 In 1637 he was commissioned to exercise ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the county of Leicester during the suspension of Bishop Williams.On 26 January 1640 he was appointed chancellor and keeper of the great seal to Queen Henrietta Maria.As the Long Parliament met, the parishioners of Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, whom he had compelled to maintain two organs and an organist, petitioned for redress, and on 1 February 1641 Lambe was summoned to appear before a committee of the House of Commons to answer the charge.