167.250.143.102 at 22:17, 27 May 2022

2022-05-27T22:17:56Z

New page

{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix=
|name=Sir William Peel
|honorific_suffix=
|image=William Peel VC 002.jpg
|image_size=200
|caption=
|birth_date={{birth date|df=y|1824|11|2}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=y|1858|4|27|1824|11|2}}
|birth_place=[[Mayfair]], [[London]], UK
|death_place=[[Cawnpore]], [[British India]]
|placeofburial=Old British Cemetery, Cawnpore, India
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{navy|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears=
|rank=Captain
|unit= [[Naval Brigade]]
|commands=
{{plainlist|
*[[HMS Diamond|HMS ''Diamond'']]
*[[HMS Shannon (1855)|HMS ''Shannon'']]
}}
|battles=
{{plainlist|
*[[Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841)|Syrian War]]
*[[Crimean War]]
*[[Indian Mutiny]]
}}
|awards=
{{plainlist|
*[[Victoria Cross]]
*[[Order of the Bath]]
*[[Légion d'honneur]] (France)
}}
|relations=[[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]] (father)
|laterwork=Travel writer
}}
[[File:Sir William Peel by William Theed, 1860, Greenwich Maritime Museum.jpg|thumb|Sir William Peel by [[William Theed]], 1860, Greenwich Maritime Museum]]
'''Captain Sir William Peel''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] (2 November 1824 – 27 April 1858) was a British naval officer and recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. He was the third son of the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]]. Like his father, he was educated at [[Harrow School]].

He was made a [[Order of the Bath|Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]], and thus became Sir William Peel.

==Military career==
Peel was a [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] in the [[Royal Navy]], serving with the [[Naval Brigade]] during the [[Crimean War]]. On 18 October 1854 at the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)|Siege of Sevastopol]], he picked up a live shell with the fuse still burning from amongst several powder cases and threw it over the parapet. The shell burst as it left his hands.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=21971 |date=24 February 1857 |pages=651–652 }}</ref> For this he was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC); it is now displayed at the [[National Maritime Museum]] in [[Greenwich]], England.

On 5 November at the [[Battle of Inkerman]], he joined some of the officers of the [[Grenadier Guards]] and helped to defend the Colours of the regiment when they were hard-pressed. On 18 June 1855, he led the first scaling party at the assault on the [[redan]] and was himself severely wounded. On each of these occasions Captain Peel was accompanied by a young midshipman, [[Edward St. John Daniel]] as [[Aide-de-camp]].

After the Crimean War, he served in the [[Indian Mutiny]] and was wounded at the [[Relief of Lucknow]]. At the age of 33, he died of [[smallpox]] at [[Cawnpore]], [[India]], on 27 April 1858.<ref>[http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=MED1252 Victoria Cross (MED1252)]</ref>

==Travel==
Captain Peel wrote ''A Ride through the Nubian Desert'' (1852), detailing his travels of the preceding year.

==Memorials==
[[File:Statue of Sir William Peel in the Eden Gardens, Calcutta in the 1860s.jpg|thumb|Statue of William Peel in the Eden Gardens, Calcutta in the 1860s.]]
There is a memorial to Captain Peel and the Naval Brigade from HMS ''Shannon'' on the seafront at [[Southsea]], England.<ref>[http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/southsea/shannon.htm Memorial Details, "Memorials in Southsea - HMS Shannon -", ''Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120154619/http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/southsea/shannon.htm |date=20 January 2010 }}</ref>

There is a statue of William Peel by [[William Theed]] in the south transept of Saint Swithun's Church, [[Sandy, Bedfordshire|Sandy]], in Bedfordshire.<ref>[http://sandyparishchurch.org/Documents/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20St%20Swithun%27s%20Church.pdf A Brief History of St Swithun's Church]</ref> There are two copies of this statue, one in the [[National Maritime Museum]] in Greenwich <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/11974439@N05/4414647582/ |title = The statue of Sir William Peel (VC) {{!}} Captain Sir William Pe… {{!}} Flickr|date = 6 February 2010}}</ref> and one which was erected in [[Eden Gardens]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/s/019pho000000029u00031000.html |title = Statue of Sir William Peel in the Eden Gardens [Calcutta]}}</ref> This statue was moved to [[Barrackpore]] in 1977 and was due to be moved back to Calcutta in 2004 amid some confusion over its identity: it was thought to be Peel's father, Robert Peel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041120/asp/calcutta/story_4024344.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041121005627/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041120/asp/calcutta/story_4024344.asp |archive-date=21 November 2004 |title=The Telegraph - Calcutta : Metro}}</ref>

Opposite Sandy church across the High Street stands the Sir William Peel pub.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangeaurochs/2385084353/in/set-72157627667948706/ |title = Sir William Peel, Sandy, Bedfordshire {{!}} Orangeaurochs {{!}} Flickr|date = 31 March 2008}}</ref>

A plaque at [[RSPB The Lodge|The Lodge]], headquarters of the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds|RSPB]] in Sandy, commemorates the 150th anniversary of the death of Captain Sir William Peel. It is situated near the Swiss Cottage which he built in the 1850s, which is now the gatehouse to The Lodge, built by his brother Arthur Wellesley Peel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangeaurochs/3713380371/ |title = Plaque commemorating Captain Sir William Peel at the RSPB … {{!}} Flickr|date = 12 July 2009}}</ref> A similar plaque is mounted on a bench on Sandy High Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangeaurochs/6144305956/ |title = Plaque commemorating Captain Sir William Peel on a bench o… {{!}} Flickr|date = 13 September 2011}}</ref>

A statue of Peel by [[William Theed]] stands in the centre of [[Greenwich Maritime Museum]].

==See also==
* {{cite wikisource |first=William Richard |last=O'Byrne |chapter=Peel, William |title=A Naval Biographical Dictionary |year=1849 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{DNB|wstitle=Peel, William}}

{{commons category|William Peel (Royal Navy officer)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peel, William}}

[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British travel writers]]
[[Category:Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in India]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Officiers of the Légion d'honneur]]
[[Category:Peel family|William]]
[[Category:People from Mayfair]]
[[Category:People from Kanpur]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841)]]

William Peel (Royal Navy officer) - Revision history

167.250.143.102 at 22:17, 27 May 2022