02 July 1850

Death of Sir Robert Peel from injuries sustained in a fall from his horse

Peel was a Conservative but his repeal of the Corm Laws in 1846, breaking the Tory policy of protectionism and designed to make food available against the background of the Great Famine in Ireland, split his party and was achieved only with Whig and Radical support. Peel resigned as prime minister and never held office again. Conservative supporters of his policy, who included W. E. Gladstone, were known as Peelites. In 1859 they joined with the Whigs and Radicals in the famous Willis Rooms meeting to bring down Lord Derby’s Conservative government, the moment now commonly agreed to be the birth of Liberal Party.