George Lambert Gorwyn (1818–1885), who is remembered today as a quarrelsome and much disliked man, had inherited farms in Spreyton and Drewsteignton.

His wife, Grace Howard, was the daughter of a farm labourer from South Tawton, who had been his housekeeper.

Although he began his parliamentary career as a Liberal, in 1931 Lambert had become a National Liberal supporting the Conservative Party, following a long period criticising David Lloyd George and opposition to the Labour Party.

Lambert was made a Privy Councillor in 1912, and later the same year he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines.

[7] He died, aged 91 years, at his home, "Coffins" in Spreyton on 17 February 1958.