George Lambert, 2nd Viscount Lambert, DL TD (27 November 1909 – 24 May 1989) was a British politician.

Early life

Lambert was the eldest son of long-serving

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, the Rt. Hon. George Lambert. He was educated at Harrow and New College, Oxford. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers, but transferred to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1940. He became a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

and a

war Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

liaison officer, visiting the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

South-East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

Commands.

Political career

In Parliament, Lambert spoke on agriculture matters. After almost fifty years in Parliament, George Lambert senior stepped down at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

and was created Viscount Lambert. Lambert younger stood successfully as a

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

candidate in his father's seat,

South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...

. In 1950 the constituency was abolished and replaced by Torrington, which Lambert continued to serve until his father's death in 1958, at which point he joined the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. This prompted the

1958 Torrington by-election The 1958 Torrington by-election, in Devon, England, was the first gain by the British Liberal Party at a by-election since Holland with Boston in 1929. Background The election was caused by the accession of George Lambert, National Liberal and ...

and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

's first by-election gain in almost thirty years.

Personal life

He married Patricia (Patsy) Quinn in 1939. Quinn who was Anglo-Irish, came over from her family home Greylands in Dalkey just south of Dublin to be educated in England where she was educated at the Sacred Heart Convent in Roehampton where she shared a room with Vivien Leigh and they became lifelong friends; she was a bridesmaid at her first wedding. She was a model for Norman Hartnell the famous designer and regularly modelled for HM Queen (later the Queen Mother) Lambert and his wife had a son, George, educated at Harrow, who served in the Royal Horseguards (Blues) retiring as a Captain, who died in 1970 in a car accident at the age of 29, and a daughter Louise, who married Sir Peter Gibbings in 1975, Chairman of the Guardian Newspaper 1973-1988 and the Radio Authority. Lady Gibbings works in the voluntary sector supporting mentoring and prison visiting programmes. She is a trustee of the Forward Trust. They have one son Dominic Lord Lambert handed the family estate Coffins at Spreyton near Crediton in Devon to his son George who, as mentioned above, was tragically killed in a car accident in 1971. After 6 generations of Lambert occupation Coffins was sold in 1972 and Lambert moved to Switzerland where he died in 1989. Patsy, Viscountess Lambert, died in 1991. His brother Michael who lived near Siena inherited the title but he died without male issue in 1999 and the title became extinct.

Arms

References

External links

* 1909 births 1989 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of New College, Oxford Deputy Lieutenants of Devon National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British Army personnel of World War II Royal Engineers officers Royal Artillery officers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs who inherited peerages {{England-UK-MP-stub