The Peel Society was founded in 1979 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Service in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel.
It is a national, non-political historical society, and is a registered charity no. 509865.
The society promotes the study of the life, works and times of Sir Robert Peel and the Peel family. Its main objective was to establish and run a museum of Peel and police artefacts, which has now been achieved and is located at Middleton Hall, Tamworth, not far from Drayton Manor which was the Peel family home and is now a theme park, the manor house itself having been demolished.
The society has an active committee and membership. Since establishment it has brought to Tamworth speakers of national and international importance to talk on subjects related to Sir Robert Peel and the period in which he lived. It produces exhibitions of information and artefacts on Peel related subjects, publishes books and pamphlets, and can assist students and other interested parties with their research.
The society's speakers visit outside groups to give a range of talks related to the well-known Sir Robert Peel, political history of that time, establishment of the Metropolitan Police and evolution of the police service in general, plus explaining the reason why there are so many statues of Sir Robert situated around the Country, including a prominent one inside Westminster Abbey and another just outside in Parliament Square:- we know he set up our police service, but equally as important were Peel's reform of the unfair Corn Laws (i.e. import duties on foodstuffs) at the time of the Irish potato famine, plus Catholic emancipation and sorting out the Country's economy!
We have visited schools and colleges in the past to give related talks, where our speakers would often dress as 'Peelers' which tended to hold the attention of the younger pupils for longer, but retirements mean that regrettably we can only service our current regular schools, not take on any new bookings. However, we would welcome anyone wanting to join us who might wish to take over this very enjoyable and valuable activity for the benefit of our schoolchildren. Full training and mentoring can be given.
Similarly, we would love to hear from anyone who might want to help us with the museum, which has an interesting display of both Peel and Police-related items and equipment on display. The museum is inside Middleton Hall and open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 4pm from Easter until October. One day per week would be most helpful.
Please see our 'membership' section or address any communications to the Secretary via email at: field.roger@sky.com. Thank you.
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