Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet GCB
, PC (4 May 1822 – 9 May 1895) was a British Peelite
and later Liberal
politician. The eldest son of the prime minister Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, he was educated at Harrow
and Christ Church, Oxford
and entered the Diplomatic Service
in 1844. He served as Member of Parliament
for Tamworth
, his father's constituency, from 1850 until 1880, for Huntingdon
from 1884 and for Blackburn
from 1885 to 1886. He was appointed Irish secretary
in 1861 in Palmerston
's ministry, but in 1865, under Russell
he was succeeded by Chichester Fortescue
. His political career was said to be marred by his lack of dignity and his inability to accept a fixed political creed. He was appointed a GCB
in 1866.
. He went to Harrow School
in February 1835. He matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford
on 26 May 1841, but did not take a degree.
there in November 1846. On his father's death, on 2 July 1850, and his own succession to the baronetcy, he resigned his office at Berne.
, on 19 July 1850, he had every opportunity open to him of taking a distinguished place in public life. He had a fine presence and gaiety of manner, and was popular in social life; while his oratorical gifts — a rich ringing voice, a perfect command of language, rare powers of irony, a capacity for producing unexpected rhetorical effects — ought to have rendered his success in parliament a certainty. But he used his abilities fitfully. The want of moral fibre in his volatile character, an absence of dignity, and an inability to accept a fixed political creed, prevented him from acquiring the confidence of his associates or of the public.
On 24 April 1854 he was shipwrecked off the coast of Genoa
in the steamboat SS Ercolano, and only saved his life by swimming ashore on some portion of the wreck. From 29 March 1854 to 1859 he served as a captain in the Staffordshire yeomanry. In March 1855 Lord Palmerston
, who had been Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while Peel was in the diplomatic service, appointed him a junior Lord of the Admiralty. Henceforth he was regarded as a liberal, and his persistent advocacy of the liberation of Italy fully justified this view of his political opinions.
In July 1856 he acted as secretary to Lord Granville
's special mission to Russia at the coronation of Alexander II
. On 5 January 1857, during a lecture delivered at the opening of the new library at Adderley Park
, near Birmingham, he spoke discourteously of the Russian court and the court officials. The lecture was severely commented on by the Russian and French press, was the subject of a parliamentary debate, and caused great annoyance to the English court.
Nevertheless, on Palmerston's return to power, he, on 26 July 1861, made Peel Chief Secretary for Ireland
and a privy councillor
. In this position his careless good humour pleased the Irish and the prime minister, and he almost thought he had solved the Irish question when he made excursions incognito through the country on a jaunting-car and interviewed the peasants. His speeches were very optimistic; but, before his connection with the castle ended, fenianism came to a head. Irish debates became more embittered, and his replies and speeches in parliament lacked discretion and were not calculated to promote peace. In February 1862 he received a challenge from the O'Donoghue
, but the matter was brought before the commons on 25 Feb. and was adjusted. Although he took a warm interest in some Irish questions, especially higher education, which he had aided by a handsome contribution to the Queen's Colleges founded by his father, his career in Ireland was a failure. When the liberal government was reconstituted, after the death of Lord Palmerston, by Lord John Russell, to whom Peel's failings were peculiarly obnoxious, he was succeeded in the Irish secretaryship by Chichester Fortescue, and he did not again hold office. On 5 January 1866 he was created G.C.B.
He continued to sit for Tamworth as a Liberal, but was often a severe critic of Mr. Gladstone's policy. In 1871 he gave a remarkable proof of his eloquence by describing to the house the rout, which he had himself witnessed, of the French army of General Bourbaki
, and its flight over the Swiss frontier in the depth of winter. In 1874 he for a second time christened himself a Liberal-Conservative; and when the eastern question, during Lord Beaconsfield's administration, came to the front, he wholly separated himself from the followers of Mr. Gladstone. He did not stand for Tamworth at the general election in 1880, but unsuccessfully contested Gravesend in the conservative interest; and his voice was often heard on conservative platforms, denouncing the action of the liberal administration in Egypt and Ireland. In the ‘Times’ of 8 May 1880 he published a letter, in which he recounted the offers from various governments of honours and offices which he had refused. On 21 March 1884 he was returned as a Conservative member for Huntingdon. When that borough was disfranchised, he was, in November 1885, returned for Blackburn.
