Matthew Lamb 1705?-1768

Sir Matthew LAMB, 1st baronet 1705?-1768

Lamb's bookplate, from a copy of C. de Mouhy, The busy-body, 1742 (with part of another label pasted over at the foot)

Biographical Note

Second son of Matthew Lamb, attorney, of Southwell, Nottinghamshire. He was admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1726, where he became a barrister in 1733; he was trained by his uncle Peniston Lamb, also a lawyer there, who left his a substantial fortune in 1735. He became land agent to numerous members of the aristocracy, thereby gaining useful knowledge and influence; in 1738 he became solicitor for the Post Office. He was MP for Stockbridge in 1741, and for Peterborough in 1747; he was created a baronet in 1755. He was very wealthy by the time of his death, and had acquired numerous estates including Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire.

Books

Lamb used an engraved armorial bookplate (Franks 17437); the extent of his library is not known. His estates and title were inherited by his son Peniston, later Lord Melbourne.

Sources

• Gambier Howe, E. R. J., Franks bequest. Catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed ... by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, London, 1903-4.
• Turner, Roger. "Lamb, Sir Matthew, first baronet (1705?–1768), politician and lawyer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.