Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel

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Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel , Lance Calkin

Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel , PC , (born August 3, 1829 - October 24, 1912 ) was a British politician of the Liberal Party and speaker of the House of Commons .

Family and studies

The youngest son of the future Prime Minister Robert Peel , who was named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the then Prime Minister, graduated from Balliol College after attending Eton College .

His son William Robert Wellesley Peel , who later succeeded him as Viscount Peel, was also a member of the House of Commons and held several ministerial offices between 1921 and 1931.

Political career

Deputy and Junior Minister

Peel began his political career in 1865 with the election to the House of Commons, after he had run unsuccessfully in the constituency of Coventry in 1863 . There he initially represented the interests of the Warwick constituency as a member of the Liberal Party until 1885 . After the dissolution of this constituency, he then represented the newly created constituency of Warwick - Leamington in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1895 .

From 1868 to 1871 he was Parliamentary Secretary of the Poor Law Board and then until 1873 Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of Commerce ( Board of Trade ) in the cabinet of William Ewart Gladstone . From 1873 to 1874 he was Parliamentary Secretary of the Treasury . In 1880 Gladstone reappointed him as junior minister in his cabinet, in which he worked until 1881 as undersecretary in the Home Office ( Home Office ).

Speaker of Parliament

Following the resignation of Henry Brand 1884 Peel became his successor as Chairman ( Speaker ) of the House of Commons. According to the entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1911 , he exercised this office with a striking impartiality, which was combined with an excellent knowledge of the traditions, customs and forms of the house, an impeccable judgment and an ability to make decisions on all occasions.

On April 8, 1895, he resigned from the position of speaker for health reasons and was replaced in this capacity by William Gully .

Member of the House of Lords

Subsequently, according to an old tradition, he was raised to the hereditary nobility . He took on the title of Viscount Peel and thus also belonged to the House of Lords . In July 1895 he was made an honorary citizen of the City of London .

In 1896 he was appointed chairman of a Royal Commission on the curfew appointed (Licensing Laws). The report drawn up by the commission recommended a large reduction in the number of licensed restaurants and was thus a suitable basis for action for reform-minded politicians.

Peel was also an important ally of Charles Bradlaugh in his endeavors to be able to take a religiously independent "pledge" instead of the religious oath formula when the House of Commons was sworn in, which should enable non-Christians, agnostics or atheists to join the House of Commons.

literature

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predecessor Office successor
New title created Viscount Peel
1895-1912 		William Robert Wellesley Peel
personal data
SURNAME Peel, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Viscount Peel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peel, Arthur Wellesley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Liberal Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1829
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1912