OTD February 5th 1788 Sir Robert Peel

At the Parliament Square in London, there is a magnificent statue of
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd. Baronet, who was born on February 5th. 1788.


Sir Robert Peel - Statue in london - own picture taken in 2016


Family

Peel was born at Chamber Hall, Bury, Lancashire, as the son of
Sir Robert Peel, 1st. Baronet, who was one of the richest textile
manufacturers. His mother was Ellen Yates.

Love and Marriage

In 1820, Peel married Julia, the youngest daughter of General
Sir John Floyd, 1st. Baronet. They would have 5 sons and 2
daughters.

Duty

Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21 as MP. His sponsor
for the election was his own father and Sir Arthur Wellesley,
the future Duke of Wellington.

Peel was considered as one of the rising stars of the Tory party,
he first entered the cabinet in 1822. Later he served twice as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834 - 1835 and
1841-1846) and twice as Home Secretary (1822-1827 and
1828-1830).

As Home Secretary, he introduced a number of important reforms
of British criminal law. His most famous establishing is the
Metropolitan Police Force (Metropolitan Police Act of 1829)
for London.

Royal link(s)

In 1834, King William VI asked Wellington to become
Prime Minister, however he declined and Peel was selected
instead.

In May 1839, he was offered another chance to form a new
government, this time by a new monarch: Queen Victoria.

Although, his new government would have been a minority
and peel wanted a further sign of confidence from his Queen.

Since her accession in 1837, many of the higher posts in
Victoria's household were held by the wives and female
relatives of Whigs. At that time there was some feeling that
Victoria was too close with the Whig party. Peel therefore
asked that some of the Queen's entourage could be dismissed
and replaced with their Conservative counterparts. This was
called the Bedchamber Crisis.

Queen Victoria refused to change her household, despite pleadings
from the Duke of Wellington. Peel refused to form a government
and the Whigs returned to power.

However in 1841, Peel served a second term as Prime Minister.

Death

On June 1850, Peel was thrown from his horse while riding
on Constitution Hill in London. Peel died 2 days later on
July 2nd. 1850.

Legacy

Sir Robert Peel often was called a "liberal wolf in sheep clothes",
by his critics.

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