In 1889 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Free Trade member for West Sydney.

[3] He was born in London to the banker and politician John Lamb and Emma (née Robinson).

His mother Emma Lamb (née Robinson) was the daughter of the deputy chairman of Lloyds Bank.

His family migrated to Sydney in 1829, and, after his education, Lamb became a clerk in his father's mercantile firm and became a partner in 1847.

At 15 he became a clerk in his father's firm and at 22 a partner in Lamb, Spry & Co.[4] A key figure in the Employers' Union, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1889 as a Free Trade member for West Sydney, but he died at Potts Point the following year.