Editing Robert Peel

{{Short description|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = Sir Robert Peel
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|Bt|FRS}}
| image            = Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt by Henry William Pickersgill-detail.jpg
| caption          = Portrait by [[Henry William Pickersgill]]
| office           = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| monarch          = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| term_start       = 30 August 1841
| term_end         = 29 June 1846
| predecessor      = [[The Viscount Melbourne]]
| successor        = [[Lord John Russell]]
| term_start1      = 10 December 1834
| term_end1        = 8 April 1835
| monarch1         = [[William IV]]
| predecessor1     = [[The Duke of Wellington]]
| successor1       = The Viscount Melbourne
| office2          = [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start2      = 18 April 1835
| term_end2        = 30 August 1841
| primeminister2   = The Viscount Melbourne
| predecessor2     = The Viscount Melbourne
| successor2       = The Viscount Melbourne
| office3          = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister3   = ''Himself''
| term_start3      = 15 December 1834
| term_end3        = 8 April 1835
| predecessor3     = [[Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman|The Lord Denman]]
| successor3       = [[Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon|Thomas Spring Rice]]
| office4          = [[Home Secretary]]
| primeminister4   = The Duke of Wellington
| term_start4      = 26 January 1828
| term_end4        = 22 November 1830
| predecessor4     = [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Lansdowne]]
| successor4       = The Viscount Melbourne
| primeminister5   = [[The Earl of Liverpool]]
| term_start5      = 17 January 1822
| term_end5        = 10 April 1827
| predecessor5     = [[Henry Addington|The Viscount Sidmouth]]
| successor5       = [[William Sturges Bourne]]
| office6          = [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]]
| primeminister6   = The Earl of Liverpool
| term_start6      = August 1812
| term_end6        = August 1818
| predecessor6     = [[William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington|The Earl of Mornington]]
| successor6       = [[Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg|Charles Grant]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1788|2|5|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1850|7|2|1788|2|5|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Westminster]], [[Middlesex]], England
| resting_place    = St Peter Churchyard, [[Drayton&nbsp;Bassett]]
| education        = [[Harrow School]]
| alma_mater       = {{ubl|[[Christ Church, Oxford]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Lincoln's Inn]]}}
| party            = {{ubl|[[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] (1809–1834)|[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (1834–1846)|[[Peelite]] (from 1846)}}
| father           = [[Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet]]
| mother           = {{#ifexist: Ellen Yates|[[Ellen Yates]]}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Julia Floyd]]|8 June 1820}}
| children         = 7, including [[Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet|Robert]], [[Frederick Peel|Frederick]], [[William Peel (Royal Navy officer)|William]] and [[Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel|Arthur]]
| signature        = Robert Peel Signature.svg
| signature_alt    = Cursive signature in ink
| serviceyears     = 1820
| rank             = [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]]
| unit             = [[Staffordshire Yeomanry]]
}}

{{Robert Peel sidebar}}
'''Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet''' (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British [[History of the Conservative Party (UK)|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]] while he was Home Secretary. Peel was one of the founders of the modern [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].

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 of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1809 and became a rising star in the [[Tory Party]]. Peel entered the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|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 "{{wt|en|bobby|bobbies|i=-}}" and "[[History of the Metropolitan Police#The new police|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 [[Catholic emancipation|emancipation]] was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger".<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Peel, Robert (1788-1850)|last=Peel|first=Arthur George Villiers|volume=44}}</ref>

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 Peel ministry|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 (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] during [[Second Melbourne ministry|Melbourne's second government]] (1835–1841). Peel became prime minister again after the [[1841 United Kingdom general election|1841 general election]]. His [[Second Peel ministry|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 [[Factory Acts#Factories Act 1844 ('Graham's Factory Act')|Factories Act 1844]] and the [[Railway Regulation Act 1844]]. Peel's government was weakened by [[Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom|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 (UK)|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."<ref>A. J. P. Taylor, ''Politicians, Socialism and Historians'' (1980) p. 75.</ref>

==Early life==
Peel was born at Chamber Hall, [[Bury, Lancashire]], to the industrialist and parliamentarian [[Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet]], and his wife Ellen Yates. His father was one of the richest textile manufacturers of the early [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 2–11.</ref> The family moved from Lancashire to [[Drayton Manor]] near [[Tamworth, Staffordshire]]; the manor house has since been demolished, and the site occupied by [[Drayton Manor Theme Park]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 490; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 4, 119.</ref>

Peel received his early education from a clergyman tutor in Bury and at a clergyman's local school in Tamworth.<ref name="DNB"/> He may also have attended [[Bury Grammar School]] or [[Hipperholme Grammar School]], though evidence for either is anecdotal rather than textual.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Houseman|first=J. W.|title=An Old Lithograph of Some Historical Interest and Importance: The Early Education of Sir Robert Peel|journal=The Yorkshire Archæological Journal|date=1951|volume=37|pages=[https://archive.org/details/YAJ0371951/page/72 72]–79|url=https://archive.org/details/YAJ0371951|access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> He started at [[Harrow School]] in February 1800.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=T. A. |title=Sir Robert Peel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdocBQAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22Harrow%22+%22February+1800%22&pg=PA5 |date=1998 |page=5 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |access-date=7 July 2019 |isbn=9780333983430 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

At Harrow, he was a contemporary of [[Lord Byron]], who recalled of Peel that "we were on good terms" and that "I was always in scrapes, and he never".<ref>{{cite book|date=1832|title=The Georgian Era: Memoirs of the most eminent persons, who have flourished in Great Britain|volume=1|page=418|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lPVFAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22we+were+on+good+terms%22+%22I+was+always+in+scrapes%2C+and+he+never%22&pg=PA418|access-date=7 July 2019|last1=Clarke|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004013514/https://books.google.com/books?id=lPVFAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22we+were+on+good+terms%22+%22I+was+always+in+scrapes%2C+and+he+never%22&pg=PA418#v=snippet&q=%22Robert%20Peel%22%20%22we%20were%20on%20good%20terms%22%20%22I%20was%20always%20in%20scrapes%2C%20and%20he%20never%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> On Harrow's Speech Day in 1804, Peel and Byron acted part of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', Peel playing [[Turnus]] and Byron playing [[Latinus]].<ref name="DNB"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Hurd |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Hurd |title=Robert Peel: A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22acted+part+of+Virgil%27s+Aeneid%22&pg=PT16 |date=2007 |publisher=Orion |access-date=7 July 2019 |isbn=9781780225968 |archive-date=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219100505/https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22acted+part+of+Virgil%27s+Aeneid%22&pg=PT16 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Tom quad Tom tower by Pavel Kliuiev.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Christ Church, Oxford]], which Peel attended 1805–1808, graduating with a double first. He was later MP for the university, 1817–1829.]]
In 1805, Peel matriculated at [[Christ Church, Oxford]].<ref>{{alox2|title=Peel, (Sir) Robert (Bart.) (1)}}</ref> His tutor was [[Charles Lloyd (bishop)|Charles Lloyd]], later [[Regius Professor of Divinity]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hurd |first=Douglas |title=Robert Peel: A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22Charles+Lloyd%2C+later+Regius+Professor%22&pg=PT18 |date=2007 |publisher=Orion |access-date=7 July 2019 |isbn=9781780225968 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014015/https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22Charles+Lloyd%2C+later+Regius+Professor%22&pg=PT18 |url-status=live }}</ref> on Peel's recommendation appointed [[bishop of Oxford]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Hurd|first=Douglas|date=2007|title=Robert Peel: A Biography|publisher=Orion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22Lloyd+to+draft+a+letter+which+Peel%22&pg=PT89|access-date=7 July 2019|isbn=9781780225968|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014016/https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22Lloyd+to+draft+a+letter+which+Peel%22&pg=PT89|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1808 Peel became the first Oxford student to take a double first in Classics and Mathematics.<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 11–12.</ref>

