I’ve often wondered why, for the first 30 years or so of the club’s existence, Notts were known as “The Lambs”.

To begin, here’s a quick history lesson.

Prosperity came to Nottingham in the early 19th century, thanks to the textile industry. Nottingham lace became famous throughout the world, and by 1831 the population had ballooned to 51,000. Unfortunately, this rapid expansion resulted in the worst slums in the British Empire, apart from India. When the first Reform Bill, which sought to give more people the vote, was rejected by the House of Lords, those living in poverty took up arms and rioted, burning down Nottingham Castle, owned by the Duke of Newcastle, an anti-reformist.

A gang emerged from this angry mob, known as the Nottingham Lambs, who initially fought for the Whigs against their political rivals, the Tories. By the late 1830s, the beer-swilling louts who followed bare-knuckle fighter William Thompson, known as Bendigo, himself a terrible drinker and brawler, became known as the Nottingham Lambs. Bendigo was an icon to the Nottingham poor and became Champion of England in 1839.

The author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, wrote this:

You didn’t know of Bendigo?
Well, that knocks me out!
Who’s your board schoolteacher?
What’s he been about?
Chock a block with fairy tales;
Full of useless cram,
And never heard of Bendigo
The Pride of Nottingham.

So, did the Notts team get their original nickname from the local gang? This doesn’t seem likely as, according to history, the founder members of Notts County were almost exclusively from the upper class, consisting mainly of aristocrats and prominent industrialists. Maybe the ‘Nottingham Lambs’ were Notts supporters?

My search goes on unless utm can come up with the answer.