Editing Morton Peto (section)

==Other activities==
In 1844, Peto bought [[Somerleyton Hall]] in [[Suffolk]]. He rebuilt the hall with contemporary amenities, as well as constructing a school and more houses in the village. He next built similar projects in [[Lowestoft]]. 

In 1846, Peto became co-treasurer of the [[BMS World Mission|Baptist Missionary Society]]. From 1855 to March 1867, he was sole treasurer, resigning after personal financial difficulties.<ref>{{cite book| last=Stanley| first=Brian| year=1992| page=218| title=The History of the Baptist Missionary Society 1792–1992| location=Edinburgh| publisher=T. & T. Clark}}</ref> In 1855 took over the lease of [[The Diorama, Regent's Park]] and paid for its conversion into a Baptist Chapel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=Ann |title=Regent's Park: From 1086 to the Present |date=1981 |publisher=Bedford College |location=London |isbn=0-900145-62-5 |edition=Second}}</ref>

Peto served for two decades as a Member of Parliament. He was elected a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Member for [[Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich]] in 1847 to 1854, for [[Finsbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Finsbury]] from 1859 to 1865, and for [[Bristol (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol]] from 1865 to 1868.  During this time he was one of the most prominent figures in public life.  He helped to make a guarantee towards the financing of [[The Great Exhibition|The Great Exhibition of 1851]], backing [[Joseph Paxton]]'s [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]].{{sfn|Faith|1990|p=105}}

In 1855 Peto was made a [[baronet]]; but in the 1860s his businesses ran into trouble, so that in 1863 he sold Somerlyton Hall and in 1866 became bankrupt.{{sfn|Brooks|1996}}{{page needed|date=January 2021}}

After his involvement with the insolvency of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1866, and the failure of the Peto and Betts partnership, Peto's personal reputation as a trustworthy businessman was badly damaged and never fully recovered.

Between 1863-65 the current [[Embassy of Nepal]] in Kensington Place Gardens, London W8, designed by the architect James Murray, was built for Peto.

In 1865 he is listed as living at [[Auchline House]] at [[Killin]] in [[Perthshire]].<ref>Perth Post Office Directory 1865: List of Noblemen and Gentlemen's Country Seats</ref>

In 1868, he had to give up his seat in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]], despite having the support of both [[Benjamin Disraeli]] and [[William Ewart Gladstone]].  He exiled himself to Budapest and tried to promote railways in Russia and Hungary.

When he returned he became the main contractor for the [[Cornwall Minerals Railway]] which opened in 1874, but the failure of the related [[Cornish Consolidated Iron Mines Corporation]] meant that he sustained heavy losses when iron ore traffic on the CMR failed to live up to expectations. The CMR itself survived and began to recover after it had introduced passenger services in 1876 and was then leased by the Great Western Railway in 1877, but this improvement came too late for Peto.

He died in obscurity in 1889.{{sfn|Faith|1990|p=106}}<ref group=note>He is buried with his second wife at Pembury old church, near Tonbridge, Kent.</ref>