Story behind the statue: Police force founder Robert Peel

What followed was an unprecedented public demonstration of grief for a politician, across all classes of the population. Throughout the country statues and memorials to one of the greatest prime ministers appeared, in locations including the Robert Peel pub, Bury; Parliament Square, London; Tamworth; Woodhouse Moor, Leeds; Bradford’s Wool Exchange and Peel Park.

Sir Robert Peel was born in 1788 in Bury, son of a wealthy mill-owner. He became the first prime minister from an industrial business background. He was an outstanding student at Oxford, gaining a double first in mathematics and classics, and in 1809 became MP for Cashel in Tipperary, where there were only 24 voters, and was elected unopposed at the age of 21, sponsored by his father and Sir Arthur Wellesley, future Duke of Wellington.

Early on, Robert displayed signs of an outstanding politician. In 1810 he was appointed Under Secretary of State for War when Britain was at war with Napoleon’s France. In 1812 be became Chief Secretary for Ireland. He chaired the Bullion Committee in the House of Commons with the purpose of stabilising the economy after the long war with France. Clearly a rising star in the Tory Party, in 1822 he became Home Secretary.

He introduced reforms to the criminal system such as reducing the number of crimes punishable by death. He improved conditions in prison. When Prime Minister Lord Liverpool resigned due to illness in 1827 he was replaced by Canning, who was in favour of Catholic Emancipation, allowing them the same rights as Anglicans to stand for Parliament and public office. Peel opposed it so strongly he was nicknamed ‘Orange Peel’. He resigned as Home Secretary but returned four months later after Canning’s death, when Wellington became Prime Minister.

When Catholic Irish nationalist Daniel O’Connell was elected to Parliament in 1828, there was fear of civil disobedience if he wasn’t allowed to take his seat. Peel wrote to Wellington that “though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger.” He and Wellington agreed to support emancipation. This didn’t go down well with sections of the Tory party, who saw Peel as a traitor, but he was emerging as a man of integrity who put the country before party. He stood for his old constituency of Oxford University, dominated by Anglican clergymen, but because of Catholic Emancipation he lost a by-election in February, 1829. He was, however, elected to another rotten borough, Westbury. At the1830 general election he stood for Tamworth in Staffordshire, representing the electorate until his death in 1850.

In 1829 Peel introduced the Metropolitan Police Force in London based at Scotland Yard. An attempt to make tackling law and order more efficient, it was extended through the country and though at first viewed with suspicion, the principal of policing by consent became the alternative to military force. Constables were known as ‘Bobbies’ or ‘Peelers’ after the ‘father of modern policing’.

In December 1834 Peel issued the Tamworth Manifesto, laying down principals for the ‘new Conservative Party’. While this split the Tory Party, it proved popular in the country. In the 1835 general election the Tories returned to power, a minority government. Peel became Prime Minister but found it difficult to run the country so he resigned and the Whigs returned.

In May 1839 he was offered another chance to form a government by the young Queen Victoria. Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne had moulded Victoria’s view of politics, reinforced by the royal household consisting of relatives of Whigs. Peel wanted some replaced by Conservatives and ensued ‘the Bedchamber Crisis’. Victoria refused to compromise so Peel refused to form a government. The Whigs continued in power and Peel built up unity in the Conservatives, preparing the political ground to win the 1841 election.

With an economic recession in 1841, confidence in banks and businesses was receding. Peel’s handling of the situation cemented his reputation as one of Britain’s greatest prime ministers. Some found him cold and arrogant, but he was intelligent and hard-working, with a sense of duty. In 1842 he reintroduced income tax, removed at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It was a great success, enabling him to reduce tariffs on 1,200 customs duties. He was responsible for the modern banking system and passed the Railway Regulations Act of 1844. Trade and industry expanded with a rise in employment. Prices of goods came down and living standards improved. There was a growing movement for free trade witnessed in the industrial towns of Bradford and Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham. Peel encouraged free trade.

The price of bread was artificially high because of Corn Laws. Bad weather in 1845 ruined the corn crop, and the potato blight in Ireland led to famine. If the Corn Laws were repealed cheaper corn could be imported, relieving starvation. Peel decided there was no alternative to repeal, contrary to traditional Tory policies. Only a handful of Ministers supported him, but the Bill became law. The Tory Party rank and file once more accused Peel of betraying his party. But he’d put the nation first, winning him prestige nationwide. One of his supporters was William Ewart Gladstone. It divided the Conservative Party, which lost the 1846 election.

The 1833 Factory Act, partly due to the campaign led by Richard Oastler, prohibited children under nine working in factories, and reduced the hours older children could work. Peel went further in 1844 by limiting the hours for all children to six-and-a-half hours a day; women were restricted to no more than 12; the apprentice system was abolished for under-10s; rules were introduced about protecting workers from moving machinery. The Ten Hours Act of 1847, introduced after Peel fell from power, eventually made it illegal for 13-18-year-old and women to work more than 10 hours a day. This was Peel tackling proven abuses and redressing real grievances. The Mines Act 1842 dealt with an abuse not covered by factory legislation. Conditions in mines and particularly the employment of young children had been ignored. Lord Shaftesbury commissioned a report to investigate the employment of children and women in coal mines. It exposed, in 1842, terrible examples of six to seven-year-olds working long hours as trappers, opening and shutting doors to allow coal tubs to pass through and control pit ventilation. The tubs were often pulled by women on hands and knees with a chain attached to their waist. The Mines Act forbade female employment and that of boys under 10. 
An area of great concern was the condition of towns due to the massive influx of people during the Industrial Revolution. Bradford was a prime example. Peel’s Government set up an inquiry. Though the resulting Public Health Act 1848 was not passed by Peel, he’d set the ball rolling; this Act and subsequent legislation cleaned up living conditions by the late 19th century.
In China there was conlict over Britain’s attempt to oppose the Chinese government’s efforts to stop trade in opium., leading to war which, as Prime Minister, Peel brought to a conclusion with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. It was the Opium War which brought Hong Kong under British control until 1997.
Peel was generally popular in Britain, although there had been an attempt on his life by a Scotsman in 1843. He was responsible for the modern Conservative Party, and when he lost the 1846 general election, ‘Peelites’ joined forces with the Whigs the new Liberal Party was formed.
There are many Peel memorials in the UK, even in Australia. He wasn’t popular at first in Bradford, an effigy of him was burnt in the town, but he was popular with Bradford industrialists, and his encouragement of free trade benefitted the textile industry. He was the first Prime Minister to be photographed, he featured on the cover of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album. His statue was the first public statue erected in Bradford. In 1850, after a meeting at St George’s Hall, it was decided to create a park in Peel’s honour. This 64 acres of land was opened in 1853 and called Peel Park. A public subscription led by Sir Robert Milligan and Sir Titus Salt raised money for a statue designed by William Behnes, in 1855.

It was originally placed in Peel Place on Leeds Road and was re-erected in Peel Park in 1926, a fitting reminder of one of Britain’s greatest statesmen. Following removal of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, because of links with slavery, there was consideration of other statues in the country and in Bradford there was a petition to remove Robert Peel’s statue and to re-name Peel Park because his mill-owner father had been in favour of slavery, and his son’s education at Harrow and Oxford had benefitted from slavery money. But there was strong opposition to this move - 125 votes in favour, and 1,308 against. The petition was withdrawn.