Herbert Richard Peel

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

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 (1794–1861); Robert Peel the prime minister of the United Kingdom, was his uncle. 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. He matriculated in 1849 at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A, in 1853, and M.A. in 1856.

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. Retiring from the ministry in 1873, he spent two years travelling, in poor health with rheumatic fever.

Cricket career Peel's 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. He played in minor matches for a variety of teams, including the pre-county Worcestershire and Oxfordshire clubs, the Gentlemen of Worcestershire and I Zingari.

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. They had four children:

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