Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, FRS (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–1835). He previously was Home Secretary twice (1822–1827, 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of modern British policing, owing to his founding of the Metropolitan Police Service while he was Home Secretary. Peel was one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party.
For other people named Robert Peel, see Robert Peel (disambiguation).
Robert Peel
The Viscount Melbourne
The Viscount Melbourne
The Viscount Melbourne
The Viscount Melbourne
Himself
The Duke of Wellington
The Viscount Melbourne
The Earl of Liverpool
5 February 1788
Bury, Lancashire, England
2 July 1850 (aged 62)
Westminster, Middlesex, England
St Peter Churchyard, Drayton Bassett
- Tory (1809–1834)
- Conservative (1834–1846)
- Peelite (from 1846)
- Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet (father)
1820
The son of a wealthy textile manufacturer and politician, Peel was the first prime minister from an industrial business background. He earned a double first in classics and mathematics from Christ Church, Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1809 and became a rising star in the Tory Party. Peel entered the Cabinet as home secretary (1822–1827), where he reformed and liberalised the criminal law and created the modern police force, leading to a new type of officer known in tribute to him as "bobbies" and "peelers". After a brief period out of office he returned as home secretary under his political mentor the Duke of Wellington (1828–1830), also serving as Leader of the House of Commons. Initially, a supporter of continued legal discrimination against Catholics, Peel reversed himself and supported the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and the 1828 repeal of the Test Act, claiming that "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger".[1]
After being in opposition from 1830 to 1834, he became prime minister in November 1834. Peel issued the Tamworth Manifesto (December 1834), laying down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based. His first ministry was a minority government, dependent on Whig support and with Peel serving as his own chancellor of the Exchequer. After only four months, his government collapsed and he was Leader of the Opposition during Melbourne's second government (1835–1841). Peel became prime minister again after the 1841 general election. His second government ruled for five years. He cut tariffs to stimulate trade, replacing the lost revenue with a 3% income tax. He played a central role in making free trade a reality and set up a modern banking system. His government's major legislation included the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, the Income Tax Act 1842, the Factories Act 1844 and the Railway Regulation Act 1844. Peel's government was weakened by anti-Catholic sentiment following the controversial increase in the Maynooth Grant of 1845. After the outbreak of the Great Irish Famine, his decision to join with Whigs and Radicals to repeal the Corn Laws led to his resignation as prime minister in 1846. Peel remained an influential MP and leader of the Peelite faction until his death in 1850.
Peel often started from a traditional Tory position in opposition to a measure, then reversed his stance and became the leader in supporting liberal legislation. This happened with the Test Act, Catholic emancipation, the Reform Act, income tax and, most notably, the repeal of the Corn Laws. Historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote: "Peel was in the first rank of 19th-century statesmen. He carried Catholic Emancipation; he repealed the Corn Laws; he created the modern Conservative Party on the ruins of the old Toryism."[2]
Early political career: 1809–1822[edit]
Member of Parliament[edit]
Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21, as MP for the Irish rotten borough of Cashel, County Tipperary.[16] With a scant 24 electors on the rolls, he was elected unopposed. His sponsor for the election (besides his father) was the chief secretary for Ireland, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, with whom Peel's political career would be entwined for the next 25 years. Peel made his maiden speech at the start of the 1810 session, when he was chosen by prime minister Spencer Perceval to second the reply to the king's speech.[17] His speech was a sensation, famously described by the Speaker, Charles Abbot, as "the best first speech since that of William Pitt".[18]
Peel changed constituency twice, becoming one of the two Members for Chippenham in 1812, and then one of those for Oxford University in 1817.[19]
Junior minister[edit]
In 1810, Peel was appointed an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies; his secretary of state was Lord Liverpool. When Lord Liverpool formed a government in 1812, Peel was appointed chief secretary for Ireland.[1] The Peace Preservation Act of 1814 authorised the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to appoint additional magistrates in a county in a state of disturbance, who were authorised to appoint paid special constables (later called "peelers"[20]). Peel thus laid the basis for the Royal Irish Constabulary.[21]
Peel was firmly opposed to Catholic emancipation, believing that Catholics could not be admitted to Parliament as they refused to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.[22] In May 1817, Peel delivered the closing speech in opposition to Henry Grattan's Catholic emancipation bill; the bill was defeated by 245 votes to 221.[23] Peel resigned as chief secretary and left Ireland in August 1818.[1]
In 1819, the House of Commons appointed a Select Committee, the Bullion Committee, charged with stabilising British finances after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and Peel was chosen as its chairman.[24] Peel's Bill planned to return British currency to the gold standard, reversing the Bank Restriction Act 1797, within four years (it was actually accomplished by 1821).[25]
Opposition: 1830–1834[edit]
The middle and working classes in England at that time, however, were clamouring for reform, and Catholic Emancipation was only one of the ideas in the air.[47] The Tory ministry refused to bend on other issues and were swept out of office in 1830 in favour of the Whigs.[48] The following few years were extremely turbulent, but eventually enough reforms were passed that King William IV felt confident enough to invite the Tories to form a ministry again in succession to those of Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne in December 1834.[49] Peel was selected as prime minister but was in Italy at the time, so Wellington acted as a caretaker for three weeks until Peel's return.[50]
Leader of the Opposition: 1835–1841[edit]
Peel's party was bolstered by the adherence of a number of dissident Whigs associated with the Derby Dilly. These self-described 'moderate Whigs' were lead by former cabinet ministers Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, and Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet.
In May 1839, Peel was offered another chance to form a government, this time by the new monarch, Queen Victoria.[60] However, this too would have been a minority government, and Peel felt he needed a further sign of confidence from his Queen. Lord Melbourne had been Victoria's confidant since her accession in 1837, and many of the higher posts in Victoria's household were held by the wives and female relatives of Whigs;[61] there was some feeling that Victoria had allowed herself to be too closely associated with the Whig party. Peel, therefore, asked that some of this entourage be dismissed and replaced with their Conservative counterparts, provoking the so-called Bedchamber Crisis.[62] Victoria refused to change her household, and despite pleadings from the Duke of Wellington, relied on assurances of support from Whig leaders. Peel refused to form a government, and the Whigs returned to power.[63]
Prime Minister: 1841–1846[edit]
Economic reforms[edit]
Peel finally had a chance to head a majority government following the election of July 1841.[64] Peel came to office during an economic recession which had seen a slump in world trade and a budget deficit of £7.5 million run up by the Whigs. Confidence in banks and businesses was low, and a trade deficit existed.
To raise revenue Peel's 1842 budget saw the re-introduction of the income tax,[65] removed previously at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The rate was 7d in the pound, or just under 3 per cent. The money raised was more than expected and allowed for the removal and reduction of over 1,200 tariffs on imports including the controversial sugar duties.[66] It was also in the 1842 budget that the repeal of the corn laws was first proposed.[67] It was defeated in a Commons vote by a margin of 4:1.
The economic historian Charles Read has analysed Peel's economic policies as:
Peel became engaged to Julia Floyd (1795–1859) (daughter of General Sir John Floyd, 1st Baronet, and his first wife Rebecca Darke) in March 1820; they married on 8 June 1820.[95] They had seven children:[96]
Lady Peel died in 1859. Some of their direct descendants now reside in South Africa, the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania, and in various parts of the United States and Canada.
Statue in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