Peel was a law student at [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1809.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hurd|first=Douglas|date=2007|title=Robert Peel: A Biography|publisher=Orion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22beginning+to+study+law+in+London+at+Lincoln%27s+Inn%22&pg=PT12|access-date=7 July 2019|isbn=9781780225968|archive-date=19 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219100531/https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22beginning+to+study+law+in+London+at+Lincoln%27s+Inn%22&pg=PT12|url-status=live}}</ref> He also held military commissions as a captain in the Manchester Regiment of [[Militia]] in 1808,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=16264|page=827|date=6–10 June 1809}}</ref> and later as lieutenant in the [[Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry]] in 1820.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/peel-robert-1788-1850|title=PEEL, Robert (1788–1850)|website=History of Parliament Online|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924142319/http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/peel-robert-1788-1850|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early political career: 1809–1822==

=== Member of Parliament ===
Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21, as MP for the Irish [[rotten borough]] of [[Cashel (UK Parliament constituency)|Cashel]], [[County Tipperary]].<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party'', 1; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 13; p. 376.</ref> 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, 1st Duke of Wellington|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 [[Speech from the Throne|king's speech]].<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', p. 18.</ref> His speech was a sensation, famously described by the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]], [[Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester|Charles Abbot]], as "the best first speech since that of [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]]".<ref>Gash, ''Mr. Secretary Peel'', pp. 59–61, 68–69.</ref>

Peel changed constituency twice, becoming one of the two Members for [[Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chippenham]] in 1812, and then one of those for [[Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford University]] in 1817.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', pp. 12, 18, 35.</ref>

=== Junior minister ===
In 1810, Peel was appointed an [[Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]]; his [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies|secretary of state]] was [[Lord Liverpool]]. When Lord Liverpool formed a government in 1812, Peel was appointed [[chief secretary for Ireland]].<ref name="DNB"/> The [[Peace Preservation Act 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"<ref>OED entry at peeler (3)</ref>). Peel thus laid the basis for the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gaunt |first=Richard A. |title=Sir Robert Peel: The Life and Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFYBAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22basis+for+the+establishment+of+the+Royal+Irish+Constabulary%22&pg=PA69 |date=2010 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |access-date=8 July 2019 |isbn=9780857716842 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014017/https://books.google.com/books?id=SFYBAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22basis+for+the+establishment+of+the+Royal+Irish+Constabulary%22&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref>

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 (United Kingdom)|Oath of Allegiance]] to the Crown.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hurd|first=Douglas|date=2007|title=Robert Peel: A Biography|publisher=Orion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22they+refused+allegiance+to+the+Crown%22&pg=PT45|access-date=7 July 2019|isbn=9781780225968|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014018/https://books.google.com/books?id=vm5GDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22they+refused+allegiance+to+the+Crown%22&pg=PT45|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite Hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |title=Roman Catholic Question |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1817/may/09/roman-catholic-question#column_405 |house=House of Commons |date=9 May 1817 |column_start=405 |column_end=423 |speaker=Robert Peel |position=Chief Secretary for Ireland |access-date=8 July 2019 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806225219/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1817/may/09/roman-catholic-question#column_405 |date=6 August 2020 }}</ref> Peel resigned as chief secretary and left Ireland in August 1818.<ref name="DNB"/>

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.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', pp. 6–12; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 18–65, 376.</ref> [[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).<ref>{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Leonard P. |title=Agricultural Depression and Farm Relief in England 1813–1852 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWj_AQAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22gold+standard%22+%22Peel%27s+Bill%22&pg=PA160 |date=1932 |page=160 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=7 July 2019 |isbn=9781136602672 |archive-date=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219100231/https://books.google.com/books?id=tWj_AQAAQBAJ&q=%22Robert+Peel%22+%22gold+standard%22+%22Peel%27s+Bill%22&pg=PA160 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Home Secretary: 1822–1830==
{{further|Victorian morality#Crime and police}}

=== Senior minister ===
[[File:The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel 1844.jpg|thumb|upright|The Duke of Wellington, prime minister 1828–1830, with Peel]]
Peel was considered one of the rising stars of the Tory party, first entering the cabinet in 1822 as [[home secretary]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 3, 9, 13; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 66, 68; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 65.</ref> As home secretary, he introduced a large number of important reforms to British criminal law.<ref>Gash, 1:477–88.</ref>

=== Reforms and policies ===
In one of his policies, he reduced the number of crimes punishable by death, and simplified the law by repealing a large number of criminal statutes and consolidating their provisions into what are known as [[Peel's Acts]]. He reformed the gaol system, introducing payment for gaolers and education for the inmates in the [[Gaols Act 1823]] ([[4 Geo. 4]]. c. 64).<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 68–71; 122; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 104.</ref>

In 1827 the prime minister [[Lord Liverpool]] became incapacitated and was replaced by [[George Canning]]. Peel resigned as home secretary.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 4, 96–97; Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 26–28.</ref> Canning favoured [[Catholic emancipation]], while Peel had been one of its most outspoken opponents (earning the nickname "Orange Peel", with Orange the colour of the Protestant [[Orange Order]]).<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 21–48, 91–100.</ref> George Canning himself died less than four months later and, after the brief premiership of [[Lord Goderich]], Peel returned to the post of home secretary under the premiership of his long-time ally the [[Duke of Wellington]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', pp. 28–30; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 103–104; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', p. 18.</ref> During this time he was widely perceived as the number-two in the Tory Party, after Wellington himself.<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', p. 104.</ref>

The [[Test and Corporation Acts]] required many officials to be communicants in the Anglican Church and penalised both nonconformists and Catholics. They were no longer enforced but were a matter of humiliation. Peel at first opposed the repeal, but reversed himself and led the repeal on behalf of the government, after consultation with Anglican Church leaders.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gaunt|first=Richard A.|date=3 March 2014|title=Peel's Other Repeal: The Test and Corporation Acts, 1828|url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31450/1/PEEL%20AND%20TACA%201828.pdf|journal=Parliamentary History|volume=33|issue=1|pages=243–262|doi=10.1111/1750-0206.12096|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-date=23 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223012200/http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31450/1/PEEL%20AND%20TACA%201828.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Sacramental Test Act 1828]] passed into law in May 1828. In future religious issues he made it a point to consult with church leaders from the major denominations.<ref>Gash, 1:460–65; Richard A. Gaunt, "Peel's Other Repeal: The Test and Corporation Acts, 1828," ''Parliamentary History'' (2014) 33#1 pp. 243–262.</ref>

The [[1828 Clare by-election]] returned the Catholic Irish nationalist leader [[Daniel O'Connell]]. By autumn 1828, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was alarmed by the extent of civil disorder and the prospect of a rebellion<ref>{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Eric J.|author-link=Eric J. Evans|date=1991|title=Sir Robert Peel: Statesmanship, Power and Party|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llKIAgAAQBAJ&q=%22O%27Connell+himself%22+%22the+extent+of+civil+disorder+and+the+prospect+of+rebellion%22&pg=PA23|access-date=8 July 2019|isbn=9781134927821|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014116/https://books.google.com/books?id=llKIAgAAQBAJ&q=%22O%27Connell+himself%22+%22the+extent+of+civil+disorder+and+the+prospect+of+rebellion%22&pg=PA23#v=snippet&q=%22O'Connell%20himself%22%20%22the%20extent%20of%20civil%20disorder%20and%20the%20prospect%20of%20rebellion%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> if O'Connell were barred from Parliament. Wellington and Peel now conceded the necessity of Catholic emancipation, Peel writing to Wellington that "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger".<ref name="DNB"/>

Peel drew up the Catholic Relief bill. He felt compelled to stand for re-election to his seat in Oxford, as he was representing the graduates of Oxford University (many of whom were Anglican clergymen), and had previously stood on a platform of opposition to Catholic Emancipation.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 35–40; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 46–47, 110, 376.</ref> Peel lost his seat in a by-election in February 1829 to [[Ultra-Tory]] [[Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet|Robert Inglis]], but soon found another by moving to a [[rotten borough]], [[Westbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Westbury]], retaining his Cabinet position.<ref>Gash, 1:564–65.</ref> He stood for [[Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Tamworth]] in the [[1830 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1830]], representing Tamworth until his death.

