Lord Melbourne

Lord Melbourne, William Lamb, was born in London in 1779 and was educated at Eton and Cambridge. While still in his twenties he was elected MP for Leominster as a Whig and joined the House of Commons. In the fullness of time he became one of the most significant politicians of the nineteenth century: he was appointed Home Secretary in 1934 and, following the retirement of Earl Grey in 1834, was made Prime Minister.

Three years later, when the young Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, the 58-year-old Melbourne was made her mentor on issues of the state and came to be a great influence on the young monarch. In all Melbourne served three terms as Prime Minister. Separated from his novelist wife, Lady Caroline, who was famously infatuated with Lord Byron, Lord Melbourne died in 1848 and was remembered locally in the naming of this short-lived Cecil Street pub, along with a neighbouring street and another pub, and of course the capital of Victoria, Australia – Melbourne (previously known as Dootigala by the indigenous population).

Licensees

1861 - John Rowe
1867 - Thomas Hill
1873 - George Blight