George Lamb

 The Hon. George Lamb M.P.

Above the North Door is the Funerary Hatchment* of George Lamb, the youngest son of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne and his wife Elizabeth, born in 1784.

George became a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn and Member of Parliament for first, Westminster and then Dungarvan in Ireland. He was Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department for 4 years under Earl Grey. As well as this he also wrote operas and translated Roman poetry.

In 1809 he married Caroline Rosalie Adelaide St Jules, the illegitimate daughter of the William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and his mistress, Lady Elizabeth Foster, who eventually became his second wife. George and Caroline had no children.

George Lamb

He came to live at Melbourne Hall in 1824, adding to the house and garden before he died in 1834 at the age of 50, his wife lived on for another 27 years, dying in 1862.

George's arms are displayed on the left of the Hatchment but there is no heraldry on Caroline's side as she was illegitimate. 

The Lamb motto of Virtute Et Fide translates as Virtue and Faith, or Courage and Faith.

*A Funerary Hatchment is a large, diamond shaped, wooden or canvas frame, edged in black, showing the heraldic achievement of an important person. (The word hatchment is a corruption of word achievement.) On the frame will be the heraldic shield of the deceased, showing all their family connections and their motto. These became popular from the 16th to 19th centuries and would first be hung over the main door of the person’s hall or house, and then, after 12 months, moved to the church of burial.