Peel guided the Catholic Relief (Emancipation) bill through the House of Commons, Wellington through the House of Lords. With many [[Ultra-Tories]] vehemently opposed to emancipation, the bill could pass only with Whig support.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Richard|date=2002|title=Wellington: The Iron Duke|page=77}}</ref>

Wellington threatened to resign if [[King George IV]] did not give Royal assent;<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=N.|title=Wellington after Waterloo|page=95}}</ref> the King finally relented. The [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]] passed into law in April 1829. Peel's U-turn cost him the trust of many Tories:<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', pp. 37–39; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 114–121.</ref> according to [[Norman Gash]], Peel had been "the idolized champion of the Protestant party; that party now regarded him as an outcast".<ref>Gash, 1:545–598.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Eric J.|author-link=Eric J. Evans|date=1991|title=Sir Robert Peel: Statesmanship, Power and Party|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kR8Nn7ql0AC&q=%22the+idolized+champion+of+the+Protestant+party%3B+that+party+now+regarded+him+as+an+outcast%22&pg=PA26|access-date=8 July 2019|isbn=9781134225231|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014024/https://books.google.com/books?id=6kR8Nn7ql0AC&q=%22the+idolized+champion+of+the+Protestant+party%3B+that+party+now+regarded+him+as+an+outcast%22&pg=PA26#v=snippet&q=%22the%20idolized%20champion%20of%20the%20Protestant%20party%3B%20that%20party%20now%20regarded%20him%20as%20an%20outcast%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Burking Poor Old Mrs Constitution. Wellcome L0019663.jpg|thumb|''[[Burking Poor Old Mrs Constitution]]''. This satirical 1829 cartoon by [[William Heath (artist)|William Heath]] depicted [[the Duke of Wellington]] and Peel in the roles of the body-snatchers [[Burke and Hare]] suffocating Mrs Docherty for sale to Dr. Knox; representing the extinguishing by Wellington and Peel of the 141-year-old [[Glorious Revolution|Constitution of 1688]] by [[Catholic Emancipation]].]]

=== Founding the Metropolitan Police ===
It was in 1829 that Peel established the Metropolitan Police Force for London based at [[Scotland Yard]].<ref>Gash, 1:488–498.</ref> The 1,000 constables employed were affectionately nicknamed 'bobbies' or, somewhat less affectionately, 'peelers'. Although unpopular at first, they proved very successful in cutting crime in London,<ref>{{cite web|title=How policing started in England|url=https://www.oldpolicecellsmuseum.org.uk/content/history/police_history/how-policing-started-in-england|access-date=26 October 2020|website=Old Police Cells Museum|archive-date=9 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609164532/https://www.oldpolicecellsmuseum.org.uk/content/history/police_history/how-policing-started-in-england|url-status=live}}</ref> and, by 1857, all cities in Britain were obliged to form their own police forces.<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', pp. 87–90.</ref> Known as the father of modern policing, Peel is thought to have contributed to the Metropolitan Police's first set of "Instructions to Police Officers", emphasising the importance of its civilian nature and policing by consent. However, what are now commonly known as the [[Peelian Principles]] were not written by him but were instead produced by [[Charles Reith]] in his 1948 book, ''A Short History of the British Police'', as a nine-point summary of the 1829 "Instructions".<ref>Susan Lentz and Robert H. Chaires, "The invention of Peel's principles: A study of policing 'textbook' history".</ref>

==Opposition: 1830–1834==
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.<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 123–40.</ref> The Tory ministry refused to bend on other issues and were swept out of office in 1830 in favour of the [[British Whig Party|Whigs]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 45–50; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 136–41.</ref> The following few years were extremely turbulent, but eventually [[Reform Act 1832|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 [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Lord Grey]] and [[Lord Melbourne]] in December 1834.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 51–62, 64–90, 129–43, 146–77, 193–201; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 179; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 66.</ref> 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.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 196–97, 199; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 66–67.</ref>

==Prime Minister: 1834–1835<span class="anchor" id="First premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[First premiership of Robert Peel]], [[First premiership of Sir Robert Peel]], [[First prime ministership of Robert Peel]], [[First prime ministership of Sir Robert Peel]] -->==

=== Appointment ===
{{further|First Peel ministry}}
Following the resignation of former prime minister [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Charles Grey]], because of an issue regarding Ireland's conciliatory reform and at the invitation of King [[William IV]], Peel became prime minister in early December 1834. Peel formed his own government, though it was a Tory government that was a minority government and depended on Whig goodwill for its continued existence. Parliament was dissolved in late December 1834 and a general election was called. Voting took place in January and February 1835, and Peel's supporters gained around 100 seats, but this was not enough to give them a majority.<ref>The Routledge Dictionary of Modern British History, John Plowright, Routledge, Abingdon, 2006, p. 235.</ref>

=== Tamworth Manifesto ===
As his statement of policy at the general election of January 1835, Peel issued the [[Tamworth Manifesto]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 210–15; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 184; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 12; 69–72.</ref> This document was the basis on which the modern [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] was founded. In it, Peel pledged that the Conservatives would endorse {{em|modest}} reform such as reforms concerning economic and financial affairs, free trade and factory workers' rights.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lowe |first=Norman |title=Mastering Modern British History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzgoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |year=2017 |page=59 |isbn=9781137603883}}</ref>

The Whigs formed a compact with [[Daniel O'Connell]]'s Irish Radical members to repeatedly defeat the government on various bills.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 227; 229–35; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 185–87; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 71–73.</ref> Eventually, after only about 100 days in government, Peel's ministry resigned out of frustration and the Whigs under Lord Melbourne returned to power.<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 250–54, 257–61; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 188–92; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 74–76.</ref> The only real achievement of Peel's first administration was a commission to review the governance of the [[Church of England]]. This ecclesiastical commission was the forerunner of the [[Church Commissioners]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 224–26.</ref>

=== Confidence vote and resignation ===
Despite the January 1835 general election, from which Peel attempted to consolidate his party's majority in Parliament, the Conservatives still remained a minority. This made Peel's position in the Commons precarious from the start.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peel's First Ministry |url=https://victorianweb.org/victorian/history/pms/peel/peel3.html |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=victorianweb.org}}</ref>

