The Viscount Peel | |
|---|---|
 Peel,c. 1890s | |
| Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 26 February 1884 – 8 April 1895 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone Robert Gascoyne-Cecil William Ewart Gladstone Robert Gascoyne-Cecil William Ewart Gladstone Archibald Primrose |
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Brand |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Gully |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs | |
| In office 28 April 1880 – 1 January 1881 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Matthew White Ridley |
| Succeeded by | Leonard Courtney |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 1 August 1873 – 17 February 1874 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | George Glyn |
| Succeeded by | William Hart Dyke |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade | |
| In office 14 January 1871 – 1 August 1873 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | George Shaw-Lefevre |
| Succeeded by | George Cavendish-Bentinck |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board | |
| In office 10 December 1868 – 14 January 1871 | |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Michael Hicks Beach |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
| In office 9 May 1895 – 24 October 1912 | |
| Preceded by | Peerage created |
| Succeeded by | The 2nd Viscount Peel |
| Member of Parliament forWarwick and Leamington | |
| In office 18 December 1885 – 7 August 1895 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Alfred Lyttelton |
| Member of Parliament forWarwick | |
| In office 24 July 1865 – 18 December 1885 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Greaves |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 August 1829 |
| Died | 24 October 1912(1912-10-24) (aged 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal Liberal Unionist |
| Spouse | Adelaide Dugdale (died 1890) |
| Children | 7, includingWilliam,George, andSidney |
| Parents | |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Signature |  |
Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel,PC (3 August 1829 – 24 October 1912), was a BritishLiberal politician, who sat in theHouse of Commons from 1865 to 1895. He wasSpeaker of the House of Commons from 1884 until 1895, when he was raised to thepeerage.
Peel was the fifth and youngest son of theConservative Prime MinisterSir Robert Peel by his wife,Julia, the daughter of GeneralSir John Floyd, 1st Baronet. Peel was named afterArthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and was educated atEton andBalliol College,Oxford.[1]
Peel was electedLiberalMember of Parliament (MP) forWarwick in the1865 general election and held the seat until 1885, when it was replaced under theRedistribution of Seats Act 1885.[2] From 1868 to 1871, he wasParliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board and then becameParliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. In 1873 to 1874, he waspatronage secretary to the Treasury, and in 1880, he becameUnder-Secretary of State for Home Affairs inWilliam Ewart Gladstone's second government.[3] On the retirement ofSir Henry Brand, Peel was elected Speaker of the House of Commons on 26 February 1884.[4]
In the1885 general election, Peel was elected forWarwick and Leamington. Throughout his career as Speaker, as theEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition noted, "he exhibited conspicuous impartiality, combined with a perfect knowledge of the traditions, usages and forms of the House, soundness of judgment, and readiness of decision upon all occasions".[5] Though officially impartial, Peel left the Liberal Party over the issue ofHome Rule and became aLiberal Unionist. Peel was also an important ally ofCharles Bradlaugh, whose campaigns to have the oath of allegiance changed eventually permitted non-Christians, such as agnostics and atheists, to serve in the House of Commons.
| Mr. Speaker's Retirement Act 1895 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for settling and securing an Annuity upon the Right Honourable Arthur Wellesley Peel in consideration of his eminent Services. |
| Citation | 58 & 59 Vict. c. 10 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 14 May 1895 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1971 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Peel retired for health reasons[3] prior to the1895 general election and was createdViscount Peel, of Sandy in the County of Bedford, with apension of £4,000 for life byMr. Speaker's Retirement Act 1895 (58 & 59 Vict. c. 10).[3] He was presented with theFreedom of the City of London in July of that year.[5] In 1896, he was chairman of a royal commission into the licensing laws. Other members of the commission disagreed with part of his report, and he resigned the chair, which leftSir Algernon West to complete amajority report. However, the report was published in Peel's name and recommended that the number of licensed houses should be greatly reduced. The report was a valuable weapon in the hands of reformers.[3]
A street inWarwick, Peel Road, was named in his honour.[6]
Peel married Adelaide Dugdale (14 November 1839 – 5 December 1890[7]), daughter ofWilliam Stratford Dugdale, in 1862. She died in December 1890 and Lord Peel remained a widower until his death in October 1912, aged 83. They had seven children:[7]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Peel, Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 39–40.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWarwick 1865–1885 With:George Repton 1865–1868, 1874–1885 Edward Greaves 1868–1874 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forWarwick and Leamington 1885–1895 by-election | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board 1868–1871 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade 1871–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1873–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1880–1881 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Commons 1884–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Peel 1895–1912 Member of theHouse of Lords (1895–1912) | Succeeded by |
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