Sidney Peel

Colonel Sir Sidney Cornwallis Peel, 1st Baronet (1870–1938), was a British Army officer, barrister, and financier. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Conservative Party during the coalition government era from 1918 to 1922 and was the chairman of the Export Credits Guarantee Department Advisory Committee for the final 19 years of his life.

Born on June 3, 1870, Peel was the third son of Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, who was a prominent political figure serving as Speaker of the House of Commons. His paternal grandfather was Sir Robert Peel, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His mother was Adelaide, daughter of William Stratford Dugdale. Peel attended Eton College, where he was recognized as a King's Scholar and Newcastle Scholar in 1889. He subsequently attended New College, Oxford, on a scholarship, earning first-class honours in Greats, and was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1893.

Peel was called to the bar in 1898. His early military service included participation in the Second Boer War in 1900 as a trooper in the Oxfordshire Imperial Yeomanry, for which he received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps. In 1902, he joined the Bedfordshire Yeomanry as an officer. He also reported on Egypt for a newspaper and established connections with Ernest Cassel, leading to his roles as chairman of the London Committee for the National Bank of Egypt and vice-president of the Morocco State Bank.

In 1901, Peel was involved with the National Discount Company as an official, later becoming its director in 1911 and chairman in 1922. He was appointed to the Oxford Chest by Lord Curzon in 1911 and served as Deputy Steward of the University from 1922. During World War I, Peel held the rank of Major and later Colonel in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry, commanding B Squadron. He served in France with the 1st Cavalry Division starting in June 1915, was mentioned in dispatches, and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

In November 1917, Peel was appointed to advise the Foreign Office on financial crises. His role extended to participation in the 1919 Peace Conference, where he scrutinized the Bulgarian settlement. From 1919 until his death, he was chairman of the Export Credits Guarantee Department Advisory Committee. Peel also participated in international negotiations, including serving as British Plenipotentiary at the Tariff Conference in China (1925–1926) and on the Committee of Inquiry into Indian States–British relations in India (1927). He was involved in various government committees, served as honorary treasurer of the National Trust, and was appointed Commander of the Order of the Bath (C.B.) in 1929. In 1936, he was created a baronet of Eyeworth in Bedfordshire.

His younger brother George noted Peel's ability to master complex subjects accurately and his constant involvement in matters of national importance. Peel's military career was still recognized in official records in 1920, where he was listed as commanding the Bedfordshire Yeomanry.

In his political career, Peel was elected as Conservative MP for Uxbridge in 1918 and served until 1922. He died at 26 Hill Street in Mayfair, London, on December 19, 1938, at age 68. His baronetcy became extinct upon his death. His wife, Lady Adelaide Margaret Delia Spencer (daughter of Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer), who was 19 years younger than Peel, died in January 1981 at age 91.

His personal writings include "Trooper 8008," reflecting his Boer War experiences, and other works such as "The Binding of the Nile and the New Sudan," "British Rule in the Sudan," and his 1935 World War I memoir titled "Beds Yeomanry." His estate was valued in 1939 at £92,586 (approximately £7.3 million in 2023 currency).