Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel

The Right Honourable The Viscount Peel PC
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office 1884–1895
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Hon. Sir Henry Brand
Succeeded by	Sir William Gully
Personal details
Born	3 August 1829 (1829-08-03)
Died	24 October 1912(1912-10-24) (aged 83)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Liberal Unionist
Spouse(s)	Adelaide Dugdale (d. 1890)
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford

Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel PC (3 August 1829 – 24 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 peerage.

Background and education

Peel was the youngest son of the Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel by his wife Julia, daughter of General Sir John Floyd, 1st Baronet, and was named after Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford.

Political career

Peel was elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Warwick in the 1865 general election and held the seat until 1885 when it was replaced under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. From 1868 to 1873 he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board, and then became Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. In 1873–1874 he was patronage secretary to the Treasury, and in 1880 he became Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs in the second Gladstone government. On the retirement of Sir Henry Brand in 1884, Peel was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

In the 1885 general election, Peel was elected for Warwick and Leamington. Throughout his career as Speaker, the Encyclopædia Britannica says, "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." Though now officially impartial, Peel left the Liberal Party over the issue of Home Rule and became a Liberal Unionist. Peel was also an important ally of Charles Bradlaugh in Bradlaugh's campaigns to have the oath of allegiance changed to permit non-Christians, agnostics and atheists to serve in the House of Commons.

Peel retired at the 1895 general election and was created Viscount Peel, of Sandy in the County of Bedford. In 1896 he was chairman of a Royal Commission into the licensing laws. The Peel Report recommended that the number of licensed houses should be greatly reduced. This report was a valuable weapon in the hands of reformers.

Family

Peel married Adelaide, daughter of William Stratford Dugdale, in 1862. She died in December 1890. Lord Peel remained a widower until his death in October 1912, aged 83. They had seven children. He was succeeded by his eldest son William Wellesley Peel, who was created Earl Peel in 1929. Peel's second son the Hon. Arthur George Villiers Peel was also a politician and author. Peel's third son the Hon. Sidney Peel was also a politician and was created a Baronet in 1936.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Peel
• The Rowers of Vanity Fair - Peel, Arthur Wellesley (Viscount Peel) - "The Speaker"
• Portraits of Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Repton Edward Greaves	Member of Parliament for Warwick 1865 – 1885 With: George Repton 1865–1868, 1874–1885 Edward Greaves 1868–1874	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington 1885 – 1895	Succeeded by Alfred Lyttelton
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt	Parliamentary Secretary to the Poor Law Board 1868 – 1871	Office abolished
Preceded by George Shaw-Lefevre	Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade 1871 – 1874	Succeeded by George Bentinck
Preceded by George Glyn	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1873 – 1874	Succeeded by William Hart Dyke
Preceded by Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt	Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1880 – 1881	Succeeded by Leonard Courtney
Preceded by Hon. Sir Henry Brand	Speaker of the House of Commons 1884 – 1895	Succeeded by Sir William Gully
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Peel 1895 – 1912	Succeeded by William Wellesley Peel