William Peel, 1st Earl Peel

The Earl Peel
Peel in 1910
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office
3 September 1931 – 5 November 1931
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Preceded byTom Johnston
Succeeded byThe Viscount Snowden
Secretary of State for India
In office
18 October 1928 – 4 June 1929
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byThe Earl of Birkenhead
Succeeded byWilliam Wedgwood Benn
In office
19 March 1922 – 22 January 1924
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Bonar Law
Stanley Baldwin
Preceded byEdwin Montagu
Succeeded byThe Lord Olivier
First Commissioner of Works
In office
10 November 1924 – 18 October 1928
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byFred Jowett
Succeeded byThe Marquess of Londonderry
Minister of Transport
In office
7 November 1921 – 12 April 1922
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byEric Geddes
Succeeded byThe Earl of Crawford
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
1 April 1921 – 19 March 1922
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byThe Earl of Crawford
Succeeded byWilliam Sutherland
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War
In office
10 January 1919 – 1 April 1921
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byIan Macpherson
Succeeded byRobert Sanders
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of National Service
In office
15 April 1918 – 10 January 1919
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byCecil Beck
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
24 October 1912 – 28 September 1937
as a hereditary peer
Preceded byThe 1st Viscount Peel
Succeeded byThe 2nd Earl Peel
Member of Parliament
for Taunton
In office
23 February 1909 – 24 October 1912
Preceded bySir Edward Boyle
Succeeded byGilbert Wills
Member of Parliament
for Manchester South
In office
29 May 1900 – 8 February 1906
Preceded byJohn Campbell
Succeeded byArthur Haworth
Personal details
Born(1867-01-07)7 January 1867
London
Died28 September 1937(1937-09-28) (aged 70)
East Meon, near Petersfield, Hampshire
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Unionist
Conservative
SpouseHon. Eleanor Williamson
Children
Parent
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford

William Robert Wellesley Peel, 1st Earl Peel, GCSI, GBE, TD, PC, DL (7 January 1867 – 28 September 1937), 2nd Viscount Peel from 1912 to 1929, was a British politician who was a local councillor, a Member of Parliament and a member of the House of Lords. After an early career as a barrister and a journalist, he entered first local and then national politics. He rose to hold a number of ministerial positions but is probably best remembered for chairing the Peel Commission in 1936–1937, which recommended for the first time the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.[1]

The grandson of a Conservative prime minister, he was unusual even for his period in the number of political parties for which he was elected. He began as a member of the Moderate Party on the London County Council and later became the leader of the renamed Municipal Reform Party; he was then elected as an MP for the Liberal Unionists and then for the Conservative Party before he inherited his seat in the Lords in 1912. He also served as a minister in governments led by Liberal, Conservative and Labour prime ministers.

His ministerial career began as Under-Secretary of State for War in 1919, and he entered the cabinet in 1922 as Secretary of State for India and held a number of other ministerial positions.[1]

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