The Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel Bt FRS
Portrait by Henry William Pickersgill
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 30 August 1841 – 29 June 1846
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	The Viscount Melbourne
Succeeded by	Lord John Russell
In office 10 December 1834 – 8 April 1835
Monarch	William IV
Preceded by	The Duke of Wellington
Succeeded by	The Viscount Melbourne
Leader of the Opposition
In office 18 April 1835 – 30 August 1841
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Viscount Melbourne
Succeeded by	The Viscount Melbourne
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 15 December 1834 – 8 April 1835
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	The Lord Denman
Succeeded by	Thomas Spring Rice
Home Secretary
In office 26 January 1828 – 22 November 1830
Prime Minister	The Duke of Wellington
Preceded by	The Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded by	The Viscount Melbourne
In office 17 January 1822 – 10 April 1827
Prime Minister	The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded by	The Viscount Sidmouth
Succeeded by	William Sturges Bourne
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office August 1812 – August 1818
Prime Minister	The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded by	The Earl of Mornington
Succeeded by	Charles Grant
Personal details
Born	(1788-02-05)5 February 1788 Bury, Lancashire, England
Died	2 July 1850(1850-07-02) (aged 62) Westminster, Middlesex, England
Resting place	St Peter Churchyard, Drayton Bassett
Political party	Tory (1809–1834) Conservative (1834–1846) Peelite (from 1846)
Spouse	Julia Floyd ​ (m. 1820)​
Children	7, including Robert, Frederick, William and Arthur
Parent	Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet (father)
Education	Harrow School
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford (BA) Lincoln's Inn
Signature
Military service
Years of service	1820
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Staffordshire Yeomanry

This article is part of a series about Robert Peel
Tories Conservative Party Peelite MP for Tamworth Home Secretary Metropolitan Police Act 1829 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom First term Ministry Tamworth Manifesto 1835 general election Second term 1841 general election Ministry Mines and Collieries Act 1842 Income Tax Act 1842 Factory Act 1844 Railway Regulation Act 1844 Irish Famine Repeal of Corn Laws
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Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, FRS (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–1835), and twice as Home Secretary (1822–1827, 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of modern British policing, owing to his founding of the Metropolitan Police Service. Peel was one of the founders of the modern 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 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 served as 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]

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Peel received his early education from a clergyman tutor in Bury and at a clergyman's local school in Tamworth.^[1] He may also have attended Bury Grammar School or Hipperholme Grammar School, though evidence for either is anecdotal rather than textual.^[5] He started at Harrow School in February 1800.^[6]

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".^[7] On Harrow's Speech Day in 1804, Peel and Byron acted part of Virgil's Aeneid, Peel playing Turnus and Byron playing Latinus.^[1][8]

In 1805, Peel matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford.^[9] His tutor was Charles Lloyd, later Regius Professor of Divinity,^[10] on Peel's recommendation appointed Bishop of Oxford.^[11] In 1808 Peel became the first Oxford student to take a double first in Classics and Mathematics.^[12]

Peel was a law student at Lincoln's Inn in 1809.^[13] He also held military commissions as a captain in the Manchester Regiment of Militia in 1808,^[14] and later as lieutenant in the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1820.^[15]

Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21, as MP for the Irish rotten borough of Cashel, 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]

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]

Peel was considered one of the rising stars of the Tory party and was one of its influential members. Peel, at the age of 34, first entered the cabinet of Lord Liverpool in 1822 as Home Secretary, one of the Great Offices of State, thus becoming a senior minister in the government. He was, at the time, one of the youngest politicians to hold senior position in cabinet during the 19th century.^[26] As Home Secretary, he introduced a large number of important reforms to British criminal law and transformed the legislature, the justice system and prisons. By his reforming nature, Peel proved himself to be an capable minister.^[27]

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.^[28]

In 1827 the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool became incapacitated and was replaced by George Canning. Peel resigned as home secretary.^[29] 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 anti-Catholic Orange Order).^[30] 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.^[31] During this time he was widely perceived as the number-two in the Tory Party, after Wellington himself.^[32]

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.^[33] 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.^[34]

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^[35] 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".^[1]

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.^[36] Peel lost his seat in a by-election in February 1829, but soon found another, moving to a rotten borough, Westbury, retaining his Cabinet position.^[37] He stood for Tamworth in the 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.^[38]

Wellington threatened to resign if King George IV did not give Royal assent;^[39] 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:^[40] according to Norman Gash, Peel had been "the idolized champion of the Protestant party; that party now regarded him as an outcast".^[41][42]

It was in 1829 that Peel established the Metropolitan Police Force for London based at Scotland Yard.^[43] 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,^[44] and, by 1857, all cities in Britain were obliged to form their own police forces.^[45] 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".^[46]

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]

Following the resignation of former Prime Minister Charles Grey, because an issue regarding Ireland's conciliatory reform and his position on Catholic emancipation. At the invitation of King William IV, Grey’s Home Secretary, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne was appointed Prime Minister. Despite this, the King disagreed with most of the Whig policies and wanted to dismiss the new government. In 16 November, Melbourne was dismissed by the King and offered the role to the ageing Duke of Wellington, who declined the position.

At the wake of Melbourne dismissal and the Duke refused office, by instead recommending making Peel prime minister. At the time of this news, Peel was on holiday in Sardinia and the King called on Wellington to form a government and took control of government affairs in a caretaker capacity until Peel returned. The Wellington caretaker ministry lasted a month and on 10 December, Peel officially became prime minister and formed his first government.

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. When Peel appointed his cabinet on 10 December, the Tory Party did not had a sufficient number of members and appointing ministers to government was limited due to many capable MPs losing some of their seas and the reduction of a parliamentary majority in the 1832 general election. Peel was to become his own Chancellor of the Exchequer due to the lack of MPs to be appointed to his new ministry and Peel called on the Duke of Wellington to serve from the House of Lords as Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Lords.

Other senior ministers included in Peel’s first government included Henry Goulburn as Home Secretary, Lord Lyndhurst as Lord High Chancellor, the Earl of Rosslyn as Lord President of the Council, Lord Wharncliffe as Lord Privy Seal, Lord Ellenborough as President of the Board of Control, Sir Alexander Barring as President of the Board of Trade. Parliament was dissolved at the behest of the King during the final days of December 1834, in order to increase his party’s majority in Parliament and gain a strong government, 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.^[51]

As his statement of policy at the general election of January 1835, Peel issued the Tamworth Manifesto.^[52] This document was the basis on which the modern Conservative Party was founded. In it, Peel pledged that the Conservatives would endorse modest reform such as reforms concerning economic and financial affairs, free trade and factory workers' rights.^[53]

The Whigs formed a compact with Daniel O'Connell's Irish Radical members to repeatedly defeat the government on various bills.^[54] Eventually, after only about 100 days in government, Peel's ministry resigned out of frustration and the Whigs under Lord Melbourne returned to power.^[55] 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.^[56]

In May 1839 he was offered another chance to form a government, this time by the new monarch, Queen Victoria.^[57] 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;^[58] 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.^[59] 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.^[60]

By 1839, the Whig government under William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose government and party had both suffered and faced many calamitous defeats in the House of Commons, although Melbourne who had still retained the firm and unwavering support of the young Queen. But unfortunately for him, a vote of no confidence was set in motion by Peel himself and by fellow Conservative MP John Stuart-Wortley, 2nd Baron Wharncliffe against the government. The Whig government first lost the budget vote by 36 votes and then the vote of no confidence by one vote, although due to precedent Melbourne should have resigned that same year, but his cabinet decided to seek a dissolution and though Melbourne opposed it, but later accepting his ministers' wishes, convinced the Queen to dissolve Parliament.

In 1841, a general election was called by the incumbent Whig government and resulted in a major Conservative Party victory under Peel's leadership, who won a majority of around 367 seats in the House of Commons at the 1841 general election defeating the Whigs under Melbourne, who only won 273 seats, leading to a Whig minority in Parliament. In August 1842, Melbourne reluctantly resigned and Peel became Prime Minister for the second time, at the invitation of the Queen. And this led to the formation of the Second Peel ministry which would govern and dominate the legislature in Britain for the next five years.

When Peel became Prime Minister, he had to grapple with a task of reforming an economy, which his predecessors have faced since in 1838, which other governments failed to accomplish. The following the year, Peel finally had a chance to head a majority government following the election of July 1841.^[61] Peel came to office during one of the worst economic recessions 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.

Although in order to solve the situation, Peel did not immediately use emergency loans in haste in the autumn of 1841. During the winter of 1841-2, Peel and his cabinet resolved to take stock and then put forward an budget fit for the situation. One of the new government's first economic reforms was land tax, which some of his supporters told that the country's total GDP had been overrun by the depreciation of the use of manufacturing. The problem lay with the cost of manufacturing, which greatly reduced the production of industries, which could be taken to an another country for manufacturing. This could increase the price of products. Land reform also saw the Peel ministry that not population had outrun capital, but that power of production had overtaken the capacity to consume. The government then reduced cost of living by making British cities and towns to live in cheap.

On 11 March 1842, Peel himself introduced the budget to the House of Commons, with Chancellor Henry Goulburn playing a minor role in making Fiscal management. Peel's plan to generate capital, by first to raise revenue, Peel's 1842 budget saw the re-introduction of the income tax,^[62] removed previously at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The rate was 7d in the pound on incomes over £150 p.a. was to be imposed for a three year period or just under 3 per cent. This turned the deficit into surplus. The money and revenue raised was more than expected and allowed for the removal and reduction of over 1,200 tariffs on imports including the controversial sugar duties.^[63]

With the money raised by the income tax, the surplus was as Peel proposed to undertake 'a complete review, on general principles, of all the articles of the tariff' and no duty will ever be prohibitive. Under this measure, imports and exports have to categorised into raw materials, semi-finished materials and manufactured products, which were not to pay more than 5%, 12% or 20% respectively. Although the economic reforms were Peel's finest hour, which ended a decade of financial crisis to the reform of all centuries. It was also in the 1842 budget that the repeal of the corn laws was first proposed.^[64] 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:

(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 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.^[65]

During his tenure as prime minister, Peel favoured an peaceful and diplomatic approach towards foreign policy. Europe was experiencing one of a long established peace since the Congress of Vienna and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In order to continue this balance of power and order in the continent, Peel opposed interventionist position, in fear of angering allies and potential enemies. Peel ardently opposed the foreign policy measures of prominent interventionist politicians such as Lord Palmerston's approach towards international politics. Peel appointed George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen as his Foreign Secretary, in the belief that Aberdeen would be suitable for the position of a competent minister in charge handling the affairs of the world stage. Peel sought to increase trade ties with Europe, mostly by ending tariffs and duties on foreign imports and products.

On international politics, Peel together with Aberdeen kept relations with France quiescent, to which the first Entente cordiale was formed for keeping more peaceful relations between the two countries. Both Peel and his French counterpart, Jean-de-Dieu Soult, sought recognition through the friendship between Lord Aberdeen and French Foreign Minister Francois Guizot, both of whom helped to secure the Anglo-French entente. As a part of the agreement, the British government allowed the transfer of Napoleon Bonaparte’s ashes from the island of St. Helena back to France. In 1843, leading politicians of both countries met at Château d'Eu in Normandy to the point of foundation of the entente. Also under Peel's direction, Britain kept open relations with the Austrian Empire largely out of Aberdeen's friendship with the Austrian Chancellor Klemens Von Metternich and was able to improve the damage done to the Anglo-Austrian relations by the previous government. Peel and Aberdeen were able to build new alliances with Eastern European countries and keep hostilities with the Russian Empire for a brief time.

Although relations with France became complicated during the period of government strife and a succession crisis in Spain after the death of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The country had been in decline since the 1820s and was rapidly decaying into an insignificant European power. The crisis that was looming was an succession crisis in the Spanish royal family and because of the scandalous regency of Maria Christina forced her into exile. But the crisis seemed to have settled when the succession was secured when, Maria Christina, the Queen Regent, was succeeded by her daughter Isabella as the new monarch, but still relations with Europe and its affairs seemed delicately balanced by the Peel ministry for the rest of its tenure.

Before Peel became into office, Britain was involved in a outgoing war in Afghanistan over Russian influence in Asia and India in a bitter political and military conflict known as the Great Game. The fear of Russian expansion into British controlled territories threatened British dominance over the area. Although diplomacy with Afghanistan remained relatively uneventful, when Russian emissaries were sent to Kabul to establish an alliance with the Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan, the British perceived this as a major violation.

In the spring of 1839, the British forces in India crossed the Indus River through the Khyber and Bolan passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains into Afghan territory and Dost Mohammad fled the capital in the summer of that year and was replaced him with Shah Shuja as ruler of Afghanistan and later the deposit Mohammad himself would surrender in late 1840 to the British.

Although initially successful, the occupation of the country and the rule of Shuja was proved highly unpopular and opposition to the perceived invasion was led by the Dost's son Akhbar Khan. In 1841, an insurrection broke out in Kabul and the city garrison of around 16,000 men were ambushed and were massacred by Afghan tribesmen in the Jalalabad pass. This ended the British occupation and a treaty was signed with the newly throned Dost Mohammad following British withdrawal.

In 1838, before Peel became prime minister, there have been growing tensions between the British East India Company and the Chinese Empire during the past years over the importation and trade of opium, which had been occurring for nearly a century. And when the trade of this particular product, due to it being smuggled unlawfully by merchants, it become a serious political and economic problem, was it was largely controversial. During the same year, opium became prohibited and made illegal by the Chinese imperial government under the Daoguang Emperor.

And as a result, the British government saw this as an offence against free trade and against British merchants' rights so war began in 1839. In 1842, the time by when Peel became Prime Minister, the war still continued with numerous British military successes against the Chinese navy and when Peel continued the British interests in the war in China, linked to the opium commerce, was able to guide the war to a successful end by signing on 29 August 1842 the Treaty of Nanking which effectively ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China.

It concluded with China's disastrous military defeat, which led to the Chinese ceding of the island of Hong Kong to the British and agreeing to more economic openness, which ultimately weakened the Qing regime and imperial influence during the following decades.^[66]

British territorial expansion in the Indian subcontinent had risen since 1750s and was still outgoing by the 1840s. The British controlled almost all of the country at this point and many of its subjects were now under British rule by the East India Company. The East India Company was instrumental in establishing British dominance over India and was gradually risen in power and authority, which handled the running of both the colonial government and the army.

British expansion in Northern India had been unstoppable and had under their control over Amritsar and Nepal. The British were looking to annex the province of Punjab and Gujarat in order complete its rule over the entirety of the subcontinent. In 1840s, the only obstacle in Britain's way of full domination was the Sikh Empire. The modern-day province of Punjab was under Sikh rule, but aside from annexing the region, the British feared that the Sikh power would threaten British rule in India and disrupt the local population. The British imposed isolating conditions on the Sikh Empire, in order to contain its influence within itself, as such by forbidding the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh from crossing the Sutlej River in 1809.

However in 1845, the new ruler of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Duleep Singh defied the British and crossed the Sutlej River on 11 December, leading the British to label it as an act of aggression. The British forces, under Governor-General Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, and commander-in-chief, General Sir Hugh Gough, matched to Ferozepur. The British won victories at the Battles of Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon and consequently captured Lahore. Shortly after the Sikhs were defeated, the Treaty of Lahore was signed on 9 March 1846, by which the British took the Jalandhar Doab, with war indemnities being paid by the Sikhs and the annexation of Jammu and Kashmir, thus ensuring British expansion in area.

Since the end of the American Revolutionary War in the 1780s, the United States and the United Kingdom was in a struggle over their claimed control over North America's Northwest Pacific coastline. Over 40 years later in 1824, both Britain, the United States and Russia had territorial claims in the region. But the strongest claims to this area belonged to Britain and the United Sates, by both countries claiming control territory west of the Canadian border. This was known as the Oregon Territory by Americans and Columbia by the British.

During the aftermath of the War of 1812, the Convention of 1818 tried to solve some of the territorial disputes between the two countries. In that agreement, both sides agreed joint-occupation and administration of the territory for the next 10 years and respecting subjects of both nations and allowing free trade, although Britain had the stronger claim to the region due to the activities of fur trappers. Despite this agreement, negotiations continued, the Americans suggested placing an boundary at the 59th Parallel, which the British declined by countering with an extension to the Columbia River.

These negotiations proved to be inconclusive and with British-American relations becoming strained. In 1845, U.S elected James K. Polk as President of the United States was open to negotiations and who sought to end the border dispute with Britain immediately. The government under Peel, also wanted to end the dispute, due to increasing tensions within his government on domestic affairs at home. Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen was one of the main signatories of what would become the Oregon Treaty. The treaty was signed on 15 June, 1846, which concluded the detention of the border to the 49th Parallel, authority over Vancouver Island in British North America and that British subjects retain exclusive navigation rights in the Columbia River. This ended the 28-year long dispute but not completely.

The Peel ministry was successful in calling for successful legislative reforms on improving lives of the working class. Peel saw the potential of improving the lives of workers in order to increase productivity and industrial growth and also the risk of losing lives to help that cause as devastating for Britain's social and economic development. First major legislative reforms of the Peel government was in developing working conditions to more suitable and safe institutions.

One of the earliest supporters of Peel's policies in this form of effort was his Home Secretary Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet, and more prominently among them, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, an Conservative MP. Although he was not in his government, Shaftesbury campaigned for workers' rights, better living condition and workplace security during the entirety of Peel's government. The Peel ministry introduced the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, one of the most important legislative pieces of his premiership.

Under this legislation, it forbade both women and children from working 11–12 hours a day, to be equipped with better clothing and trousers suitable for work in factories and coal mines. It also forbade children as young as 14 to work, with a 6 to 5 hour workday, with 3.5 hours of education given in benefit for the developing literacy skills of youths, women and men were to work for a maximum of 12 hours work each day. This major piece of legislation is Peel's most positive domestic reform.

The development of the train and locomotives in the 18th Century led to change in transportation. The first construction of railways and transportation development in the early 19th Century by engineers such as George Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel led a rapid technological growth in Britain. This positively impacted the country in the form of quick transportation from a city to a city and this access led to it being more and more developed up to the 1840s. Although access to this kind of travel was not affordable to the poor and was only enjoyed by those would afford the price.

The Peel government , who believed in the modernisation of British society as a force for reform and equality, set to making travel expenses and cost more affordable to the working man. In 1844, as a part of the Peel ministry’s reform program, the Railway Regulation Act 1844 was enacted by an royal assent. The act provided for the compulsory services at affordable prices and low cost to the poor and this enabled more people to easily search for work in cities and urban areas.

Although the act was generous in providing for cheap transportation, the railway companies were unhappy and were forced to grudgingly accept , although not in a spirit of the legislation. Rail companies provided a minimum train a day with facilities for third class passengers at an unpopular time during early morning or late at night. These were the original parliamentary trains. The reluctant tolerance of the act, was for the companies to avoid losing revenue if passengers who could afford to travel second class switched to the third, with the cost becoming more bearable.

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 government had already passed two major legislative policies by this point, especially the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, which was proposed by Lord Shaftesbury. Peel’s Home Secretary Sir James Graham]] proposed a new bill in Parliament and with Shaftesbury’s assistance, passed the second modest reform of the ministry, The Factory Act 1844.

It 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.^[67] 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. The Help provided by Lord Shaftesbury to by him was of great importance on the morality and modest image of the Peel government. It also made the British MP, one of the leading liberal Conservatives of his time and widespread recognition as a reformer, which also established by the coal mines act.

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, M'Naghten stalked Peel's personal secretary Edward Drummond in his way from Whitehall to Peel’s official residence at 10 Downing Street. M'Naghten then shot Drummond thinking he was Peel,^[68] which led to his trial. The court ruled that M'Naghten was mentally unstable and insane and sentenced to solitary confinement. This murder led to the formation of the controversial criminal defence of insanity. The shot proved to be fatal and Drummond died as a result of his injuries. ^[69]

The most notable act of Peel's second ministry, however, was the one that would bring it down.^[70] Peel moved against the landholders by repealing the Corn Laws, which supported agricultural revenues by restricting grain imports.^[71] This radical break with Conservative protectionism was triggered by the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849).^[72] Tory agriculturalists were sceptical of the extent of the problem,^[73] 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".^[74]

His own party failed to support the bill, but it passed with Whig and Radical support. On the third reading of Peel's Bill of Repeal (Importation Act 1846) on 15 May, 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, and Tory protectionists".^[75] Following this, on 29 June 1846, Peel resigned as prime minister.^[76]

Though he knew repealing the laws would mean the end of his ministry, Peel decided to do so.^[77] 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.^[78] Peel's support for free trade could already be seen in his 1842 and 1845 budgets;^[79] in late 1842 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.^[80] Speaking to the cabinet in 1844, Peel argued that the choice was the maintenance of the 1842 Corn Law or total repeal.^[81] 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.^[82][83] 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,^[84] 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 programs had little effect on the situation in Ireland.^[85] 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.^[86]

Peel did, however, retain a hard core of supporters, known as Peelites,^[87] 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.^[88] 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.

Peel was thrown from his horse while riding on 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.^[89]

His body was buried in the churchyard of St Peter Church, Drayton 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.^[90]

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 and was married on 8 June 1820.^[92] They had seven children:^[93]

• 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. She married her second husband, Charles Brandling, on 12 September 1865.
• Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet (4 May 1822 – 9 May 1895). He married Lady Emily Hay on 17 June 1856. They had five children.
• Sir Frederick Peel (26 October 1823 – 6 June 1906). He married Elizabeth Shelley (niece of the poet Percy Shelley through his brother John: died 30 July 1865) on 12 August 1857. He was remarried to Janet Pleydell-Bouverie on 3 September 1879.
• Sir William Peel (2 November 1824 – 27 April 1858).
• John Floyd Peel (24 May 1827 – 21 April 1910). He married Annie Jenny in 1851.
• Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount 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. In 1895 he became Viscount Peel and was father of the first Earl Peel.
• Eliza Peel (c. 1832 – April 1883). She married Hon. Francis Stonor (son of Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys) on 25 September 1855. They had four children.

Julia, Lady Peel, died in 1859. Some of her 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[94] Others idealised Peel in heroic terms; Thomas Carlyle referred to him as a "reforming Hercules" in Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850).^[95]

The latter would become the consensus view of scholars for much of the 20th century. Historian Boyd Hilton wrote that he was portrayed as:

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.^[96]

Biographer Norman Gash wrote that Peel "looked first, not to party, but to the state; not to programmes, but to national expediency".^[97] 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".^[98]

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Gash emphasised the role of personality in Peel's political career:

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.^[99]

Peel is featured on the cover of The Beatles' 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.^[100]

Statues of Sir Robert Peel are found in the following British and Australian locations:

• 
  Statue by Edward Hodges Baily in Bury
• 
  Statue in Parliament Square, London
• 
  Statue in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
• 
  Statue in Woodhouse Moor, Leeds
• 
  Statue in George Square, Glasgow
• 
  Statue in Peel Park, Bradford
• 
  Statue near Gawsworth Old Hall
• 
  Statue in Edgbaston, Birmingham

The following public houses, bars or hotels are named after Peel:^[102]

• Sir Robert Peel pub Bury, behind his statue Former Wetherspoon.
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Tamworth.^[103]
• Peel Hotel, Tamworth.^[104]
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Edgeley, Stockport, Cheshire.
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire.
• Sir Robert Peel public house,^[105] 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.
• Peel Park Hotel, Accrington, Lancashire.
• Sir Robert Peel public house Rowley Regis.
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Southsea.
• Sir Robert Peel public house,^[106] Stoke-on-Trent.
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.
• Sir Robert Peel public house, Bloxwich, Walsall.^[107]

• 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, 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.

• Peel Park, Bradford is named after Sir Robert Peel. It is one of the largest parks in the city, and indeed Yorkshire.
• Peel Tower Monument, built on top of Holcombe Hill in Ramsbottom, Bury.
• The Sir Robert Peel Hospital in 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.^[108]
• Peel Streets in the CBD of Melbourne, and in Collingwood, both in Victoria, Australia.
• Peel Street in the CBD, Adelaide, South Australia.
• Peel Street, Montreal and its Peel Metro station. The street also features a high-rise residential building named Sir-Robert-Peel.
• The Peel River in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
• Peel High School in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
• Peel in 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.
• 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.
• 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 St, 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.
• 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 in 1853 and named Peel Forest after the former prime minister, as he had died in the year that Canterbury was founded. The adjacent mountain and the settlement that formed also took Peel's name.^[109]
• The names "bobbies" and "peelers" for British police officers.^[110]
• Peel's Acts are named after Peel.

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.^[111]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Sir Robert Peel,
a poetical illustration
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 Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser. A young Flashman regularly battled with Peel's nascent London police force.

Coat of arms of Robert Peel

Crest A demi lion rampant Argent gorged with a collar Azure charged with three bezants, holding between the paws a shuttle Or. Escutcheon Argent three sheaves of as many arrows Proper banded Gules; on a chief Azure a bee volant, Or. Motto INDUSTRIA[112]

• Peelian principles
• Benjamin Hick

• Adelman, Paul (1989). Peel and the Conservative Party: 1830–1850. London and New York: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-35557-6.
• Blake, Robert (1967). Disraeli. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Clark, George Kitson (1964). Peel and the Conservative Party: A Study in Party Politics 1832–1841 (2nd ed.). Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, The Shoe String Press, Inc.
• Cragoe, Matthew (2013). "Sir Robert Peel and the 'Moral Authority'of the House of Commons, 1832–41". English Historical Review. 128 (530): 55–77. doi:10.1093/ehr/ces357.
• Davis, Richard W. (1980). "Toryism to Tamworth: The Triumph of Reform, 1827–1835". Albion. 12 (2): 132–146. doi:10.2307/4048814. JSTOR 4048814.
• Evans, Eric J. (2006). Sir Robert Peel: Statesmanship, Power and Party (2nd ed.). Lancaster Pamphlets.
• Farnsworth, Susan H. (1992). The Evolution of British Imperial Policy During the Mid-nineteenth Century: A Study of the Peelite Contribution, 1846–1874. Garland Books.
• Gash, Norman (1961). Mr. Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830. New York: Longmans., vol 1 of the standard scholarly biography
  • Gash, Norman (1972). Sir Robert Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel after 1830. Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-87471-132-5.; vol. 2 of the standard scholarly biography
• Gash, Norman (1953). Politics in the Age of Peel. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-87471-132-5.
• Gaunt, Richard A. (2010). Sir Robert Peel: the life and legacy. London: I.B. Tauris.
• Halévy, Elie (1961). Victorian years, 1841–1895. A History of the English People. Vol. 4. pp. 5–159.
• Hurd, Douglas (2007). Robert Peel: A Biography. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-7538-2384-2
• Newbould, Ian (1983). "Sir Robert Peel and the Conservative Party, 1832–1841: A Study in Failure?". English Historical Review. 98 (388): 529–557. doi:10.1093/ehr/XCVIII.CCCLXXXVIII.529. JSTOR 569783.
• "Peel, Robert (1788–1850)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 44. 1895.
• Prest, John (May 2009) [2004]. "Peel, Sir Robert, second baronet (1788–1850)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21764. Retrieved 17 September 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Ramsay, A. A. W. (1928). Sir Robert Peel.
• Read, Charles (2022). The Great Famine in Ireland and Britain's Financial Crisis. Woodbridge. ISBN 978-1-80010-627-7. OCLC 1338837777.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Read, Charles. (2023). Calming the Storms: The Carry Trade, the Banking School and British Financial Crises Since 1825. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 21−54.
• Read, Donald (1987). Peel and the Victorians. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd: Basil Blackwell Ltd. ISBN 978-0-631-15725-0.
• Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. ISBN 9780143204107.

• Gaunt, Richard A. (2010). Sir Robert Peel: The Life and Legacy. IB Tauris.
• Hilton, Boyd (1979). "Peel: a reappraisal". Historical Journal. 22 (3): 585–614. doi:10.1017/s0018246x00017003. JSTOR 2638656. S2CID 161856932.
• Lentz, Susan A.; Smith, Robert H.; Chaires, R. A. (2007). "The invention of Peel's principles: A study of policing 'textbook' history". Journal of Criminal Justice. 35: 69–79. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.11.016.
• Loades, David Michael (2003). Reader's guide to British history. Vol. 2. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

• Parker, C. S. (1899), Sir Robert Peel: from his private papers (vol 1 online), vol. 3 vols. 1891–99, London: John Murray
• Peel, Sir Robert; (Earl), Philip Henry Stanhope Stanhope; Cardwell, Viscount Edward Cardwell (1857), "Memoirs by the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel" (vol 2–3 online), (3 vol 1856–57), vol. 1 online

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Peel.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Robert Peel.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Peel, Bt
• More about Sir Robert Peel on the Downing Street website.
• Biography of Sir Robert Peel at www.victorianweb.org
• An overview of the career of Sir Robert Peel at www.victorianweb.org
• The Peel Web For A-level History students
• Sir Robert Peel, a memorial biography by H. Morse Stephens
• Works by or about Robert Peel at the Internet Archive
• Works by Robert Peel at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• "Archival material relating to Robert Peel". UK National Archives.
• Portraits of Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt at the National Portrait Gallery, London

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