On the critical division on the second reading of the Home Rule Bill, on 7 June 1886, he abstained from voting. At the general election in the following July Peel contested the Inverness Burghs
for the Liberal party against a Liberal Unionist who had broken with his party on the issue of Home Rule. Peel was not successful. Subsequently, with characteristic impetuosity, he threw himself into the home rule agitation as a supporter of the Irish demands, and at a by-election in 1889 came forward as a Liberal candidate for Brighton in the home rule interest. He was hopelessly defeated, and his political career came to a disappointing close.
, he sold to the National Gallery, in March 1871, for 75,000l. (Parliamentary Papers, 1872, No. 35). According to John Bateman's "The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland" (1883), he owned 9923 acres (40.2 km²) or land (in Staffordshire
, Warwickshire
and Lancashire
yielding an annual rent of £24532. However, in later life his private circumstances were embarrassed, chiefly owing to his reckless extravagance, and he ceased to reside at Drayton Manor
, Warwickshire
.
, on 13 January 1856. They had one son and three daughters. On 9 May 1895 Peel was found dead, from hæmorrhage on the brain, in his bedroom at 12 Stratton Street, London. He was buried at Drayton-Bassett parish church on 16 May. His only son Robert succeeded in the baronetcy. Lady Peel died in April 1924.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, PC (4 May 1822 – 9 May 1895) was a British Peelite
Peelite
The Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, and existed from 1846 to 1859. They were called "Peelites" because they were initially led by Sir Robert Peel, who was the British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846....
and later Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician. The eldest son of the prime minister Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, he was educated at Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
and entered the Diplomatic Service
Diplomatic service
Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to other countries...
in 1844. He served as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Tamworth
Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Tamworth is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
, his father's constituency, from 1850 until 1880, for Huntingdon
Huntingdon (UK Parliament constituency)
Huntingdon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 1884 and for Blackburn
Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)
Blackburn is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The town currently elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its re-creation in 1955.-Boundaries:The constituency...
from 1885 to 1886. He was appointed Irish secretary
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...
in 1861 in Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
's ministry, but in 1865, under Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC , known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was an English Whig and Liberal politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....
he was succeeded by Chichester Fortescue
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford
Chichester Samuel Parkinson-Fortescue, 2nd Baron Clermont and 1st Baron Carlingford KP, PC , known as Chichester Fortescue until 1863 and as Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue between 1863 and 1874, Lord Carlingford from 1874 to 1887 and Lord Clermont after 1887, was a British statesman and Liberal...
. His political career was said to be marred by his lack of dignity and his inability to accept a fixed political creed. He was appointed a GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1866.
Background and education
Born in London on 4 May 1822, Peel was the eldest son of Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, the statesman, and Julia, daughter of Sir John Floyd, 1st BaronetSir John Floyd, 1st Baronet
General Sir John William Floyd, 1st Baronet , was a British cavalry officer.Born on 22 February 1748, he was the oldest child of Captain John Floyd and Mary Floyd ....
. He went to Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in February 1835. He matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
on 26 May 1841, but did not take a degree.
Diplomatic career
Entering the diplomatic service, he became an attaché to the British legation at Madrid on 18 June 1844. He was promoted to be secretary of legation in Switzerland on 2 May 1846, and was chargé d'affairesChargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
there in November 1846. On his father's death, on 2 July 1850, and his own succession to the baronetcy, he resigned his office at Berne.
Political career
Entering the House of Commons as the 'Liberal-Conservative' (i.e. as one of the Peelites) member for his father's former constituency, TamworthTamworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Tamworth is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...
, on 19 July 1850, he had every opportunity open to him of taking a distinguished place in public life. He had a fine presence and gaiety of manner, and was popular in social life; while his oratorical gifts — a rich ringing voice, a perfect command of language, rare powers of irony, a capacity for producing unexpected rhetorical effects — ought to have rendered his success in parliament a certainty. But he used his abilities fitfully. The want of moral fibre in his volatile character, an absence of dignity, and an inability to accept a fixed political creed, prevented him from acquiring the confidence of his associates or of the public.
On 24 April 1854 he was shipwrecked off the coast of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
in the steamboat SS Ercolano, and only saved his life by swimming ashore on some portion of the wreck. From 29 March 1854 to 1859 he served as a captain in the Staffordshire yeomanry. In March 1855 Lord Palmerston
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, who had been Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs while Peel was in the diplomatic service, appointed him a junior Lord of the Admiralty. Henceforth he was regarded as a liberal, and his persistent advocacy of the liberation of Italy fully justified this view of his political opinions.
In July 1856 he acted as secretary to Lord Granville
Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville
Granville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
's special mission to Russia at the coronation of Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
. On 5 January 1857, during a lecture delivered at the opening of the new library at Adderley Park
Adderley
Adderley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Shropshire, several kilometres north of Market Drayton. It is known as Eldredelei in the Domesday Book...
