Sir Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), British prime minister and founder of the modern Conservative party.

Peel was born February 5, 1788, near Bury, Lancashire, England, and educated at Harrow School and the University of Oxford. He entered the House of Commons in 1809, and in 1811, he became a cabinet member as undersecretary for war and for the colonies. From 1812 to 1818, as chief secretary for Ireland, he suppressed Irish agitation for increased freedom for Roman Catholics. In 1822 he reentered the cabinet as home secretary. He distinguished himself in this post through a series of penal reforms and, in 1829, by reorganizing the London metropolitan police force, thereafter called “bobbies,” after his first name. Although he had successfully opposed a Roman Catholic emancipation bill in 1817, Peel later recognized the explosiveness of the Irish situation. He introduced and carried through the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, granting Roman Catholics political equality.

In 1834-35 Peel was prime minister for four months. During the next six years, he established the modern Conservative party as a major political force by attracting such men as the later prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone. In the general elections of 1841, the Conservatives gained a majority, and Peel formed the first Conservative ministry. Peel's ministry was notable for introducing an income tax and for revising the British banking laws. Most important, he reversed his earlier opposition to free trade and urged repeal of the Corn Laws. Although repeal was approved in 1846, the controversy over the measure was so great that Peel was forced to resign. He continued to serve in Parliament until his death, in London, on July 2, 1850.