Sir Robert Peel Contemporary Perspectives

Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) was one of the most significant political figures in nineteenth-century Britain. He was also one of the most controversial. In this new, three-volume edition, Dr Richard Gaunt, an authority on Peel’s life and work, brings together a range of contemporary perspectives considering Peel’s life and achievements. From the first observation of Peel’s precocious talent as an Oxford undergraduate to his burgeoning reputation as a cabinet minister, the volumes draw together sources on Peel’s forty-year political career. The edition pays particular attention to the most controversial aspects of his political life – the granting of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, his ‘founding’ of the Conservative Party during the 1830s and the achievements of his landmark government of 1841-6, culminating in the repeal of the corn laws in 1846. It also considers Peel’s post-1846 career, and the unusual position he occupied in British politics before his untimely death in 1850. Combining perspectives from different parts of the political spectrum, the collection will be of use to a wide range of researchers, with interests in history, politics, religion, economics and political biography.

VOLUME 3: THE FALL OF PEEL, 1845-50 Part 1: The Maynooth Grant, 1845 1. Maurice Fitzgerald, A Letter to Sir Robert Peel on the Endowment of the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland (London, 1845), pp. 5-15. 2. An Answer to the Speeches Sir Robert Peel and W. E. Gladstone on the Bill for endowing the Jesuit College of Maynooth, in an address to my countrymen (London, 1845), pp. 3-16. 3. Reverend William Nicolson, A Warning to the Rulers of this Land, specially addressed to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, with reference to the proposed endowment of Popery (London, 1845), pp. 5-23. 4. Sir Robert Peel The Greatest Radical of the Age, and the Best Friend of O’Connell (London, 1845), pp. 3-30. Part 2: The Repeal of the Corn Laws, 1846 5. John Francis Byrne, Four Letters on the Corn Laws, addressed to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel (London, 1841), pp. 3-19. 6. Charles Cavendish Fulke, Sir Robert Peel and the Corn Law Crisis, 2nd Ed. (London, 1846), pp. 3-33. 7. Corn and Consistency. A few remarks in reply to a pamphlet entitled, ‘Sir Robert Peel and the Corn Law Crisis’ (London, 1846), pp. 3-54. 8. Letter to Sir Robert Peel on the mode of meeting the present crisis. From M.P., a supporter hitherto of the League (London, 1846), pp. 3-34. Part 3: Peelite Politics, 1846-50 9. ‘Reflections Suggested by the Career of the Late Premier’, Blackwood’s Magazine (January 1847), pp. 93-128. 10. J. C. Colquhoun, The Effects of Sir Robert Peel’s Administration on the Political State and Prospects of England (London, 1847), pp. iii-vii, 1-35. 11. Physiology of the Peel Party; or an inquiry into the nature of the new neutral policy (Edinburgh, 1847), pp. 3-31. 12. The Man of the Day: to the tune of the Vicar of Bray (Edinburgh, 1847), pp. 3-8. Part 4: Death and Legacy, 1850 13. Joseph Arnould, Memorial Lines on Sir Robert Peel (London, 1850), pp. 3-8. 14. The Death of the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel. A Song (London, 1850) 1 page with image if possible 15. James S. M. Anderson, The Dead yet speaking. A sermon preached in St George’s, Brighton…on…the Sunday after the death of Sir Robert Peel (London, 1850), pp. 3-23. 16. The Life, Political Career, and Death of Sir Robert Peel (London, 1850), pp. 3-16. 17. Captain Henry Martin, A Personal Sketch of the late lamented Sir Robert Peel, as a Parliamentary Speaker and Party Leader in the British House of Commons &c (Hamburg, 1850), pp. 3-24.

Dr Richard A. Gaunt, Department of History, University of Nottingham