Why 'peelers' for police

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A.� Peelers - the old name for the good old British bobby - were named after Sir Robert Peel, the home secretary who founded the first police force in 1829.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� The good old British bobby Why bobby

A.� Sir Robert Peel. Geddit

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Q.� Oh, I see. Who was he

A.� A brief biography, then. Born in Bury, Lancashire, on 5 February, 1788, the son of a rich cotton manufacturer, whose baronetcy he inherited in 1830. Robert was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained a double first in classics and mathematics. Peel entered Parliament as a Tory in 1809. He served (1812-18) as chief secretary for Ireland, where he maintained order by founding a police force and opposing demands for Catholic emancipation.

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Q.� Emancipation

A.� Allowing Catholics to have the same rights as Protestants - including the right to sit in parliament.

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One of Peel's campaigns was to bring an end to corruption in Irish government, including the sale of public offices and the dismissal of civil servants for their political views. Some thought this ironic, bearing in mind that Peel's father had bought him his first seat in parliament, under the 'rotten boroughs' system. He stood down as chief secretary in 1817.

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Q.� And turned his mind to law and order

A.� Not for a while. In 1822 Peel accepted the post of home secretary in Lord Liverpool's government. Over the next five years Peel was responsible for large-scale reform in the legal system, when more than 250 old statutes were repealed.

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Lord Liverpool became ill in February, 1827, and George Canning succeeded him as prime minister. Canning favoured Catholic emancipation, which Peel opposed, so he resigned. Canning then died, was succeeded by the Duke of Wellington and Peel became home secretary again.

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Q.� And continued his anti-Catholic fight

A.� No. On 26 July, 1828, the Viceroy of Ireland, Lord Anglesey wrote to Peel arguing that Ireland was on the verge of rebellion and asked him to use his influence to gain concessions for the Catholics. Peel realised the time was right for change and told Wellington saying that 'though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger'. Wellington agreed but King George III did not. Wellington's government threatened to resign, the king reluctantly agreed to change the law, and Peel introduced the Catholic Emancipation Act on 5 March, 1829.

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Q.� And the peelers

A.� It was in his second stint as home secretary that Peel established the London police force, whose members came to be called Peelers or Bobbies. For a feature on the early days of the police, watch this space.

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Q.� And what did Peel go on to do

A.� In November, 1830, Wellington's government was beaten by the Whigs and Earl Grey became prime minister. He proposed parliamentary reform - which Peel opposed vociferously. Between 12 and 27 July, 1831, Peel made 48 speeches in the Commons against the bill. He believed passionately that the old rotten borough system enabled distinguished men to enter parliament. It had worked for him.

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But the bill went through, as the 1832 Reform Act, and the Tories were heavily defeated in the general election that followed. Peel became Tory leader with about 100 MPs. In November, 1834, however, King William IV dismissed the Whig administration and appointed Robert Peel prime minister. Peel immediately called a general election and pledged his acceptance of the Reform Act, arguing for a policy of moderate reforms while preserving Britain's important traditions. It became known as the Tamworth Manifesto, after Peel's constituency where he gave the speech, and marked the shift to a more enlightened Conservatism.

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Q.� Did that do the trick

A.� Not quite. More Tories were elected, but there were still more Whigs in the Commons. Despite this, Peel was asked to become PM, although he resigned in April, 1835, because all his measures were being outvoted.

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Six years later, Peel took over again. He raised income tax and was determined to settle the Irish question with a number of reforms. The rest of his administration was tied up with the controversy over the Corn Laws (click here for a feature on them) and he resigned in 1846 as the Tory party split.

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On 29 June, 1850, while riding up Constitution Hill, Peel was thrown from his horse. He died from his injuries three days later.

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by Steve Cunningham

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