The immediate cause of Peel's downfall was a debate over the [[Church of Ireland]]. On 7 April 1835, Whig MP [[Ralph Bernal]] brought forward a report critical of Peel's administration of the Church of Ireland's revenues and proposed reforms. The report was passed in the [[House of Commons]] by a vote of 285 to 258, signifying a lack of confidence in Peel's government. This defeat underscored the government's inability to secure enough support to govern effectively.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Gash |first=Norman |date=1951 |title=Peel and the Party System 1830-50 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3678562 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |volume=1 |pages=47–69 |doi=10.2307/3678562 |jstor=3678562 |issn=0080-4401}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mermagen |first1=Robert P. H. |last2=C. |first2=M. D. |date=1964 |title=The Established Church in England and Ireland: Principles of Church Reform |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/175341 |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=143–151 |doi=10.1086/385485 |jstor=175341 |issn=0021-9371}}</ref>

This loss led to Peel's resignation the following day, on 8 April 1835. The passing of the [[vote of no confidence]] highlighted the conditions in British politics at the time in a [[parliamentary system]]. After Peel's resignation, King William IV invited Lord Melbourne to form a new government, allowing the Whigs to return to power.<ref name=":10" />

==Leader of the Opposition: 1835–1841==
[[File:Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt by John Linnell.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Sir Robert Peel]]'' by [[John Linnell (painter)|John Linnell]], 1838]]
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 led 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]].<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 417–18; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 206.</ref> 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;<ref>Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 416–17; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 206–07.</ref> 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]].<ref>Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 207–208; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 89.</ref> 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.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 23; Clark, ''Peel and the Conservatives: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841'', 419–26; 448; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 208–09; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 89–91.</ref>

==Prime Minister: 1841–1846<!-- linked from redirects [[Second premiership of Robert Peel]], [[Second premiership of Sir Robert Peel]], [[Second prime ministership of Robert Peel]], [[Second prime ministership of Sir Robert Peel]] -->==
===Economic reforms===
Peel finally had a chance to head a majority government following the election of July 1841.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 24.</ref> Peel came to office during an economic recession which had seen a slump in world trade and a budget deficit of £7.5&nbsp;million run up by the [[Whig (British political faction)|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 [[Taxation in the United Kingdom#History|income tax]],<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 35–36; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 227; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 112.</ref> 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 [[tariff]]s on imports including the controversial [[sugar duties]].<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 37; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 235; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 113–14.</ref> It was also in the 1842 budget that the repeal of the [[corn laws]] was first proposed.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 35–36; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 112–13.</ref> It was defeated in a Commons vote by a margin of 4:1.

The [[economic historian]] [[Charles Read (historian)|Charles Read]] has analysed Peel's economic policies as:<blockquote>(i) Fixing the value of British currency to a [[gold standard]], with the paper pound currency freely convertible to gold.

(ii) A limited [[banknote]] supply based on a fixed relationship to the [[Gold reserves of the United Kingdom|gold reserve]].

(iii) Free movement of bullion flows from 1819 and lower import tariffs on food and raw materials from 1842 (often loosely referred to as [[free trade]]).

(iv) Control of interest rates and a balanced [[budget]] in order to reduce the [[national debt]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Read |first=Charles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1365041253 |title=The Great Famine in Ireland and Britain's financial crisis |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-80010-627-7 |location=Woodbridge |pages=71 |oclc=1365041253}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Domestic policy ===

==== Health ====
A Board of Supervision was established, and two measures passed, under which county asylums were erected and prompt medical treatment was ensured. In addition, it was provided "that a certificate of insanity, signed by two disinterested doctors, had to be presented before any person was confined to an asylum." According to one study, "the whole treatment of lunacy was humanised and lifted out of the atmosphere of profits into that of curative effort and civic responsibility."<ref>Conservative social and industrial reform: A record of Conservative legislation between 1800 and 1974 by Charles E. Bellairs, p. 13.</ref>

====Factory Act====
Peel's promise of modest reform was held to, and the second most famous bill of this ministry, while "reforming" in 21st-century eyes, was in fact aimed at the reformers themselves, with their constituency among the new industrial rich. The [[Factory Act 1844]] acted more against these industrialists than it did against the traditional stronghold of the Conservatives, the [[landed gentry]], by restricting the number of hours that children and women could work in a factory and setting rudimentary safety standards for machinery.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 40–42; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 302–05; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 125; 129.</ref> This was a continuation of his own father's work as an MP, as the elder Robert Peel was most noted for the reform of working conditions during the first part of the 19th century. Helping him was [[Lord Shaftesbury]], a British MP who also established the [[Mines and Collieries Act 1842|coal mines act]].

====Assassination attempt====
In 1843 Peel was the target of a failed assassination attempt; a criminally insane Scottish woodturner named [[Daniel M'Naghten]] stalked him for several days before, on 20 January, killing Peel's personal secretary [[Edward Drummond]] thinking he was Peel,<ref>Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 121–22.</ref> which led to the formation of the controversial [[M'Naghten rules|criminal defence of insanity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/|title=Old Bailey Online – The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674–1913 – Central Criminal Court|website=www.oldbaileyonline.org|access-date=16 February 2018|archive-date=24 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224012111/http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Corn Laws ====
{{main|Corn Laws}}
[[File:1815 Corn Law, An Act to amend the Laws now in force for regulating the Importation of Corn.jpg|thumb|The 1815 Corn Laws, first introduced by the Tory government of [[Lord Liverpool]], the then–prime minister. This law was made to amend the laws for regulating the importation of corn. This act was still in effect by the time Peel became prime minister himself in 1841.]]
The most notable act of Peel's second ministry, however, was the one that would bring it down.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 113–15.</ref> Peel moved against the landholders by repealing the [[Corn Laws]], which supported agricultural revenues by restricting grain imports.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', vi.</ref> This radical break with Conservative protectionism was triggered by the [[Great Irish Famine|Great Irish Famine (1845–1849)]].<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 66; Ramsay; ''Sir Robert Peel'', 332–33.</ref> Tory agriculturalists were sceptical of the extent of the problem,<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 72.</ref> and Peel reacted slowly to the famine, famously stating in October 1846 (already in opposition): "There is such a tendency to exaggeration and inaccuracy in Irish reports that delay in acting on them is always desirable".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peel |first1=Sir Robert |title=Sir Robert Peel: In Early Life, 1788–1812; as Irish Secretary, 1812–1818; and as Secretary of State, 1822–1827 |date=January 1899 |publisher=J. Murray |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww5oAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22such+a+tendency+to+exaggeration+and+inaccuracy+in+Irish+reports%22+robert+peel&pg=PA223 |access-date=1 November 2021 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014026/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ww5oAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22such+a+tendency+to+exaggeration+and+inaccuracy+in+Irish+reports%22+robert+peel&pg=PA223#v=onepage&q=%22such%20a%20tendency%20to%20exaggeration%20and%20inaccuracy%20in%20Irish%20reports%22%20robert%20peel&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

His own party failed to support the bill, but it passed with Whig and Radical support. On the [[Reading (legislature)|third reading]] of Peel's Bill of Repeal (Importation Act 1846) on 15 May, [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]] voted 327 votes to 229 (a majority of 98) to repeal the Corn Laws. On 25 June the Duke of Wellington persuaded the [[House of Lords]] to pass it. On that same night Peel's [[Irish Coercion Bill]] was defeated in the Commons by 292 to 219 by "a combination of Whigs, [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]], and Tory protectionists".<ref>Schonhardt-Bailey, p. 239.</ref> Following this, on 29 June 1846, Peel resigned as prime minister.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 68–69, 70, 72; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 347; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 230–31.</ref>

