Sir Basil Edward Peto, 1st Baronet (13 August 1862 – 28 January 1945) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

businessman and Unionist politician.

Education and early life

Born at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, Peto was the seventh son of Sir Morton Peto, 1st Baronet. He entered

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, but was withdrawn at the age of seventeen when his father experienced financial difficulties.

Career

Peto became an apprentice joiner with his family's business, Peto Brothers, building contractors, of

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

. He became a partner in the company in 1884 and married Mary Matilda Annie Baird in 1892. The couple had three sons. In 1890, Peto attempted to bring in a form of profit-sharing to the company. The proposal was opposed by the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s, leading to a strike. The company was dissolved in 1893 and Peto was financially ruined. He took up employment with

Morgan Crucible Morgan Advanced Materials plc is a company which manufactures specialist products, using carbon, advanced ceramics and composites. The group is headquartered in Windsor, United Kingdom, and has 60 sites worldwide. It is listed as public limit ...

in 1892, eventually becoming managing director by 1904, when he resigned. He travelled widely for the company supervising the mining and purchase of

plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus '' Ceratostig ...

in the

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India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Peto was chosen by the Conservative Party to contest the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

, regaining the Devizes constituency in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

which had been lost to the

Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

1906 United Kingdom general election The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906. It is dubbed the "Liberal landslide": the opposition Liberal Party (UK), Liberals under Henry Campbell-Bannerman won a landslide victory against a bewildered C ...

. He retained the seat until the 1918 election. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he held a temporary commission in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and acted as the Chief Commissioner for Belgian Refugee Affairs. He was made a Commander of the Order of Leopold by

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...

. Peto returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, twice serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Barnstaple constituency, holding the seat from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1924 to 1935. He was created a Baronet, of Barnstaple in the County of Devon, in January 1927. He found himself at odds with many of the policies of Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government, and lost the party whip to sit as an

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in April 1928. Following a unanimous vote of confidence in him by his local party executive, he was readmitted to the parliamentary party in November. In June 1934 he announced that he would be retiring from parliament at the next general election, which was held in the following year. Peto served as chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease from 1926 – 1939.

Death

Peto died at his home

Iford Manor Iford Manor () is a manor house in Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building sitting on the steep, south-facing slope of the Frome valley, in Westwood parish, about southwest of the town of Bradford-on-Avon. Its Grade I registere ...

, near

Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restaurants make it popular with tourists. The parish had ...

in January 1945 aged 82. He was succeeded by his elder son, James Michael Peto (1894–1971). A younger son, Christopher Peto (1897–1980), succeeded his elder brother and also served as MP for Barnstaple.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peto, Basil Edward 1862 births 1945 deaths People from Westminster British Army officers Military personnel from the City of Westminster Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Peto, Sir Basil, 1st Baronet UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Younger sons of baronets People educated at Harrow School Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Barnstaple British Army personnel of World War I