank God! I now know what real happiness means."{{sfnp|Weintraub|1997|pp=136}}

Though weakened, Melbourne survived a stroke on 23 October 1842, 14 months after his departure from politics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lord Melbourne {{!}} Biography & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lord-Melbourne|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=13 May 2020}}</ref> In retirement, he lived at [[Brocket Hall]], Hertfordshire. He died at home on 24 November 1848<ref>Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 18, 11th Edition</ref> and was buried nearby at [[St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield]], [[Hertfordshire]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hibbard|first1=Scott David|title=William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|url=https://www.geni.com/people/William-Lamb-2nd-Viscount-Melbourne/309445956990004626|website=geni.com|date=15 March 1779 |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> There is a memorial to him in [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 462: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref>

Upon his death, his titles passed to his brother, [[Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne|Frederick]], as his son, George Augustus Frederick (1807–1836), had predeceased him.

==Legacy==
* [[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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Anonymous|title=Short history of Melbourne|url=http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/short-history-of-melbourne#.WIee4310q6A|website=Only Melbourne|access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="City of Melbourne">{{cite web |title=History of the City of Melbourne |publisher=City of Melbourne |pages=8–10 |url=http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/history-city-of-melbourne.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/history-city-of-melbourne.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |date=November 1997 |access-date=28 January 2017}}</ref>
*[[Mount Melbourne]], a [[stratovolcano]] in [[Antarctica]], was also named in his honour by the British [[Royal Navy|naval officer]] and [[List of explorers|explorer]] [[James Clark Ross]], in 1841.<ref name="Ross-2011">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rz-xWiq60esC&pg=PA205 |title=A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, During the Years 1839–43 |date=2011 |page=205 |volume=1 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-03085-4 |first=James Clark |last=Ross |author-link=James Clark Ross |orig-year=1847}}</ref>

==In literature==
[[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s poetical illustration ''Lord Melbourne'', to a portrait by Thomas Lawrence, was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837. It is one of the few instances in which she allowed herself a political comment.<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA76|section=poetical illustration|page=28|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA78|section=picture|year=1836|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>

In [[Harper Lee]]'s 1960 novel ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'', the character Jack Finch tells a story about Lord Melbourne to the protagonist, Scout Finch.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Harper |title=To Kill a Mockingbird |publisher=HarperCollins |date=July 11, 1960 |isbn=978-0060935467}}</ref>
{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837/Lord Melbourne|Lord Melbourne, a poetical illustration by L. E. L.}}

==In popular culture==
*On screen, Lord Melbourne has been portrayed by several actors:
** [[H. B. Warner]] in ''[[Victoria the Great]]'' (1937)
** [[Frederick Leister]] in ''[[The Prime Minister (film)|The Prime Minister]]'' (1941)
** [[Karl Ludwig Diehl]] in the Austrian film ''[[Victoria in Dover (1954 film)|Victoria in Dover]]'' (1954)
** [[Felix Aylmer]] in ''[[Victoria Regina (film)|Victoria Regina]]'' (1961)
** [[Jon Finch]] in the film ''[[Lady Caroline Lamb (film)|Lady Caroline Lamb]]'' (1972)
** [[Joseph O'Conor]] in ''[[Edward the Seventh]]'' (1975)
** [[Nigel Hawthorne]] in ''[[Victoria & Albert (TV serial)|Victoria & Albert]]'' (2001)
** [[Paul Bettany]] in ''[[The Young Victoria]]'' (2009)
** [[Rufus Sewell]] in the UK TV series ''[[Victoria (UK TV series)|Victoria]]'' (2016-2017).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5137338/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm |website=IMDb |access-date=October 27, 2018|title=Victoria (TV Series 2016– ) }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Lord David Cecil|Cecil, David]] (1954). {{cite book|title=Melbourne|year=1954 |url=https://archive.org/details/lordmorlaterlife00ceci|url-access=registration|place=London|publisher=Constable}} major biography focused on his psychology
* {{cite book|last=Cecil|first=David|title=The Young Melbourne: And the Story of His Marriage with Caroline Lamb|date=1939|url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14692600}}
* {{cite book|last=Dunkley|first=Henry ("VERAX")|title=Lord Melbourne|date=1890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHpmAAAAMAAJ}}
* [[Hibbert, Christopher]] (2000) ''Queen Victoria: A Personal History'', London: HarperCollins, {{ISBN|0-00-638843-4}}
* {{cite ODNB|last=Mandler|first=Peter|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/15920|title= Lamb, William, second Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)|orig-year=1 September 2004|date=1 January 2008|access-date=27 December 2009|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/15920}}
* {{cite book|last=Marshall|first= Dorothy|title=Lord Melbourne|url=https://archive.org/details/lordmelbourne0000mars|url-access=registration|date=1975|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|isbn=978-0297767732}}
* {{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=L. G.|title=Lord Melbourne, 1779–1848|date=1997|url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35623381|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0198205920}}
* {{cite journal|last=Newbould|first=I. D. C.|title=William IV and the Dismissal of the Whigs, 1834|journal=Canadian Journal of History|date=December 1976|volume=11|issue= 3|pages=311–330|ref= pp 311–30|doi=10.3138/cjh.11.3.311}}
* {{cite journal|last=Newbould|first=Ian D. C.|title=Whiggery and the Dilemma of Reform: Liberals, Radicals, and the Melbourne Administration, 1835-9|journal=Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research|date=1980|volume=53|issue= 128|pages=229–241|ref=pp 229–241|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.1980.tb01745.x}}
* {{cite book | last=Weintraub | first=Stanley | title=Albert : uncrowned king | publisher=John Murray | location=London | year=1997 | isbn=0-7195-5756-9 | oclc=36727394}}
* {{cite book | last=Weintraub | first=Stanley | title=Victoria : biography of a queen | publisher=Allen & Unwin | location=London | year=1987 | isbn=978-0-04-923084-2 | oclc=15016119}}
* {{cite book|last=Ziegler|first=Philip|year=1987|title=Melbourne: A Life of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|location=London|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-00-217957-7}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Boyd|last= Hilton|title=A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783–1846|place=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press|date=2006|isbn=978-0-19-921891-2}}
* {{cite journal|last=Cameron|first=R. H.|title=The Melbourne Administration, the Liberals and the Crisis of 1841|journal=Durham University Journal|date=1976|volume=69|issue=1|ref=pp 83–102}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Cecil |first1=David |title=Melbourne and the Years of Reform |journal=History Today |date=August 1954 |volume=4 |issue=8 |pages=529–536 }}

=== Collected papers ===

* {{cite book|title=Lord Melbourne's papers|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|editor=Lloyd Charles Sanders|editor-link=Lloyd Charles Sanders|date=1889|url=https://archive.org/details/lordmelbournespa00melb|location=London}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-william-lamb | William Lamb }}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Melbourne, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount |volume=18 |page=90 |short=1}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070420212738/http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page152.asp More about William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne] on the Downing Street website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090104171206/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10141 Historica's Heritage Minute video docudrama "Responsible Government"] ([[Adobe Flash Player]])
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{NPG name}}
* [https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/caro/home About William's Notorious Wife, Lady Caroline]

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