=== Famine in Ireland ===
Though he knew repealing the laws would mean the end of his ministry, Peel decided to do so.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 67–69.</ref> It is possible that Peel merely used the Irish Famine as an excuse to repeal the Corn Laws as he had been an intellectual convert to free trade since the 1820s. Blake points out that if Peel had been convinced that total repeal was necessary to stave off the famine, he would have enacted a bill that brought about immediate temporary repeal, not permanent repeal over a three-year period of gradual tapering-off of duties.<ref>Blake, ''Disraeli'', 221–222.</ref>
Peel's support for free trade could already be seen in his 1842 and 1845 budgets;<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', pp. 35–37, 59.</ref> in late 1842 [[Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet|Graham]] wrote to Peel that "the next change in the Corn Laws must be to an open trade" while arguing that the government should not tackle the issue.<ref>Quoted in Gash, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 362.</ref> Speaking to the cabinet in 1844, Peel argued that the choice was the maintenance of the 1842 Corn Law or total repeal.<ref>Gash, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 429.</ref> The historian [[Boyd Hilton]] argued that Peel knew from 1844 he was going to be deposed as the Conservative leader. Many of his MPs had taken to voting against him, and the rupture within the party between liberals and paternalists, which had been so damaging in the 1820s but masked by the issue of parliamentary reform in the 1830s, was brought to the surface over the Corn Laws. Hilton's hypothesis is that Peel wished to be deposed on a liberal issue so that he might later lead a Peelite/Whig/Liberal alliance. Peel was magnanimous towards Irish famine and permitted quick settlements of disputes at frontiers in India and America ( [[Treaty of Amritsar (1846)]] on 16 March 1846 and [[Oregon Treaty]] on 15 June 1846) in order to repeal [[Corn Laws]] on 29 June 1846.<ref>Hurd, ''Robert Peel: A Biography'', 43.</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Read | first=Charles | title=The Great Famine in Ireland and Britain's Financial Crisis | publication-place=Woodbridge | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80010-627-7 | oclc=1338837777}}</ref> As an aside in reference to the repeal of the Corn Laws, Peel managed to keep minimum casualties of [[Irish Famine]] in its first year, Peel did make some moves to subsidise the purchase of food for the Irish, but this attempt was small and had little tangible effect. In the age of [[laissez-faire]],<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 70.</ref> government taxes were small, and subsidies or direct economic interference was almost nonexistent. That subsidies were actually given was very much out of character for the political times; his successor, [[Lord John Russell]], received more criticism than Peel on Irish policy, the worst year being 1847, despite all of Peel's efforts, his reform programmes had little effect on the situation in Ireland.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', pp. 48–49.</ref> Russell could not manage public distribution system during [[Irish Famine]] even though subsidized food from USA was made available in Ireland. The repeal of the Corn Laws became more political than humanitarian.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 69–71.</ref>

==Later career and death==
Peel did, however, retain a hard core of supporters, known as [[Peelite]]s,<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 78–80; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 353–55.</ref> and at one point in 1849 was actively courted by the Whig/Radical coalition. He continued to stand on his conservative principles, however, and refused. Nevertheless, he was influential on several important issues, including the furtherance of British free trade with the repeal of the [[Navigation Acts]].<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 78; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 377; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 257.</ref> Peel was a member of the committee which controlled the [[House of Commons Library]], and on 16 April 1850 was responsible for passing the motion that controlled its scope and collection policy for the rest of the century.

[[File:St. Peter's Church, Drayton Bassett - geograph.org.uk - 967399.jpg|thumb|St Peter Church, [[Drayton&nbsp;Bassett]], where Sir Robert Peel is buried in the churchyard]]
Peel was thrown from his horse while riding on [[Constitution Hill, London|Constitution Hill]] in London on 29 June 1850. The horse stumbled on top of him, and he died three days later on 2 July at the age of 62 due to a [[broken collarbone]] rupturing his subclavian vessels.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 80; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 361–63; Read, ''Peel and the Victorians'', 1; 266–70.</ref>

His body was buried in the churchyard of St Peter Church, [[Drayton&nbsp;Bassett]]. Inside the church is a memorial tablet which reads "In Memory of / The Rt Hon Sir Robert Peel, Bart. / to whome the People / have raised Monuments /in many places. / His Children / erect this in the place / where his body / has been buried".

His Peelite followers, led by [[Lord Aberdeen]] and [[William Gladstone]], went on to fuse with the Whigs as the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]].<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 86–87; Ramsay, ''Sir Robert Peel'', 364.</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Julia, Lady Peel - Lawrence 1827.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Lawrence]]'s ''[[Portrait of Julia, Lady Peel]]'' (1827), now in the [[Frick Collection]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Sir Lawrence – Julia, Lady Peel: The Frick Collection |url=http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:110 |website=Collections.frick.org |access-date=28 February 2016 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201253/http://collections.frick.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:110 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

Peel became engaged to [[Julia, Lady Peel|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.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Peel, Sir Robert, second baronet (1788–1850), prime minister |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-21764 |access-date=2021-01-02 |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/21764}}</ref> They had seven children:<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Mosley |editor-first=Charles |title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage |edition=107th |volume=1 |location=Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |publisher=Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd |year=2003 |page=659}}</ref>
*Julia Peel (30 April 1821 – 14 August 1893). She married [[George Child Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey]], on 12 July 1841. They had five children. He died in 1859, and she married her second husband, Charles Brandling, on 12 September 1865.
*[[Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet]] (4 May 1822 – 9 May 1895). He married [[Emily, Lady Peel|Lady Emily Hay]] on 17 June 1856. They had five children. He succeeded his father in [[Peel baronets|the baronecty]] in 1850.
*[[Frederick Peel]] (26 October 1823 – 6 June 1906). He married Elizabeth Shelley (niece of the poet [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] through his brother John) on 12 August 1857. She died on 30 July 1865. He was remarried to Janet Pleydell-Bouverie on 3 September 1879. 
*[[William Peel (Royal Navy officer)|William Peel]] (2 November 1824 – 27 April 1858), a captain in the Royal Navy. 
*John Peel (24 May 1827 – 21 April 1910). He married Annie Jenny in 1851.
*[[Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel|Arthur Peel]] (3 August 1829 – 24 October 1912). He married Adelaide Dugdale, daughter of William Stratford Dugdale and Harriet Ella Portman, on 14 August 1862. They had seven children. He was created '''Viscount Peel''' in 1895; his eldest son [[William Peel, 1st Earl Peel|William]] was created '''[[Earl Peel]]''' in 1929.
*Eliza Peel ({{circa|1832}} – April 1883). She married the Hon. Francis Stonor (son of [[Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys]]) on 25 September 1855. They had four children.

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.

==Legacy==
[[Image:Thomas Lawrence - Sir Robert Peel, Bart - 1957-15-2 - Auckland Art Gallery.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of Robert Peel by [[Thomas Lawrence]]]]

===Memory and recognition===
In his lifetime many critics called him a traitor to the Tory cause, or as "a Liberal wolf in sheep's clothing", because his final position reflected liberal ideas.<ref>{{cite book|author= Richard A. Gaunt|title= Sir Robert Peel: The Life and Legacy|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SFYBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3|year= 2010|publisher=I.B. Tauris|page= 3|isbn= 9780857716842}}</ref> Others idealised Peel in heroic terms; [[Thomas Carlyle]] referred to him as a "reforming Hercules" in ''[[Latter-Day Pamphlets]]'' (1850).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carlyle |first=Thomas |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1140/1140-h/1140-h.htm#link2H_4_0003 |title=Latter-Day Pamphlets |year=1850 |chapter=No. III. Downing Street [April 1, 1850] |chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1140/1140-h/1140-h.htm#link2H_4_0003 |access-date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727042230/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1140/1140-h/1140-h.htm#link2H_4_0003 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The latter would become the consensus view of scholars for much of the 20th century. Historian [[Boyd Hilton]] wrote that he was portrayed as:{{blockquote|The great Conservative patriot: a pragmatic gradualist, as superb in his grasp of fundamental issues as he was adroit in handling administrative detail, intelligent enough to see through abstract theories, a conciliator who put nation before party and established consensus politics.<ref>Boyd Hilton, "Peel: A Reappraisal," ''Historical Journal'' 22#3 (1979) pp. 585–614 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638656 quote p. 587] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216021057/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638656 |date=16 February 2017 }}</ref>}}

