MELBOURNE, WILLIAM LAMB, 2ND VISCOUNT ( 779— 1848), English statesman, second son of Peniston Lamb, 1st viscount Melbourne, and Elizabeth Milbanke. William Lamb was born on March 15, 1779, and educated at Eton and Trinity col lege, Cambridge. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1804, and in 1805, he contracted his ill-starred marriage with Lady Caroline Ponsonby, only daughter of the 3rd earl of Bess borough.
In 1806 he entered parliament for Leominster as a Whig. He was defeated at the polls in 1812 because of his support of Catholic emancipation, and did not return to the House until 1816, when he was elected for Northampton, and later for other constituencies. In the meantime he attempted a separation from his wife in 1813, but this was not accomplished until 1825. In his relations with her he showed the greatest forbearance and kindness. He found refuge from his domestic troubles in extensive reading and in sport.
In parliament he spoke rarely, and, occasionally, voted against his party. Canning made him Irish secretary in 1827, and he retained the post under the duke of Wellington's administration; but he resigned with other Canningites in 1828. In 1829 he suc ceeded to his father's peerage, and went to the House of Lords. In Lord Grey's ministry of 1830 he was home secretary. He declined to use extraordinary means to deal with widespread dis turbance, preferring to rely on the ordinary law, though pres sure was put on him by the king to promote special legislation against political unions. He was, as home secretary, the respon sible cabinet minister for the government of Ireland, and there he approved a policy of coercion which was not desired by the lord-lieutenant, Lord Wellesley. The difficulties arising over Irish policy led to the resignation of the Grey ministry (1834), and Melbourne was asked to form a ministry. He proceeded to reconstruct the late ministry. Internal dissensions in his cabinet on the Irish and other questions were serious, and the king dis missed his ministers in November. Melbourne was determined that a new Whig cabinet should not include Brougham, Durham, and O'Connell, and he objected to the negotiations conducted with O'Connell, whom he regarded as irreconcilable.
In April 1835 the Peel government resigned, and Melbourne formed his second government, hampered by the smallness of his majority in the Commons and by the king's hostility. The difficulties were aggravated by his appearance as co-respondent in the case of Norton v. Norton and Melbourne. (See NORTON, CAROLINE.) Melbourne and Mrs. Norton were acquitted (June 23, 1836) ; they were not even called on to make a defence. Dif ficulties with the king increased, and probably the ministry would have fallen but for his death on June 20, 1837. At the general election the ministry secured a majority. Melbourne at once assumed the duties of confidential adviser to the young queen Victoria. He spent much of his time at Windsor, accommodating his very worldly manners and his usually free conversation to the atmosphere of the new court. For his great, and beneficial influence on the young queen see VICTORIA, QUEEN. He never abused the intimacy thus formed, but, says Greville, used it to impress upon her mind sound maxims of constitutional govern ment and truths of every description which it behoved her to learn. He showed her unceasing and understanding devotion, and secured her sincere attachment. The administration was still hampered by difficulties in Ireland, and in Canada, where Mel bourne was not entirely in agreement with Lord Durham's policy. The ministry resigned on May 7, 1839. Peel refused to form a ministry 'because of the resistance of the queen on the Bed chamber question. Melbourne resumed office in deference to the queen and against his better judgment. The ministry was thor oughly discredited, and Palmerston, the foreign secretary, had involved the ministry in difficulties with France. Parliament was dissolved at the end of May 1841, and Melbourne resigned when the new parliament met at the end of August. He died on Nov. 24, 1848.
See W. McC. Torrens, Memoirs of Lord Melbourne (1878) ; Lloyd Sanders, Lord Melbourne's Paper (1889). There is an admirable sketch of Melbourne in Greville's Memoirs, and another in Lytton Strachey's Queen Victoria. See also Newman, Lord Melbourne (193o).