William Robert Wellesley Peel, 1st Earl Peel, (7 January 1867 – 28 September 1937), known as The Viscount Peel from 1912 to 1929, was a British politician, as a local councillor, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. After an early career as a barrister and journalist, he entered first local, then national politics. He rose to hold a number of ministerial positions, but is probably best remembered for chairing the

Peel Commission The Peel Commission, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord Peel, appointed in 1936 to investigate the causes of unrest in Mandatory Palestine, which was administered by Gre ...

in 1936–37, which recommended for the first time the partition of the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

into separate Jewish and Arab states. The grandson of a Conservative prime minister, he was unusual even for his period in the number of political parties he was elected for. He began as a member, later the leader, of the London locally organised

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

, before being elected as an MP for the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

s, then for the Conservative Party, before inheriting his seat in the Lords in 1912. He also served as a minister in governments led by Liberal, Conservative and Labour prime ministers. His ministerial career began as

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State fo ...

in 1919, and he entered the cabinet in 1922 as

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

, holding a number of other ministerial positions.

Background and education

The eldest son of

Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, (3 August 182924 October 1912) was a British Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1895. He was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1884 until 1895 when he was raised to the ...

, and Adelaide Dugdale, Peel was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1867. His father was the fifth and youngest son of Prime Minister

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

. He was educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford,''Lord Peel, Family Tradition Of Statesmanship'', The Times, 30 September 1937, p. 14 where he was secretary of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

. In 1893, he was called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

, and practised as a barrister before taking the position of special correspondent for the Daily Telegraph during the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

Political career

In 1900 Peel was appointed a member of the Royal Commission formed to inquire into the operation of the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Se ...

. In February the same year he began his political career when he was elected in a by-election to fill a vacant seat for

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

in the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, to which he was re-elected in the ordinary election the following year. He was a member of the pro-Conservative grouping on the council that became the

. He was leader of the Party from 1908 to 1910, and chairman of the county council from 1914 to 1916. Lord Peel arrives

He began his Parliamentary career when he was elected as

MP for Manchester South at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. At the next general election in 1906 he stood unsuccessfully at Harrow. He returned to the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

in 1909, when elected as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP for

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

at a

. He inherited his father's viscountcy in 1912, and moved to the

. Peel was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

and lieutenant-colonel of the

Bedfordshire Yeomanry The Bedfordshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. Serving intermittently between 1797 and 1827, it was re-raised in 1901 for the Second Boer War. It participated in the First World War before being converted to an artillery re ...

in 1912, and on the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

moved to France with his regiment. Due to ill health he returned to Britain in 1915. In 1918 he received his first government post as Joint Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of National Service, in the coalition government of

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

. In 1919 he became

and a member of the Privy Council. Two years later he became

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

and

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. He entered the cabinet in 1922 as

, and after the downfall of the Lloyd George Coalition he continued to hold the post during the premierships of Bonar Law and Baldwin. Baldwin's Government fell in January 1924, but after a brief spell in opposition was returned to power at the 1924 general election. Peel was appointed

First Commissioner of Works The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and subsequent to 1922, within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ir ...

in the Conservative administration formed by Stanley Baldwin. In 1928 he briefly returned to the India Office before the Conservatives lost power at 1929 general election. The latter year he was created Viscount Clanfield, of Clanfield in the County of Southampton, and Earl Peel in the Dissolution Honours. When a Conservative-dominated National Government was formed after the 1931 election, he became Lord Privy Seal. He only held this office for two months, leaving government in November. In 1932 he was appointed chairman of the Wheat Commission, and in 1934 chaired the Royal Commission on the

Common Law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

. In 1936–37, he chaired the

which recommended for the first time the partition of the

into separate Jewish and Arab states.

Family

Lord Peel married the Hon. Eleanor, daughter of James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton, in 1899. They had two children:

Arthur Peel, 2nd Earl Peel Arthur William Ashton Peel, 2nd Earl Peel (29 May 1901 – 22 September 1969), styled Viscount Clanfield from 1929 to 1937, was a British peer. Peel was the son of William Peel, 1st Earl Peel, by the Honourable Eleanor "Ella" Williamson, daughte ...

and Lady Doris, who married Col Stewart Blacker. In 1929, Lord Ashton died and Peel succeeded him as chairman of James Williamson and Company. He was a director of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

and of the Great Northern Railway.

Death

Lord Peel died, aged 70, at his home in

East Meon East Meon is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is west of Petersfield. The village is located in the Meon Valley approximately north of Portsmouth and southwest of London, on the headwater ...

, near

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, in 1937 after a long illness. He was succeeded in his titles by his son,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peel, William Robert Wellesley Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl People educated at Harrow School Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War I Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Peel, William Peel, 1st Earl Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl Peel, William Wellesley, 1st Earl Wellesley, William Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs who were granted peerages UK MPs who inherited peerages Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

People of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Bedfordshire Yeomanry officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Taunton Secretaries of State for Transport (UK) People from East Meon Peers created by George V Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Viscounts Peel