Biographer [[Norman Gash]] wrote that Peel "looked first, not to party, but to the state; not to programmes, but to national expediency".<ref>Gash, vol. 1, pp 13–14.</ref> Gash added that among his personal qualities were, "administrative skill, capacity for work, personal integrity, high standards, a sense of duty [and] an outstanding intellect".<ref>Gash, vol. 2, p. 712.</ref>

{{Conservatism UK}}

Gash emphasised the role of personality in Peel's political career:{{blockquote|Peel was endowed with great intelligence and integrity, and an immense capacity for hard work. A proud, stubborn, and quick-tempered man he had a passion for creative achievement; and the latter part of his life was dominated by his deep concern for the social condition of the country. Though his great debating and administrative talents secured him an outstanding position in Parliament, his abnormal sensitivity and coldness of manner debarred him from popularity among his political followers, except for the small circle of his intimate friends. As an administrator he was one of the greatest public servants in British history; in politics he was a principal architect of the modern conservative tradition. By insisting on changes unpalatable to many of his party, he helped to preserve the flexibility of the parliamentary system and the survival of aristocratic influence. The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 won him immense prestige in the country, and his death in 1850 caused a national demonstration of sorrow unprecedented since the death of William Pitt in 1806.<ref>Norman Gash, "Peel, Sir Robert" ''Collier Encyclopedia'' (1996), v. 15, p. 528.</ref>}}

Peel was the first British Prime Minister to have been photographed while in office.<ref>Adelman, ''Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850'', 86–87; Ramsay, 365.</ref>
Peel is featured on the cover of [[The Beatles]]' [[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)|''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'']] album.

A 2021 study in ''[[The Economic Journal]]'' found that the repeal of the corn laws adversely affected the welfare of the top 10% of income earners in Britain, whereas the bottom 90% of income earners gained.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Irwin |first1=Douglas A. |last2=Chepeliev |first2=Maksym G. |date=2021 |title=The Economic Consequences of Sir Robert Peel: A Quantitative Assessment of the Repeal of the Corn Laws* |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab029 |journal=The Economic Journal |volume=131 |issue=ueab029 |pages=3322–3337 |doi=10.1093/ej/ueab029 |issn=0013-0133 |access-date=15 May 2021 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004014537/https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/131/640/3322/6219863?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live}}</ref>

A student association of the [[University of Glasgow]], the Peel Club was founded in 1836 and named after Peel (who was a patron of the organisation).<ref>{{cite web |title=UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW—PEEL CLUB |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1840/mar/17/university-of-glasgow-peel-club#S3V0052P0_18400317_HOC_19 |access-date=2024-08-15 |work=Hansard}}</ref> It later became the [[Glasgow University Conservative Association]].<ref>[http://cheshire.cent.gla.ac.uk/ead/search?operation=search&fieldidx1=bath.corporateName&fieldrel1=exact&fieldcont1=glasgow%20university%20conservative%20club Listing of the society's archival holdings on the University of Glasgow Archives Hub]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070411/http://cheshire.cent.gla.ac.uk/ead/search?operation=search&fieldidx1=bath.corporateName&fieldrel1=exact&fieldcont1=glasgow%20university%20conservative%20club Archived] from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2024.</ref> In 2024, a group claiming to be the revived Peel Club was founded in Pall Mall, London.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thepeelclub.org/archive | title=Archives }}</ref>

===Art collector===
From 1820 Peel began amassing a major art collection, acquiring works by Dutch and Flemish [[Old Masters]]. He also commissioned a number of paintings by contemporary British artists including ''[[A Frost Scene]]'' by [[William Collins (painter)|William Collins]], ''Napoleon Musing at St Helena'' by [[Benjamin Robert Haydon]] and ''John Knox Preaching Before the Lords of Congregation'' by [[David Wilkie (artist)|David Wilkie]].<ref>Gash, Norman. ''Mr Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830''. Faber & Faber, 2011. p.275-6</ref>

The biggest commissions Peel handed out were to [[Sir Thomas Lawrence]], the [[President of the Royal Academy]], who painted fifteen portraits for him between 1820 and his death in 1830. This made Peel Lawrence's greatest patron after [[George IV]]. The works Lawrence produced featured leading politicians and prominent figures of literature as well as portraits of Peel's family, notably his 1827 ''[[Portrait of Julia, Lady Peel]]''. <ref>Gash, Norman. ''Mr Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830''. Faber & Faber, 2011. p.277-79</ref>
Peel displayed his Old Masters in his London residence at Whitehall Gardens, while Lawrence's portraits were located in a dedicated gallery at Drayton Manor.<ref>Gash p.279-80 </ref> Many of these works were then sold by his son to the [[National Gallery]] in 1871.

==Memorials==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2018}}<!--most entries are not cited-->

===Statues===
Statues of Sir Robert Peel are found in the following British and Australian locations:
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Peel Memorial, Bury|Memorial]] outside the Robert Peel public house in [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]] town centre, his birthplace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.panoramio.com/photo/11220446 |title=Sir Robert Peel Statue Bury |publisher=Panoramio.com |access-date=26 August 2010 |archive-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821094129/https://www.panoramio.com/photo/11220446 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Parliament Square]], London.
* Peel Park in [[Accrington]].
* [[Winckley Square]] in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] city centre.
* [[West Midlands Police]] Training Centre, [[Edgbaston]], Birmingham.
* [[Piccadilly Gardens]] in Manchester.
* [[Montrose, Angus|Montrose]] town centre.
* [[Woodhouse Moor]], [[Leeds]].
* [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] town centre.
* [[George Square]], Glasgow.
* [[Peel Park, Bradford]].
* [[Wool Exchange, Bradford]].
* Peel Centre, [[Hendon Police College]], [[Hendon]].
* [[Gawsworth Old Hall]], Cheshire.
* High Street, [[Dronfield]]
* [[Sandy Bay, Tasmania]], Australia.
}}
<gallery>
File:Peel Memorial.jpg|Statue by [[Edward Hodges Baily]] in Bury
File:Robert Peel statue.jpg|[[Statue of Robert Peel, Parliament Square|Statue]] in [[Parliament Square]], London
File:Statue of Sir Robert Peel, Piccadilly Gardens - geograph.org.uk - 1278311.jpg|Statue in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
File:Peel Statue Leeds.jpg|Statue in [[Woodhouse Moor]], Leeds
File:Robert Peel statue, Glasgow.JPG|Statue in [[George Square]], Glasgow
File:Robert Peel statue, Peel Pk, Bradford-800.jpg|Statue in [[Peel Park, Bradford]]
File:Sir Robert Peel, Gawsworth, East Cheshire.JPG|Statue near [[Gawsworth Old Hall]]
File:Statue of Robert Peel in Edgbaston, Birmingham.jpg|Statue in [[Edgbaston]], Birmingham 
</gallery>

===Public houses and hotels===
The following [[public house]]s, bars or hotels are named after Peel:<ref>The UK-based Peel Hotels group are named after their founders Robert and Charles Peel, not Sir Robert Peel.</ref>

