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Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) was one of the most significant political figures in nineteenth-century Britain. He was also one of the most controversial. In this new, three-volume edition, Dr Richard Gaunt, an authority on Peel's life and work, brings together a range of contemporary perspectives considering Peel's life and achievements. From the first observation of Peel's precocious talent as an Oxford undergraduate to his burgeoning reputation as a cabinet minister, the volumes draw together sources on Peel's forty-year political career. The edition pays particular attention to the most controversial aspects of his political life - the granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, his 'founding' of the Conservative Party during the 1830s and the achievements of his landmark government of 1841-6, culminating in the repeal of the corn laws in 1846. It also considers Peel's post-1846 career, and the unusual position he occupied in British politics before his untimely death in 1850. Combining perspectives from different parts of the political spectrum, the collection will be of use to a wide range of researchers, with interests in history, politics, religion, economics and political biography.
List of contents
VOLUME 1: 'ORANGE PEEL', 1788-1830
Part 1: Origins and Ancestry
1. Pedigree of The Right Honourable Sir R. Peel, Bart, and the Peels of Lancashire. From 1600 (Blackburn, 1885), note and pp. 3-8.
2. A Yarn, spun for the use of the son of the Cotton Spinner, by an Operative (1835), pp. 3-20.
Part 2: The Currency Issue
3. A Very Short Letter to the Right Hon. R. Peel [on prices as affected by the bank notes in circulation] (London, 1819), pp. 5-17.
4. The Currency Question freed from mystery, in a letter to Mr Peel shewing how the distress may be relieved without altering the standard (London, 1830), pp. 1-50.
Part 3: Home Office Reforms, 1822-30
5. An Abridgement of Mr Peel's five important Acts of Parliament just passed for the improvement of the criminal law, etc (London, 1827), pp. 3-128.
6. Sketch of a new national police bill, by which the progress of crime would be arrested, and the community protected...as submitted to the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel when in office (London, 1832), pp.iii-31.
Part 4: Catholic Emancipation
7. A Voice from Palace Yard! Addressed to Sir Robert Peel and Members of both House of Parliament. By George Canning [A Satirical Poem] (London, 1844), pp. 7-24.
8. A Letter to the Right Hon. Robert Peel on the danger and impolicy of the measures at present proposed to the British Parliament, for the purpose of rendering Roman Catholics eligible to some of the highest offices in the State¸ by a Student at Gray's (London, 1829), pp. 3-16.
9. An Answer to the arguments of the Right Hon. Robert Peel in favour of further concessions to the Catholics, by a Barrister of the Inner Temple (London, 1829), pp. 1-60.
Part 5: The Oxford By-Election 1829
10. Reverend Charles Girdlestone, Substance of a Speech for the Convocation House, Oxford, 26 February 1829 (Oxford, 1829), pp. 3-8.
11. A Circular Letter of Advice and Justification from the Committee for Ensuring the Election of Sir Robert Inglis (Oxford, 1829), pp. 1-44.
12. Letter from the Rev. J. Blanco White, M.A. of Oriel College, to a Friend in Oxford, pp. 1-3.
13. A List of the committee for the re-election of Mr Peel as representative of the University of Oxford; with two circular letters (1829)
14. Oratio Demosthenica et Poetica (Oxford, 1829)
About the author
Dr Richard A. Gaunt, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Summary
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) was one of the most significant political figures in nineteenth-century Britain, and one of the most controversial. In this new three-volume edition, the Editor brings together a range of contemporary perspectives considering Peel’s life and achievements.
