The salacious private life of our city’s namesake

Melbourne’s namesake was no stranger to controversy – from rumours of a tryst with the Queen to his wife’s sordid affair with a famous poet.

William Lamb, Second Viscount Melbourne, after whom our city was named.

Among the nicknames given to our town by its British founders were Bearbrass, Bareheep and even Batmania, after pioneer John Batman.

As the city grew, they officially named it Melbourne, after Lord William Lamb, Second Viscount Melbourne, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time.

When this was announced, there might have been a few hesitant glances shared by the settlers. After all, Melbourne himself was no hero figure.

During his first shot at leader he became the last British prime minister ever to be sacked by a monarch for bad performance.

It was his close personal relationship with the young Queen Victoria that defined his career.

But it was his wife’s even closer relationship with famous poet Lord Byron that marred the Melbournes’ private life, and once erupted in violence.

Portraits of Viscount and Viscountess Melbourne, who had a rocky marriage mired by scandal.

Melbourne’s demons

Even from his birth in 1779, the Second Viscount Melbourne’s life was mired in scandal and innuendo.

His parents were William Lamb, First Viscount Melbourne and wife Elizabeth.

Officially, at least.

Rumours spread that the young Melbourne bore a close resemblance to another member of the aristocracy, bringing his paternity into question.

He was raised in privilege, attended Eton and Cambridge, and embarked on a long career in politics, marrying his wife Caroline in 1805.

Although theirs was a match of love, Caroline was known for her outlandish behaviour.

So the story goes, on the occasion of Viscount Melbourne’s birthday, Viscountess Melbourne held a dinner party at their stately home Brocket Hall, at which she served herself naked for her husband in a soup tureen.

Some accounts say she then rose and danced on the dining room table.

If that sort of thing wasn’t embarrassing enough, Melbourne was embarrassed by his wife’s very public affair in 1812 with roguish romantic poet Lord Byron.

The aftermath of the affair proper led Viscountess Melbourne to publicly describe Lord Byron as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”, a phrase that caught on.

Nonetheless, the Viscountess’s obsessive, fraught relationship with Byron continued for years as the pair wrote poetry about each other, sometimes fawning, sometimes sharply derogatory.

They emulated each others’ writing style and publicly traded barbs while privately sharing an addiction for the toxic tryst.

The Melbourne stately home Brocket Hall, north of London.

Caroline even wrote a gothic novel, which fictionalised the sordid affair and spectacular bust-up in intimate detail, much to the embarrassment of her husband.

The relationship with Byron even bubbled over into a bloody spectacle at a ball for the Duke of Wellington when the poet insulted her in front of other guests.

A distraught Viscountess Melbourne smashed a wine glass and attempted, perhaps dramatically, to slit her wrists with the broken glass.

The aloof Lord Byron dismissed it as a stunt and publicly accused his ex lover of putting on a scene worthy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Although the marriage was rocky, the pair managed to reconcile before Caroline’s death in 1828.

But Lord Melbourne’s subsequent political career exposed his own dark side.

Melbourne and Victoria

Viscount Melbourne refocused his political career and went on to occupy high office.

But his first stint as prime minister, formed in the chaos of his predecessor’s resignation, ended sourly when he became the last ever prime minister to be sacked by a monarch, dismissed by King William IV in 1834 after just four months in the job.

The king had been unimpressed by Melbourne and his Whig party’s performance, and gave the Tories a chance to govern, but a general election saw Melbourne return as PM in 1835.

Scandal visited again in 1836 when the husband of socialite and author Caroline Norton attempted to blackmail Melbourne for having an affair with his wife.

The blackmail failed and Melbourne’s career managed to continue, but whispers of sexual misconduct continued.

Lord Melbourne was a mentor and friend to the young Queen Victoria (left), with the pair later dramatised in the ITV series Victoria (right).

Cambridge historian Boyd Hilton later wrote, “(It) is irrefutable that Melbourne’s personal life was problematic.”

Nonetheless Lord Melbourne, during his second shot at the top job, became a close friend and confidante of the young Queen Victoria.

According to some accounts Victoria was totally smitten by Melbourne, whom she relied on for counsel and companionship.

He was granted a personal apartment at Windsor Castle, which has led some to speculate their relationship was more than professional and platonic.

But it is considered by many that Lord Melbourne, 40 years Victoria’s senior, drew the line at a close mentor figure.

Their relationship was dramatised in the ITV series Victoria, in which Lord Melbourne was played by Rufus Sewell and Victoria was played by Jenna Coleman.

Even after his resignation as PM in 1841, Victoria continued to send Lord Melbourne correspondence and asked for advice on matters of state.

But after a while the letters became purely personal.

Melbourne’s only son with his late wife Caroline had died aged 29, and another child had died at birth, leaving him without an heir.

His title was passed to his brother when Melbourne died at Brocket Hall in 1848.

William Lamb, Second Viscount Melbourne, never visited the city that is now more famous than his complicated life.

Originally published as The salacious private life of our city’s namesake