====United Kingdom====
[[File:Sir Robert Peel pub Leicester.jpg|thumb|upright=1.14|Sir Robert Peel pub, Leicester]]
* Sir Robert Peel pub Bury, behind his statue Former Wetherspoon.
* Sir Robert Peel public house, [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sir-Robert-Peel-Public-House/197326926954183/|title=The Sir Robert Peel / Public House|work=Facebook|access-date=7 May 2014|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505211922/https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sir-Robert-Peel-Public-House/197326926954183/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Peel Hotel, [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepeelhotel.com/|title=Peel Hotel Aldergate Tamworth: Hotels – welcome|website=Thepeelhotel.com|access-date=20 September 2008|archive-date=11 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311185029/http://www.thepeelhotel.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Sir Robert Peel public house, Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire.
* Sir Robert Peel public house, [[Heckmondwike]], West Yorkshire.
* Sir Robert Peel public house,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everards.co.uk/pubs/sir_robert_peel_125/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927080423/http://www.everards.co.uk/pubs/sir_robert_peel_125/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 September 2006 |title=Sir Robert Peel, Leicester, Leicestershire |publisher=Everards |access-date=26 August 2010 }}</ref> [[Leicester]].
* Sir Robert Peel public house, Malden Road, London NW5.
* Sir Robert Peel public house, Peel Precinct, Kilburn, London NW6.
* Sir Robert Peel public house, London SE17.
* Sir Robert Peel Hotel, [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]].
* Peel Park Hotel, Accrington, Lancashire.
* Sir Robert Peel public house [[Rowley Regis]].
* Sir Robert Peel public house, [[Southsea]].
* Sir Robert Peel public house,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thepotteries.org/inns/longton/sir_robert_peel.htm |title=Sir Robert Peel – Dresden – Longton |publisher=Thepotteries.org |access-date=26 August 2010 |archive-date=19 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619214900/http://thepotteries.org/inns/longton/sir_robert_peel.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Stoke-on-Trent]].
* Sir Robert Peel public house, [[Kingston upon Thames]], Surrey.
* Sir Robert Peel public house, [[Bloxwich]], [[Walsall]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://sir-robert-peel.co.uk/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013204107/http://sir-robert-peel.co.uk/ | archive-date=13 October 2007 | title=The Sir Robert Peel – Pub and Restaurant – Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands}}</ref>

====Elsewhere====
* The Sir Robert Peel Hotel (colloquially known as "The Peel"), a gay bar and nightclub located at the corner of Peel and Wellington Streets in the Melbourne suburb of [[Collingwood, Victoria|Collingwood]], in Australia.
* The Sir Robert Peel Hotel on the corner of Queensberry Street and Peel Street in the Melbourne suburb of [[North Melbourne, Victoria]], in Australia. 
* The Sir Robert Peel Motor Lodge Hotel, [[Alexandria Bay, New York]].

===Other memorials===
* [[Peel Park, Bradford]], is named after Sir Robert Peel. It is one of the largest parks in the city, and indeed [[Yorkshire]].
* The [[Peel Monument, Ramsbottom|Peel Monument]], built on top of Holcombe Hill in [[Ramsbottom]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Bury|Bury]].
* The Sir Robert Peel Hospital in [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]].
* A small monument in the centre of the town of [[Dronfield]] in Derbyshire. Nearby is the Peel Centre, a community centre in a former Methodist church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dronfield.gov.uk/PeelCentre.shtml |title=Peel Centre |access-date=19 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211182948/http://www.dronfield.gov.uk/PeelCentre.shtml |archive-date=11 December 2008}}</ref>
* Peel Streets in the CBD of [[Melbourne]], and in [[Collingwood, Victoria|Collingwood]], both in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Australia.
* Peel Street in the CBD, [[Adelaide, South Australia]].
* Peel Street in Prospect, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
* [[Peel Street (Montreal)|Peel Street]] in Montreal and its [[Peel station (Montreal Metro)|Peel Metro station]]. The street also features a high-rise residential building named Sir-Robert-Peel.
* The [[Peel River (New South Wales)|Peel River]] in [[Tamworth, New South Wales]], Australia.
* [[Peel High School]] in [[Tamworth, New South Wales]], Australia.
* [[Peel, New South Wales|Peel]] in [[Tamworth, New South Wales|New South Wales]], Australia.
* Robert Peel Primary School in [[Sandy, Bedfordshire]].
* A British steamer named SS ''Sir Robert Peel'', based in Canada, was burned by American forces on 29 May 1838, at the height of American-Canadian tensions over the [[Caroline affair|''Caroline'' affair]].
* [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]]-raised musician [[Julian Cope]] sings "the king and queen have offered me the estate of Robert Peel" on the song "Laughing Boy", from his 1984 LP ''[[Fried (album)|Fried]]''.
* The right wing of the [[Trafford Centre]] is called Peel Avenue, named after Robert Peel.
* The official mascot of [[Bury Football Club]] is Robbie the Bobby, in honour of Sir Robert Peel.
* One of the buildings which make up the [[Home Office]] headquarters, [[2 Marsham Street]], is named Peel.
* The Peel building, situated on Peel Campus of the [[University of Salford]].
* The Sir Robert Peel monument on the corner of George and High Streets, Montrose, Scotland
* Peel Crescent in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK.
* [[Peel Street, Hong Kong]], a small street in Hong Kong.
* The [[Peel River (Canada)|Peel River]] in the [[Yukon]] and [[Northwest Territories]], Canada.
* Peel Street in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, is named in his honour.
* The [[Regional Municipality of Peel]] (originally Peel County) in [[Ontario]], Canada.
** [[10 Peel Centre Drive]] and Peel Centre.
** [[Peel Regional Police]].
** [[Peel Regional Paramedic Services]].
** [[Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board]].
** [[Peel District School Board]].
** former [[Peel Memorial Hospital]] (closed 2007) in [[Brampton, Ontario]].
* New Zealand pioneer [[Francis Jollie]] settled in [[Canterbury Region|Canterbury]] in 1853 and named [[Peel Forest Park|Peel Forest]] after the former prime minister, as he had died in the year that Canterbury was founded. The [[Mount Peel|adjacent mountain]] and the [[Peel Forest|settlement that formed]] also took Peel's name.{{sfn|Reed|2010|p=310}}
* The names "bobbies" and "peelers" for [[British police]] officers.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/bobby |title=Bobby |encyclopedia=Britannica |access-date=12 February 2021 |quote=Bobby, slang term for a member of London’s Metropolitan Police derived from the name of Sir Robert Peel, who established the force in 1829. Police officers in London are also known as “peelers” for the same reason. |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225013244/https://www.britannica.com/topic/bobby |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Peel's Acts]] are named after Peel.

===In literature===
[[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] gave her tribute to Sir Robert in her poetical illustration ''Sir Robert Peel'' to [[Thomas Lawrence]]'s portrait in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837.<ref>{{cite book |last=Landon |first=Letitia Elizabeth |title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA14 |section=poetical illustration |page=10 |year=1836 |publisher=Fisher, Son & Co. |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206114609/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA14 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Landon |first=Letitia Elizabeth |title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA16 |section=picture |year=1836 |publisher=Fisher, Son & Co. |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206114610/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=39BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA16 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837/Sir Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel,<br />a poetical illustration<br /> by L. E. L.}}

Robert Peel is a secondary character in the novel ''Dodger'' by [[Terry Pratchett]].

Peel is an unseen nemesis of [[Harry Flashman]] in the humorous [[The Flashman Papers|Flashman novels]] by George MacDonald Fraser. A young Flashman regularly battled with Peel's nascent London police force.

