John Peel (Leicester MP)

Sir William John Peel (16 June 1912 – 8 May 2004) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for Leicester South East from 1957 to 1974. He also became an honorary member of the Brunei aristocracy, near the conclusion of his life.

Early life

Peel attended Wellington College and Queens' College, Cambridge. His first career was in the Colonial Service from 1933 to 1951; he survived imprisonment by the Japanese during the Second World War from 1942 to 1945, when he was stationed in Singapore, to later serve terms from 1949 to 1951, as British Resident in Brunei and then Resident Commissioner in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony (now Kiribati and Tuvalu) before retiring in 1952.

Diplomatic career

Peel was the British Resident in Brunei from 1946 to 1948, upon the establishment of civilian authority following Second World War. Peel, who was always helpful to Brunei history students, was also a part of a British Parliamentary delegation visiting the Sultanate in 1959. While in Brunei, he made friends with Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III (the father of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah) who later invited old acquaintances to his own suite at the Dorchester; in 1969, he named Peel an honorary member of the Brunei aristocracy. Brunei was politically unstable during the residential era, with British administration in both internal and external affairs. In an August 1995 interview with Peel, he stated:

Political career

Peel was elected as a member of the House of Commons at a by-election in 1957. In July 1959, he provoked angry responses from the House when he reacted to the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya by stating: "There are obvious risks in dealing with desperate and sub-human individuals." In the resulting debate, Peel's remarks were denounced by Enoch Powell, who commented: "We cannot, we dare not, in Africa of all places, fall below our highest standards in the acceptance of responsibility". Though Peel's tenure of minor government positions was uninterrupted, he never reached the Cabinet.

Peel was a zealous advocate of British involvement in Europe, through the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, and eventually membership—of which he was a leading advocate—in the European Communities. In 1972, he was chosen President of the North Atlantic Assembly. In the following year he was knighted, and also became one of the first British members of the European Parliament.

Death

Peel died on 8 May 2004, at the age of 91, in his London home. He was survived by his widow, three daughters (Joanna, Alethea, and Lynda), one son (Quentin), and numerous grandkids and great-grandchildren. The family funeral was scheduled for 18 May 2004, at Putney Crematorium. He died a wealthy man who left an estate worth £681,057 net. He was the last-surviving former British Resident of Brunei at the time of his death, though not the longest-lived; that honour went to his immediate successor, Leslie Harold Newsom Davis, who died on 16 June 2003 at the age of 94.

Personal life

Peel married Rosemary Mia Minka Redhead in 1936. His father Sir William Peel had been Governor of Hong Kong.

Honours

In addition to being knighted in 1973, he had two Brunei datoships, the DSNB in 1971 and the DSLJ in 1969.

* Order of Setia Negara Brunei Second Class (DSNB; 27 November 1971) – ''Dato Setia''
* Order of Paduka Seri Laila Jasa Second Class (DSLJ; 1969) – ''Dato Seri Laila Jasa''

References

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1912 births
2004 deaths
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Conservative Party (UK) MEPs
MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979
Knights Bachelor
Colonial Administrative Service officers
Governors of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Administrators in British Brunei
Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964

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