View source for Basil Peto

{{short description|British politician}}
{{about|the MP for Devizes and Barnstaple|the MP for Birmingham King's Norton|John Peto (politician)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Basil Peto
| image         = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       =
| birth_name    = Basil Edward Peto
| birth_date    = {{Birth date |1862|08|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Westminster|Westminster, London]]
| education = [[Harrow School]]<ref name=whoswho/>
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1945|01|28|1862|08|13|df=yes}}
| death_place   = [[Iford Manor]], near [[Bradford on Avon]], [[Wiltshire]]
| nationality   = British
}}
'''Sir Basil Edward Peto, 1st Baronet''' (13 August 1862 – 28 January 1945)<ref name=whoswho/> was a [[British people|British]] businessman and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Unionist]] politician.<ref>Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{hansard-contribs | sir-basil-peto | Sir Basil Peto }}</ref>
==Education and early life==
Born at [[Westminster]], Peto was the seventh son of [[Morton Peto|Sir Morton Peto, 1st Baronet]].  He entered [[Harrow School]], but was withdrawn at the age of seventeen when his father experienced financial difficulties.<ref name="obit2">{{cite news|title=Sir Basil Peto: An Appreciation|date=14 February 1945|work=[[The Times]]|page=7}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=Obituary: Sir Basil Peto|date=29 January 1945|work=[[The Times]]|page=6}}</ref>
==Career==
Peto became an apprentice joiner with his family's business, Peto Brothers, building contractors, of [[Pimlico]].<ref name="obit2"/> He became a partner in the company in 1884<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25888 |date=28 December 1888 |page=7430}}</ref> and married Mary Matilda Annie Baird in 1892. The couple had three sons.<ref name="obit" />
In 1890, Peto attempted to bring in a form of profit-sharing to the company. The proposal was opposed by the [[trade union]]s, leading to a strike.<ref>{{cite news|title=Profit Sharing. Peto Brothers|date=27 February 1890|work=[[The Times]]|page=11}}</ref> The company was dissolved in 1893 and Peto was financially ruined.<ref name="obit2" /><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26464 |date=5 December 1893 |page=7143}}</ref>
He took up employment with [[Morgan Crucible]] in 1892, eventually becoming managing director by 1904, when he resigned. He travelled widely for the company supervising the mining and purchase of [[Graphite|plumbago]] in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]].<ref name="whoswho" /><ref name="obit2" /><ref name="obit" />
Peto was chosen by the Conservative Party to contest the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910 general election]], regaining the [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes constituency]] in [[Wiltshire]] which had been lost to the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal party]] in [[1906 United Kingdom general election]]. He retained the seat until the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 election]].<ref name="whoswho" /><ref name="obit" />
During the [[World War I|First World War]] he held a temporary commission in the [[British Army]] and acted as the Chief Commissioner for Belgian Refugee Affairs.<ref name="whoswho" /><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28946 |date=20 October 1914 |page=8483}}</ref> He was made a Commander of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] by [[Albert I of Belgium]].<ref name="obit" /><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13447 |date=20 May 1919|page=1741 |city=e}}</ref>
Peto returned to the [[United Kingdom House of Commons|House of Commons]], twice serving as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnstaple constituency]], holding the seat from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1924 to 1935.<ref name="whoswho" /><ref name="obit" /> He was created a Baronet, of Barnstaple in the County of Devon, in January 1927.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33249 |date=18 February 1927 |page=1111}}</ref> He found himself at odds with many of the policies of [[Conservative Government 1924–1929|Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government]], and lost the party whip to sit as an [[independent (politics)|independent]] in April 1928.<ref name="obit" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Sir Basil Peto And His Party. No Thought of Independent Candidature|date=31 July 1928|work=[[The Times]]|page=16}}</ref>
Following a unanimous vote of confidence in him by his local party executive, he was readmitted to the parliamentary party in November.<ref>{{cite news|title=Political Notes|date=3 November 1928|work=[[The Times]]|page=12}}</ref> In June 1934 he announced that he would be retiring from parliament at the next general election, which was held in the following year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Political Notes|date=8 June 1934 |work=[[The Times]]|page=14}}</ref>
Peto served as chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease from 1926 – 1939.<ref>{{cite news|title=News in Brief|date=25 May 1939 |work=[[The Times]]|page=13}}</ref>
==Death==
Peto died at his home [[Iford Manor]], near [[Bradford on Avon]], [[Wiltshire]] in January 1945 aged 82.<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | author=Anon| title=Peto, Sir Basil | id = U230370 | year = 2017 | doi =10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U230370 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford}}</ref><ref name="obit" /> He was succeeded by his elder son, James Michael Peto (1894–1971).<ref name="whoswho" /><ref name="obit" /> A younger son, [[Christopher Peto]] (1897–1980), succeeded his elder brother and also served as MP for Barnstaple.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-par|uk}}
{{Succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]]
| years  = [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|Jan. 1910]]–[[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918]]
| before = [[Francis Rogers (Liberal politician)|Francis Rogers]]
| after  = [[Cory Bell]]
}}
{{Succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnstaple]]
| years  = [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922]]–[[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]]
| before = [[Tudor Rees]]
| after  = [[Tudor Rees]]
}}
{{Succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnstaple]]
| years  = [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]–[[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]]
| before = [[Tudor Rees]]
| after  = [[Richard Acland|Sir Richard Acland]]
}}
{{S-reg|uk-bt}}
{{S-new | creation }}
{{S-ttl
| title = [[Peto Baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Barnstaple)'''
| years = 1927–1945
}}
{{S-aft | after= James Peto }}
{{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peto, Basil Edward}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Westminster]]
[[Category:British Army officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom|Peto, Sir Basil, 1st Baronet]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–1923]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1929–1931]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Barnstaple]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]