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
|image = Robert Peel Coat of Arms.svg
|escutcheon = Argent three [[English longbow|sheaves of as many arrows]] Proper banded Gules; on a chief Azure a bee volant, Or.
|crest = A demi lion rampant Argent gorged with a collar Azure charged with three [[bezant]]s, holding between the paws a [[shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]] Or.
|motto = {{Sqc|'''{{wikt-lang|la|industria|INDUSTRIA}}'''}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Bernard |first=Burke |date=1851 |title=Encyclopædia of heraldry, or General armory of England, Scotland and Ireland : comprising a registry of all armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, including the late grants by the College of arms |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopdiaofher00burk |location=London |publisher=H. G. Bohn}}</ref>
}}

==See also==
* [[Peelian principles]]
* [[Benjamin Hick]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Adelman |first=Paul |title=Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850 |url=https://archive.org/details/peelconservative0000adel |url-access=registration |publisher=Longman |location=London and New York |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-582-35557-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Blake |first=Robert |title=Disraeli |publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York |year=1967}}
* {{cite book |last=Clark |first=George Kitson |title=Peel and the Conservative Party: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841 |publisher=Archon Books, The Shoe String Press, Inc |location=Hamden, Connecticut |edition=2nd |year=1964}}
* {{cite journal |last=Cragoe |first=Matthew |year=2013 |title=Sir Robert Peel and the 'Moral Authority'of the House of Commons, 1832–41 |journal=English Historical Review |volume=128 |issue=530 |pages=55–77 |doi=10.1093/ehr/ces357 |doi-access= }}
* {{cite journal |last=Davis |first=Richard W. | year=1980 |title=Toryism to Tamworth: The Triumph of Reform, 1827–1835 |journal=Albion |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=132–146 |doi=10.2307/4048814 |jstor=4048814 }}
* {{cite book |last=Evans |first= Eric J. |title=Sir Robert Peel: Statesmanship, Power and Party |publisher=Lancaster Pamphlets |edition=2nd |date= 2006<!--128pp-->}}
* {{cite book |last=Farnsworth |first= Susan H. |title=The Evolution of British Imperial Policy During the Mid-nineteenth Century: A Study of the Peelite Contribution, 1846–1874 |publisher=Garland Books |date=1992}}
* {{cite book |last=Gash |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Gash |title=Mr. Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830 |publisher=Longmans |location=New York |year=1961}}, vol. 1 of the standard scholarly biography.
** {{cite book |last=Gash |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Gash |title=Sir Robert Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel after 1830 |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |location=Totowa, New Jersey |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-87471-132-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sirrobertpeellif0000gash }}; vol. 2 of the standard scholarly biography.
* {{cite book |last=Gash |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Gash |title=Politics in the Age of Peel |year=1953 |isbn=978-0-87471-132-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sirrobertpeellif0000gash |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield |location=Totowa, NJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Gaunt |first=Richard A. |title=Sir Robert Peel: the life and legacy |place=London |publisher=I.B. Tauris |date=2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Halévy |first=Elie |title=Victorian years, 1841–1895 |volume=4 |series=A History of the English People |date=1961 |pages=5–159}}
* {{cite book |last=Hurd |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Hurd |title=Robert Peel: A Biography |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |date=2007}} {{ISBN|978-0-7538-2384-2}}

* Irwin, Douglas A., and Maksym G. Chepeliev. "The economic consequences of Sir Robert Peel: a quantitative assessment of the repeal of the Corn Laws." ''Economic Journal'' 131.640 (2021): 3322-3337. [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28142/w28142.pdf online]
*Morrell, William Parker. ''British colonial policy in the age of Peel and Russell'' (Routledge, 2023) .

* {{cite journal |last=Newbould |first=Ian |title=Sir Robert Peel and the Conservative Party, 1832–1841: A Study in Failure? |journal=English Historical Review |volume=98 |issue=388 |pages=529–557 |date=1983 |ref=529–557 |jstor=569783 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCVIII.CCCLXXXVIII.529}}
* {{cite DNB |wstitle=Peel, Robert (1788-1850) |display=Peel, Robert (1788–1850) |volume=44 |short=x}}
* {{cite ODNB |last=Prest |first= John |title=Peel, Sir Robert, second baronet (1788–1850) |orig-year=2004 |date=May 2009 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21764 |access-date=17 September 2014 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/21764}}
* {{cite book |last=Ramsay |first=A. A. W. |title=Sir Robert Peel |year=1928 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173950}}
* Read, Charles. "The Political Economy of Sir Robert Peel." in ''Money and Markets: Essays in Honour of Martin Daunton'' (2019): 71-89.

* {{cite book |last=Read |first=Charles |title=The Great Famine in Ireland and Britain's Financial Crisis |publication-place=Woodbridge |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-80010-627-7 |oclc=1338837777}}
* Read, Charles. (2023). ''Calming the Storms: The Carry Trade, the Banking School and British Financial Crises Since 1825.'' Palgrave Macmillan. pp.&nbsp;21−54.
* {{cite book |last=Read |first=Donald |title=Peel and the Victorians |publisher=Basil Blackwell Ltd |location=Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-631-15725-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Reed |first=A. W. |author-link=Alexander Wyclif Reed |title=Place Names of New Zealand |year=2010 |publisher=Raupo |location=Rosedale, North Shore |isbn=9780143204107 |editor=Peter Dowling}}

===Historiography===
* {{cite book |last=Gaunt |first=Richard A. |title=Sir Robert Peel: The Life and Legacy |publisher=IB Tauris |date=2010 |ref=ch. 1, 8}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hilton |first=Boyd |title=Peel: a reappraisal |journal=Historical Journal |date=1979 |ref=22#3 pp: 585–614 |jstor=2638656 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=585–614 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00017003 |s2cid=161856932}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lentz |first1=Susan A. |first2=Robert H. |last2=Smith |first3=R. A. |last3=Chaires |title=The invention of Peel's principles: A study of policing 'textbook' history |journal=Journal of Criminal Justice |volume=35 |pages=69–79 |date=2007 |ref=35#1. pp.&nbsp;69–79 |doi=10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.016}}
* {{cite book |last=Loades |first= David Michael |title=Reader's guide to British history |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |date=2003 |volume=2 |ref=pp.&nbsp;1027–28, 1594}}

===Primary sources===
* {{citation |last=Parker |first=C. S. |title=Sir Robert Peel: from his private papers |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924088016492 |volume=3 vols. 1891–99 |format=vol 1 online |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=1899}}
* {{citation |last1=Peel |first1=Sir Robert |last2=(Earl) |first2=Philip Henry Stanhope Stanhope |last3=Cardwell |first3=Viscount Edward Cardwell |title=Memoirs by the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vMYEAAAAYAAJ |volume=1 online |format=vol 2–3 online |work=(3 vol 1856–57) |year=1857}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-robert-peel-1 | Sir Robert Peel, Bt }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070426033718/http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page151.asp More about Sir Robert Peel] on the Downing Street website.
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/history/pms/peel/peel10.html Biography of Sir Robert Peel] at www.victorianweb.org
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/history/pms/peel/peelov.html An overview of the career of Sir Robert Peel] at www.victorianweb.org
* [http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/peelhome.htm The Peel Web] For A-level History students
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=nr0RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA231 ''Sir Robert Peel''], a memorial biography by [[H. Morse Stephens]]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert Peel}}
* {{Librivox author |id=8605}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{NPG name|name=Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt}}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Peel, Sir Robert |volume=21 |pages=40–44 |short=1}}

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{{s-end}}

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