Robert Peel

Question 1

What was Peel’s anti-Catholic nickname?

Answer 1

Orange Peel

Question 2

What year did Peel first become Home Secretary?

Answer 2

1822

Question 3

Who’s governments did Peel serve under as Home Secretary?

Answer 3

Lord Liverpool and the Duke of Wellington

Question 4

When was Peel appointed as Prime Minister during his first ministry?

Answer 4

1834

Question 5

What caused Peel to resign as Prime Minister in 1835?

Answer 5

The Lichfield Pact

Question 6

When did Peel issue the Tamworth Manifesto?

Answer 6

1834

Question 7

Who’s work was Peel a supporter of?

Answer 7

Adam Smith and David Riccardo

Question 8

How did Peel increase free trade?

Answer 8

Cut tariffs and lowered the corn law sliding scale in the 1842 budget. The repeal of the corn laws was also a huge step towards this

Question 9

When did Peel introduce income tax?

Answer 9

1832

Question 10

What were the terms of the 1842 Mines Act?

Answer 10

No women or boys under the age of 12 could work underground

Question 11

What were the terms of the 1844 Factory Act?

Answer 11

Children 9-13 couldn’t work more than a 6.5 hour day. Women could not work for longer than a 12 hour day

Question 12

In what ways did Peel weaken the Conservative Party?

Answer 12

The repeal of the Corn Laws and the defeated Irish Coercion Bill split the party. Peel’s changing stance on Catholic Emancipation and the 1832 Reform Bill, income tax hit the Tory supporters, Maynooth grant

Question 13

When was the Maynooth Grant issued, and what was it?

Answer 13

1845- A grant to a college in Ireland which trained Catholic Priests, in an attempt to appease the Irish.

Question 14

What was the Devon Commission and why was it ineffective?

Answer 14

1845- A commission looking into the issues of land tenure in Ireland. It was ineffective because Peel resigned before it was completed?

Question 15

What was one of the only achievements of Peel’s first ministry of 1834-1835?

Answer 15

The setting up of the Ecclesiastical Commission

Question 16

Why did Peel refuse to take the office as Prime Minister in 1839?

Answer 16

The queen refused to replace her Whig staff (ladies of waiting etc) with Conservative wives, so it appeared as though Victoria had little faith in a Conservative government

Question 17

What were a few of the terms in the 1842 budget?

Answer 17

Introduction of income tax, cut tariffs and the lowering of the Corn Law Sliding scale

Question 18

What and when was the Bank Charter Act?

Answer 18

1844- an attempt to maintain a stable currency, so therefore stabilise the economy. Only the Bank of England could issue new bank notes, and they had to be backed up by a gold supply, or up to a government debt of £14 million

Question 19

Who supported Peel’s repeal of the Corn Laws?

Answer 19

Whigs and Radicals- not his own party

Question 20

What pressures were placed on Peel’s government?

Answer 20

Chadwick’s report on the Sanitary Conditions of the labouring classes in 1842, the Anti-Corn Law League, Daniel O’Connell Young Ireland

Question 21

When was there an attempt to issue 2 hours of compulsory education each day for children, and why was the bill defeated?

Answer 21

1843- arguments over which denomination would provide the education

Question 22

When were Peel’s Gaol Acts?

Answer 22

1823

Question 23

When was the Metropolitan Police Act?

Answer 23

1829

Question 24

What were “Peel’s Principles”?

Answer 24

A series of ethics codes for the new police

Question 25

What is Peel’s quote about Ireland?

Answer 25

“There is such a tendency to exaggeration and inaccuracy in the Irish reports that delay in action is always desirable”

Question 26

What was the population of Ireland in the 1841 census?

Answer 26

8.2 million

Question 27

What was the population of Ireland in the 1851 census?

Answer 27

6.5 million

Question 28

How many emigrated from Ireland during the 1840’s?

Answer 28

1 million

Question 29

How many died from the Irish famine?

Answer 29

1 million

Question 30

Where was Daniel O’Connell arrested?

Answer 30

Conclarf, County Dublin 1843

Question 31

What meetings by Daniel O’Connell threatened Peel’s government?

Answer 31

Monster Meetings

Question 32

What does Asa Briggs suggest the reason for William IV’s 1834 offer to Peel to become Prime Minister?

Answer 32

“Whig ineptitude”