Noel Hamilton "Ham" Lambert (5 June 1910 – 10 October 2006) was an Irish cricketer and rugby union player. By profession a veterinary surgeon, he was noted for being the first in Ireland to own a practice devoted to the care of companion animals. He is buried in Schull in Co Cork, Ireland. The epitaph on his gravestone reads, simply, "A Lovely Man". Veterinary career Ham Lambert was born into a family of veterinary surgeons. His grandfather was veterinary surgeon to three reigning monarchs, Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George V. His father, Bob Lambert, ran a practice which cared for the draught horses of Dublin from the turn of the 20th century until the early 1930s when working horses became less numerous. Ham was educated at Sandford Park School in Dublin and at Rossall School in Lancashire, England before entering the Veterinary College in Dublin in 1927. Following graduation he built up an extensive cattle practice, covering a large radius from Sallins to Malahide to Enniskerry, from a base in Richmond St in Dublin. In 1939 he visited America to learn more about the treatment of dogs and cats and in 1952 sold his cattle practice and opened Ireland's first small animal practice at Richmond St. His practice was a model of its kind and hundreds of veterinary students and graduates spent time there learning the art as well as the science of veterinary medicine. His was the first practice in Ireland to employ qualified veterinary nurses and until the early 1970s it was the only centre in Ireland recognised for the training of nurses by the RCVS. He was noted throughout the profession for his early adoption of aseptic techniques and for his belief in the value of Vitamin E in the treatment and prevention of circulatory conditions. He frequently prescribed Vitamin E not just to animals in his care but their owners also. He was the official vet to Dublin Zoo for 25 years and later became its president. Ham retired officially from veterinary practice in 1979 at the age of 69, but was still seeing cases privately at his home well into his nineties. He was a longtime supporter and fundraiser for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, serving on its board for many years. Sporting career Cricket A right-handed batsman, Lambert played 21 times for the Ireland cricket team between 1931 and 1947,