Lamb’s great patrons were Sir Robert and Lady Louisa Frankland Russell, who lived at Thirkleby Park, near Thirsk.  Almost all of his churches were connected in some way with the Frankland Russells, including St Jude’s.  Sir Robert was MP for Thirsk, and Lady Louisa was the granddaughter of the Duke of Atholl and the daughter of a bishop, so well connected with both nobility and senior clergy.  As well as Thirkleby, they owned the villages of Bagby, Aldwark and Blubberhouses, and were good employers and landowners.  Their concern for their tenants included rebuilding the parish churches and remembering their tenants, as here at Blubberhouses.