Fonds consists of microfilmed selections relating to Canada from the correspondence of Sir Robert Peel during his great ministry of 1841-1846. This material is located on microfilm reel A-21.
Peel, Robert, 1788-1850 : Statesman.
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bart. (1788-1850) was born on 5 February 1788. He was the eldest son of Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) Peel (1750-1830), manufacturer and Member of Parliament, by his wife Ellen, eldest daughter of William Yates, a partner in the firm of Haworth, Peel, and Yates, cotton manufacturers of Bury, Lancashire. He was marked and prepared by his father to be a statesman. Educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, Peel entered Parliament in 1809 at the age of 21. His political career included appointments as under-secretary of state for War and the Colonies, 1810-1812; Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1812-1818; Home Secretary, 1822-1827, 1828-1830; and Prime Minister, 1834-1835, 1841-1845, 1845-1846. He is especially noted for effecting important reforms in the criminal law, reorganizing the Bank of England, and repealing the corn laws. He died, 2 July 1850, as the result of a fall from his horse four days earlier.
MG21-Add.MSS.-40429-40555-(selections)