McManus 168

Full name

Thomas Lamb

Date of birth

31-03-1802^[1]

Place of birth

Lamb's Lane, Forebank, Dundee.^[2]

Gender

Male

Marital status

Married

Name of spouse

Janet Crawford in 1828^[3]

Children

Helen c.1831,^[4] John 1832-1835,^[5] Eliza 1835-1894,^[5][6] Jessie 1838-1862,^[5][6] Annie 1840-1857,^[5][4] Margaret Crawford c.1843,^[4] Alexander Crawford 1843-1897,^[5][4] James Wallace 1845-1904.^[5][4] - Note 2 died as infants and 2 as teenagers^[7]

Home address

54 Murraygate, Dundee.^[8]
67/69 Murraygate, Dundee.^[9][4]
Lamb's Temperance Hotel. Reform Street, Dundee.^[10][6]

Age at death:

67 (given as 68 in Statutory Register)^[11]

Place of death:

Lamb's Temperance Hotel, Reform Street, Dundee.^[11]

Date of death:

31-10-1869^[11]

Buried:

Western Cemetery, Dundee^[12]

Religious affiliation

Baptist^[13]

Political affiliation

Liberal^[13]

Clubs / societies

Director, Albert Institute Ltd., 1867-1869.^[14] Honorary director, Dundee Temperance Society, 1869.^[15]

Public offices

None known

Related subscribers

Subscriber no.55 – W.E. Baxter – speaker at the opening of Lamb’s Temperance Hotel.

Subscriber no.99 – John Henderson & Son – John Henderson was a trustee named in Lamb’s will

Subscriber no.260 – Lord Kinnaird – presided at the opening of Lamb’s Temperance Hotel.

Occupation

Temperance Hotel Keeper and Confectioner^[16]

Employment

Owner^[2]

Place of work

Lamb's Temperance Hotel

Work address

Dundee Coffee House, 69 Murraygate, Dundee.^[17][4]
Lamb's Tea Gardens, Top of Reform Street, Dundee.^[2]
Coffee House and Reading Room, West Port, Dundee.^[18][19]
Lamb's Temperance Hotel, 52-60 Reform Street, Dundee.^[10][6]

Career to date:

Thomas Lamb was the son of John Lamb, linen manufacturer,^[11] and Elisabeth Mackie^[1] (Mackay on Thomas's death certificate).^[11] John Lamb was a small manufacturer in the Forebank area of Dundee and a man of "strict principles", from whom Thomas received his early religious training.^[2] After leaving school Thomas became a handloom weaver, but yearning for an outdoor life he was apprenticed to relatives in Cupar, Fife, to train as a nurseryman. He went on to find a position as a gardener at Castle Huntly, but had to give it up due to bad health. He returned to Dundee where he took up the trade of grocer and spirit merchant in the Murraygate.^[2] During the temperance agitation of 1828 Thomas attended several lectures by William Cruickshanks, the tee-total coal carter, after which he was convinced that it was wrong to indulge in strong liquor, but even worse to sell it. Accordingly he destroyed all his remaining stock rather than recoup his outlay and with the support of his wife, Jessie Crawford(1807-1889),^[5] commenced business as a confectioner. The financial loss was somewhat compensated by the friends it made him in the local temperance movement.^[2] In addition to his confectionery business Lamb converted the room above his shop into a coffee house and the success of the venture led him to rent several more apartments in the building. He provided a large reading room that was frequented by the local literary men and immortalised in "the Halls of Lamb" a parody of Lord Byron's "The Isles of Greece".^[19] Lamb had made a name for himself as the purveyor of "soirees and festive meetings" gaining almost a monopoly of such business. In 1838 he erected a wooden booth on the west side of Reform Street for the sale of temperance refreshments. The temporary, but cosy, buildings included a reading room and a hall which could accommodate 200 people. Calling on his experiences as a nurseryman and a gardener, he subsequently laid out the adjacent grounds with flower beds, gravel walks, a rockery, a fish pond and a fountain. These became Lamb's Tea Gardens.^[2] In 1844 he also provided a commodious coffee house and reading room at the West Port.^[19] The success of his various ventures convinced Lamb that there was a demand for a temperance hotel, one that could also cater for the needs of the commercial traveller.^[2] His Dundee Coffee House was already providing overnight accommodation.^[4] He built the hotel on the site of his tea garden and it opened in 1852 with a dinner presided over by Lord Kinnaird and addressed by W.E. Baxter.^[2] It became, along with the Dundee Coffee House, one of the principal hotels in Dundee.^[20] In due course Lamb decided to concentrate all his business on the Reform Street premises and Mrs Mathers took over the Dundee Coffee House.^[21] Even before building a permanent structure the Lamb's Temperance Hall was to let for "sales, exhibitions, meetings etc."^[22] and the Society for the Suppression of Intemperance met there every Tuesday and Saturday evening.^[22] After the construction of the hotel a number of other local organisations held their meetings there: the Albion Literary Society,^[23] the Angus Chess Club,^[24] the Dundee branch of the Scottish Reformation Society.^[25] Meanwhile the Temperance Literary Society^[26] and the Ornithological Society held their meetings at the Dundee Coffee House.^[27] As a cause close to his heart, Lamb allowed orders for Scottish Temperance League publications to be left at Reform Street for attention.^[27] On a more commercial footing he allowed orders for John Methven & Son, boot and shoemakers, Broughty Ferry, to be left at the Murraygate coffee house and orders for the same firm for cod liver oil at the Reform Street hotel.^[28] The United Original Seceders held their meetings in Lamb's Hall temporarily^[27] and for a few years Lamb's own church, the Baptists, held their services there.^[29] Thomas had been brought up as an Independent in religion and had attended Dr. Russell's Ward Chapel of Congregationalists until a disagreement led to his and a number of other members' departure in 1835. He helped form another church, which latterly became Baptist. New members were immersed in the Dichty Water. He remained an "ever faithful and consistent member" of the Baptist Church for the rest of his life.^[13] Lamb was not a good public speaker "owing to an unfortunate hesitancy in his speech, he was unable to express his thoughts with rapidity, but never failed to make his remarks particularly pointed, and hence he always commanded a very attentive hearing."^[19] Others found his attempts at public speaking "risible in some respects" but usually very practical.^[2] In the days of Sir George Kinloch, the Voluntary Controversy and the Anti-Corn Law League he always took the Liberal side.^[13] He took a particular interest in the Albert Institute and the formation of a free public library.^[2] As a "zealous supporter"^[13] he offered £50 to the initial subscription and on finding that the total was not up to the mark gave another £50.^[19]