, near Birmingham, he spoke discourteously of the Russian court and the court officials. The lecture was severely commented on by the Russian and French press, was the subject of a parliamentary debate, and caused great annoyance to the English court.
Nevertheless, on Palmerston's return to power, he, on 26 July 1861, made Peel Chief Secretary for Ireland
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...
and a privy councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
. In this position his careless good humour pleased the Irish and the prime minister, and he almost thought he had solved the Irish question when he made excursions incognito through the country on a jaunting-car and interviewed the peasants. His speeches were very optimistic; but, before his connection with the castle ended, fenianism came to a head. Irish debates became more embittered, and his replies and speeches in parliament lacked discretion and were not calculated to promote peace. In February 1862 he received a challenge from the O'Donoghue
Daniel O'Donoghue (Irish politician)
Daniel O'Donoghue was an Irish politician. He served in the British Parliament from 1857 to 1865 as Member of Parliament for Tipperary, and from 1865 to 1885 as MP for Tralee....
, but the matter was brought before the commons on 25 Feb. and was adjusted. Although he took a warm interest in some Irish questions, especially higher education, which he had aided by a handsome contribution to the Queen's Colleges founded by his father, his career in Ireland was a failure. When the liberal government was reconstituted, after the death of Lord Palmerston, by Lord John Russell, to whom Peel's failings were peculiarly obnoxious, he was succeeded in the Irish secretaryship by Chichester Fortescue, and he did not again hold office. On 5 January 1866 he was created G.C.B.
He continued to sit for Tamworth as a Liberal, but was often a severe critic of Mr. Gladstone's policy. In 1871 he gave a remarkable proof of his eloquence by describing to the house the rout, which he had himself witnessed, of the French army of General Bourbaki
Charles Denis Bourbaki
Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki was a French general.He was born at Pau, the son of Greek colonel Constantin Denis Bourbaki, who died in the War of Independence in 1827...
, and its flight over the Swiss frontier in the depth of winter. In 1874 he for a second time christened himself a Liberal-Conservative; and when the eastern question, during Lord Beaconsfield's administration, came to the front, he wholly separated himself from the followers of Mr. Gladstone. He did not stand for Tamworth at the general election in 1880, but unsuccessfully contested Gravesend in the conservative interest; and his voice was often heard on conservative platforms, denouncing the action of the liberal administration in Egypt and Ireland. In the ‘Times’ of 8 May 1880 he published a letter, in which he recounted the offers from various governments of honours and offices which he had refused. On 21 March 1884 he was returned as a Conservative member for Huntingdon. When that borough was disfranchised, he was, in November 1885, returned for Blackburn.
On the critical division on the second reading of the Home Rule Bill, on 7 June 1886, he abstained from voting. At the general election in the following July Peel contested the Inverness Burghs
Inverness Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
Inverness Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...
for the Liberal party against a Liberal Unionist who had broken with his party on the issue of Home Rule. Peel was not successful. Subsequently, with characteristic impetuosity, he threw himself into the home rule agitation as a supporter of the Irish demands, and at a by-election in 1889 came forward as a Liberal candidate for Brighton in the home rule interest. He was hopelessly defeated, and his political career came to a disappointing close.
Horse racing
From about 1856 he was extensively engaged in racing under the name of Mr. F. Robinson; and later on had an establishment at Bonehill, near Tamworth, where he bred horses.Later life
Peel's father's fine collection of seventy-seven pictures and eighteen drawings, including the well-known 'Chapeau de Poil', by RubensRubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, he sold to the National Gallery, in March 1871, for 75,000l. (Parliamentary Papers, 1872, No. 35). According to John Bateman's "The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland" (1883), he owned 9923 acres (40.2 km²) or land (in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
and Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
yielding an annual rent of £24532. However, in later life his private circumstances were embarrassed, chiefly owing to his reckless extravagance, and he ceased to reside at Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor
Drayton Manor, one of Britain's lost houses, was a British stately home at Drayton Bassett, in the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England....
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
.
Family
Peel married Lady Emily, seventh daughter of George Hay, 8th Marquess of TweeddaleGeorge Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale
Field Marshal George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale, KT, GCB was a Scottish soldier and administrator.-Military career:...
, on 13 January 1856. They had one son and three daughters. On 9 May 1895 Peel was found dead, from hæmorrhage on the brain, in his bedroom at 12 Stratton Street, London. He was buried at Drayton-Bassett parish church on 16 May. His only son Robert succeeded in the baronetcy. Lady Peel died in April 1924.