Sir John Lambert (4 February 1815 – 27 January 1892) was a British solicitor and civil servant. The son of Daniel Lambert, of Milford Hall,

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, Lambert was educated at

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

, the Catholic institution in Somerset, before becoming a solicitor in Salisbury. In the 1840s, he was behind the construction of the first Catholic church in Salisbury, St Osmund's, in the city centre.

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

Salisbury - St Osmund
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 2 June 2022 In 1854, he was elected

Mayor of Salisbury The following were mayors of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England: 15th–16th centuries *1387: John Hethe, MP for Salisbury, 1388 *1388,1391: John Moner, MP for Salisbury, 1397 *1395–1397: Richard Spencer, 4 times MP for Salisbury, 1395–1411 ...

, the first Roman Catholic mayor of a cathedral city since the Reformation. In 1857, Lambert was appointed an inspector under the

Poor Law Board The Poor Law Board was established in the United Kingdom in 1847 as a successor body to the Poor Law Commission overseeing the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The new body was headed by a President, and with the Lord President of ...

. In 1863, he was called upon by

Charles Pelham Villiers Charles Pelham Villiers (3 January 1802 – 16 January 1898) was a British lawyer and politician from the aristocratic Villiers family. He sat in the House of Commons for 63 years, from 1835 to 1898, making him the longest-serving Member of Parl ...

to frame relief measures for the

Lancashire Cotton Famine The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...

: his work resulted in the Union Relief Aid Acts and the Public Works (Manufacturing Districts) Act 1864. In the following years, Lambert was involved in the preparation of the Reform Bill 1866 for

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and ag ...

's government, which was introduced by

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. He subsequently was involved in the framing of the

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...

for

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

, and the

Irish Church Act 1869 The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...

and the

Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 The Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict c 46) was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1870. Background Between the Acts of Union 1800 and 1870, Parliament had passed many Acts dealing with Irish land, but ...

for Gladstone. He also drew up the scheme for the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 and served on many government commissions. In 1871, Lambert was appointed Permanent Secretary to the

Local Government Board The Local Government Board (LGB) was a British Government supervisory body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871 to 1919. The LGB was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871 (C. 70) and took over the public health a ...

, resigning in 1882. Lambert was appointed a CB on the recommendation of Gladstone, and a KCB in 1879 on the recommendation of Disraeli. He was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1885. An authority on church music, he helped to revive the singing of

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. ...

, and received a gold medal for service in connexion to church music from Pope

Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

. With the publisher

James Burns James Burns may refer to: Business * James Burns (Australian shipowner) (1846–1923), Australian businessman * James Burns (Canadian businessman) (1921–2019), Canadian businessman * James Burns (merchant), Glasgow-born merchant of the 17th centu ...

, he established the Catholic publishing house Burns & Lambert (later

Burns & Oates Burns & Oates was a British Roman Catholic publishing house which most recently existed as an imprint of Continuum. Company history It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he g ...

). Lambert died in January 1892 and was buried in the graveyard behind St Osmund's Church, Salisbury.

References

Further reading