Herbert Richard Peel

Reverend Herbert Richard Peel (1831–1885) was an English clergyman. He played cricket for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club. He also worked to popularise apiculture.[1]

Herbert Peel

Peel photographed in 1862
Personal information
Full name	Herbert Richard Peel
Born	8 February 1831 Canterbury, Kent, England
Died	2 June 1885 (aged 54) Thornton, Buckinghamshire, England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1851–1852	Oxford University
1851–1852	Kent
FC debut	12 June 1851 Oxford University v MCC
Last FC	8 July 1852 Oxford University v Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 9 Runs scored 201 Batting average 14.35 100s/50s 0/1 Top score 82 Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: CricInfo, 20 May 2016

Life

He was the son of John Peel (1798–1875), at the time of his birth a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral then later Dean of Worcester, and his wife Augusta Swinfen (1805–1861); Robert Peel the prime minister of the United Kingdom, was his uncle.[2] He was educated at Eton College, under Edward Craven Hawtrey as headmaster, and then spent two years as a private pupil of the Rev. Henry Drury, at Bremhill.[3] He matriculated in 1849 at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A, in 1853, and M.A. in 1856.[2][4][5]

Peel became a priest in the Church of England, ordained in 1854 and initially a curate at Hallow, Worcestershire to 1855. He was then curate at Charlecote.[3] In 1860 he was appointed by his father as rector of Handsworth, an industrial town then in Staffordshire.[6] Retiring from the ministry in 1873, he spent two years travelling, in poor health with rheumatic fever.[3]

In 1875 Peel's father died, and he went to live at Abbot's Hill in Hertfordshire. Soon afterwards he became involved with the British Bee-Keepers' Association. In 1882 he moved to Thornton Hall, Buckinghamshire.[3]

Death

On 2 July 1885, Peel shot himself in Thornton Hall. His will, proved in London on 28 July, left a personal estate of £97,000 (worth over £9 million in 2015).[7]

Cricket career

Peel's first-class cricket career was brief, of nine matches for Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the Gentlemen of Kent in the 1851 and 1852 seasons. He played as a batsman, with a top score of 82.[5][8] He played in non-first-class matches for a variety of teams, including the pre-county Worcestershire and Oxfordshire clubs, the Gentlemen of Worcestershire and I Zingari.[5][9]

Family

On 6 September 1853 at Hartlebury in Worcestershire, Peel married Georgiana Maria Baker (1830–1907), only daughter of the Reverend Thomas Baker, rector of Hartlebury, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Bishop Robert James Carr.[2] They had four children:

• Alice (1854–1942), who married Arthur Howard Heath, a keen cricketer and rugby international.[2]
• Herbert (1856–1933), who married Muriel Hilda Miller.[2]
• Amy (1859–1929), who married the Reverend James Henry Savory, another cricketer and FA Cup finalist footballer.[2]
• Augusta (1862–1925), who married first William Wyckham Tyrwhitt-Drake and secondly Frederick Peter Game.[2]

References

1. Cheshire FR Bees and Bee-Keeping Scientific and Practical - A Complete Treatise on the Anatomy, Physiology, Floral Relations, and Profitable Management of the Hive Bee - Vol. I. Scientific, p.11. Read Books Limited. ISBN 9781473342408 (Available online. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
2. Burke's Peerage 2003, page 3080
3. British Bee Journal & Bee-keepers Adviser, 15 June 1885, p.199. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
4. s:Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886/Peel, Herbert Richard
5. Carlaw D Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806-1914, pp.384–385. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-06-04.)
6. Handsworth, St Mary. Retrieved 2016-05-22.
7. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, database on-line. Retrieved 2016-05-22. (subscription required)
8. First-class matches played by Herbert Peel, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-05-22. (subscription required)
9. Teams Herbert Peel played for, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-05-22. (subscription required)

External links

• Herbert Richard Peel at ESPNcricinfo