PEEL, ARTHUR WELLESLEY PEEL, I ST VISCOUNT (1829-1912), English statesman, youngest son of the great Sir Robert Peel, was born on Aug. 3, 1829, and was educated at Eton and Balliol college, Oxford. He entered parliament in 1865, was parliamentary secretary to the poor law board (1868-71) ; secretary to the board of trade (1871-73) ; patronage secretary to the treasury ; and in 188o he became under secretary for the home department. On the retirement of Mr. Brand (afterwards Viscount Hampden) in 1884, Peel was elected Speaker. He was thrice re-elected to the post, twice in 1886, and again in 1892. He will always rank as one of the greatest holders of this important office. On his retirement in 1895 he received a viscounty. He was keenly interested in licensing reform, and drafted a report for the royal commission of 1896-99, advocating a large reduction in the number of licensed houses, and that no compensation should be paid from the public rates or taxes, the money for this purpose being raised by an annual licence-rental levied on the rateable value of the licensed premises; it at once became a valuable weapon in the hands of advanced reformers.
Lord Peel died at Sandy, Bedfordshire, on Oct. 24, 1912.
He was succeeded by his son, WILLIAM ROBERT WELLESLEY PEEL (1867-1937), 2nd Viscount and ist Earl (cr. 1929), edu cated at Harrow and at Balliol College, Oxford, and called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1893. From 1908 to 1910 he led the Municipal Reform party. In 1916 he was chairman of the Com mittee on the Detention of Neutral Vessels. He was appointed under-secretary for war in 1919, chancellor of the duchy of Lan caster (1921), minister of transport (1921-22), and was secre tary of State for India 1922-24 and 1928-29. He was made first commissioner of works in Baldwin's second Government in 1924.