Lord Melbourne (1834, 1835-41) - Prime Minister - Parliament

William Lamb was born in 1779 and educated at Eton and Cambridge. He initially entered the House of Commons and moved up to the House of Lords. As a moderate Whig he advocated and fought for a number of reforms. With the resignation of Grey, Lord Melbourne was asked to become Prime Minister and although he accepted the post, he was not an ambitious man.

After four months the King dismissed the Whig government and appointed a Tory Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. Peel found government very difficult and eventually resigned from office, which meant Melbourne again became the Prime Minister. With the death of William IV, eighteen year old Victoria became Queen and Melbourne became not only her Prime Minister, but friend and mentor. Melbourne resigned for a short period in 1839 after a defeat in the House of Commons, and fully in 1841.

Melbourne to Queen Victoria:
"No woman should touch pen and ink... they have too much passion and too little sense"

"Nothing induces a man to keep his own temper so much as the observation that others either have lost or are likely to lose theirs"

"It is impossible that anybody can feel the being out of Parliament more keenly for me than I feel it for myself. It is actually cutting my throat. It is depriving me of the great object of my life"

"What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong"