Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British statesman and member of the Conservative Party, who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) and twice served as Home Secretary (1822–1827 and 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of the modern British police and as one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party.

The son of wealthy textile manufacturer and politician Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet, he was educated at Bury Grammar School and Harrow School and earned a double first in classics and mathematics from Christ Church, Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1809 under the tutelage of his father and Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. Peel was widely seen as a "rising star" in the Conservative Party and served in various junior ministerial offices, including Chief Secretary for Ireland (1812–1818) and Chairman of the Bullion Committee.

Peel entered the Cabinet for the first time 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". He cut tariffs to stimulate business; to replace the lost revenue he pushed through a 3% income tax. He played a central role in making Free Trade a reality and set up a modern banking system. After the resignation of Prime Minister The Earl of Liverpool, Peel resigned as Home Secretary but, 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 legal discrimination against Catholics, Peel eventually supported the repeal of the Test Act (1828) and the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, claiming that "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger".

Bobby Peel

Robert "Bobby" Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman who played in the middle order. Between 1884 and 1896, he was regularly selected to represent England, playing 20 Test matches in which he took 101 wickets. Over the course of his career, he scored 12,191 runs and took 1,775 wickets in first-class cricket. A match-winning bowler, particularly when conditions favoured his style, Peel generally opened the attack, an orthodox tactic for a spinner at the time, and was highly regarded by critics.

Peel began playing for Yorkshire in 1883 but, after a successful debut, was overshadowed in the team by Edmund Peate and often played only a minor role with the ball. Improvements in his batting and his excellence as a fielder kept him in the team and when Peate was sacked for drunkenness in 1887, Peel became Yorkshire's main spinner. He had already played for England, touring Australia with two professional teams, although he did not play a Test in England until 1888. Over the following years he regularly took over 100 wickets in each season and often played in the prestigious Gentlemen v Players matches. He was generally Yorkshire's leading bowler—until the emergence of George Hirst, he generally received little support from other members of the attack—and often among their leading batsmen. His best season in county cricket came in 1896, when he recorded the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, and made his highest first-class score of 210. Among his notable feats in Tests, he bowled England to victory after they had followed on in Australia in 1894–95 and took six for 23 in his final Test. The first English cricketer to reach 100 wickets against Australia, in 1894–95 he also became the first player who failed to score in four successive Test innings.

Robert Peel (disambiguation)

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet (25 April 1750 – 3 May 1830), was a British politician and industrialist and one of early textile manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution. He was the father of Sir Robert Peel, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Background

Peel's father Robert Peel and grandfather William Peele were yeoman farmers who were also engaged in the infant textile industry, then organised on the basis of the domestic system (most of the work being undertaken in the home).

Business career

Like many others, Peel joined partnerships to raise the capital required to set up spinning mills. These were water powered (usually using the water frame invented by Richard Arkwright), and thus located by rivers and streams in country districts. Thus Peel and Yates set up a mill and housing for their workers at Burrs near Bury. As elsewhere, the shortage of labour in the rural districts was mitigated by employing pauper children as 'apprentices', imported from any locality that wanted them off their hands. They were housed in a kind of hostel.

Robert Peel (Christian Science)

Robert Peel (May 6, 1909 – January 8, 1992) was a Christian Science historian and writer on religious and ecumenical topics. A Christian Scientist for over 70 years, Peel worked for the Church of Christ, Scientist's Committee on Publication, set up by Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), the religion's founder, to protect her own and the church's reputation.

Peel is best known for his three-volume biography, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery (1966), The Years of Trial (1971), and The Years of Authority (1977).

Education

Peel was born in London and educated in Ottawa and Boston public schools. His family converted to Christian Science when he was ten years old. He received a bachelor's degree in 1931 from Harvard University and a master's in 1940. His undergraduate honors thesis, "The Creed of a Victorian Pagan," a study of English novelist and poet George Meredith, was published by the university.

Career

Peel served in World War II in the South Pacific, working as a civilian intelligence officer. After the war he taught at Principia College, a Christian Science college, served as an editorial consultant for the Christian Science church's Committee on Publication in Boston, and wrote editorials for the Christian Science Monitor, a newspaper owned by the church.