Thomas Phillipps Lamb (?1752–1819): Politician. The father of Thomas Davis Lamb. He was married to Elizabeth Davis and lived at Mountsfield Lodge, near Rye. By the mid-eighteenth century the Lamb family had become the dominant force on Rye corporation and wielded great political influence in the borough. Lamb was the government agent in Rye and sat as an MP for the town 1812–1816 and 1819, though (like his son) he is not known to have spoken in the House of Commons. He was Mayor of Rye some 18 times between 1775–1817. Southey twice visited the Lambs home in Rye in 1791 and 1792 and was on excellent terms with Thomas Phillipps Lamb, perhaps seeing him as a surrogate father-figure. Their correspondence lapsed during Southey’s time at Oxford and was briefly renewed in 1798.