Basil Peto

{{about|the MP for Devizes and Barnstaple|the MP for Birmingham King's Norton|John Peto (politician)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Basil Peto

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Basil Edward Peto

| birth_date = {{Birth date |1862|08|13|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Westminster, London

| education = Harrow School

| 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) was a British businessman and Unionist politician.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}{{Rayment-bt|date=March 2012}}{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}{{hansard-contribs | sir-basil-peto | Sir Basil Peto }}

Education and early life

Born at Westminster, Peto was the seventh son of Sir Morton Peto, 1st Baronet. He entered Harrow School, but was withdrawn at the age of seventeen when his father experienced financial difficulties.{{cite news|title=Sir Basil Peto: An Appreciation|date=14 February 1945|work=The Times|page=7}}{{cite news|title=Obituary: Sir Basil Peto|date=29 January 1945|work=The Times|page=6}}

Career

Peto became an apprentice joiner with his family's business, Peto Brothers, building contractors, of Pimlico. He became a partner in the company in 1884{{London Gazette|issue=25888 |date=28 December 1888 |page=7430}} and married Mary Matilda Annie Baird in 1892. The couple had three sons.

In 1890, Peto attempted to bring in a form of profit-sharing to the company. The proposal was opposed by the trade unions, leading to a strike.{{cite news|title=Profit Sharing. Peto Brothers|date=27 February 1890|work=The Times|page=11}} The company was dissolved in 1893 and Peto was financially ruined.{{London Gazette|issue=26464 |date=5 December 1893 |page=7143}}

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 plumbago in the United States, Canada, India and Ceylon.

Peto was chosen by the Conservative Party to contest the January 1910 general election, regaining the Devizes constituency in Wiltshire which had been lost to the Liberal party in 1906 United Kingdom general election. He retained the seat until the 1918 election.

During the First World War he held a temporary commission in the British Army and acted as the Chief Commissioner for Belgian Refugee Affairs.{{London Gazette|issue=28946 |date=20 October 1914 |page=8483}} He was made a Commander of the Order of Leopold by Albert I of Belgium.{{London Gazette|issue=13447 |date=20 May 1919|page=1741 |city=e}}

Peto returned to the House of Commons, twice serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Barnstaple constituency, holding the seat from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1924 to 1935. He was created a Baronet, of Barnstaple in the County of Devon, in January 1927.{{London Gazette|issue=33249 |date=18 February 1927 |page=1111}} He found himself at odds with many of the policies of Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government, and lost the party whip to sit as an independent in April 1928.{{cite news|title=Sir Basil Peto And His Party. No Thought of Independent Candidature|date=31 July 1928|work=The Times|page=16}}

Following a unanimous vote of confidence in him by his local party executive, he was readmitted to the parliamentary party in November.{{cite news|title=Political Notes|date=3 November 1928|work=The Times|page=12}} In June 1934 he announced that he would be retiring from parliament at the next general election, which was held in the following year.{{cite news|title=Political Notes|date=8 June 1934 |work=The Times|page=14}}

Peto served as chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease from 1926 – 1939.{{cite news|title=News in Brief|date=25 May 1939 |work=The Times|page=13}}

Death

Peto died at his home Iford Manor, near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire in January 1945 aged 82.{{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}} He was succeeded by his elder son, James Michael Peto (1894–1971). A younger son, Christopher Peto (1897–1980), succeeded his elder brother and also served as MP for Barnstaple.