Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby

Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby, PC (30 December 1897 – 11 October 1966) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Minister of National Insurance and then as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1951 to 1955.

The Right Honourable The Viscount Ingleby PC
Minister of Pensions and National Insurance Minister of National Insurance (1951–1953)
In office 31 October 1951 – 20 December 1955
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill Anthony Eden
Preceded by	Edith Summerskill
Succeeded by	John Boyd-Carpenter
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office 1944–1945
Preceded by	Ralph Assheton
Succeeded by	Glenvil Hall
Personal details
Born	(1897-12-30)30 December 1897
Died	11 October 1966(1966-10-11) (aged 68) Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Lady Joan Rachel de Vere Capell ​ ​ (m. 1922)​
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Royal Military College, Sandhurst Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation	Politician

Early life

Peake was educated at Eton before training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served with the Coldstream Guards during the First World War, before joining the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.

He entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1919 and graduated in history in 1921. In 1923 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple.

Career

After unsuccessfully contesting Dewsbury in 1922, Peake entered Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North in 1929.

In April 1939, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department and in October 1944 he became Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Whilst in opposition, he became a leading spokesman for the Beveridge social reform proposals, and on the Conservatives return to power in 1951 he became Minister of National Insurance (Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from September 1953 and a member of the Cabinet from October 1954).

In December 1955, shortly after Anthony Eden succeeded Winston Churchill as Prime Minister in April, Peake resigned from the government.

Personal life

On 19 June 1922 Peake married Lady Joan Rachel de Vere Capell, younger daughter of George Capell, 7th Earl of Essex and Adele Capell, Countess of Essex. They had five children:^[1]

• Hon Iris Irene Adele Peake, MVO (25 July 1923 - 18 November 2021), a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret from 1952 to 1963, married Captain Oliver Payan Dawnay, CVO in 1963.
• Hon Sonia Mary Peake (12 December 1924 - 30 July 2009), married David Hay, 12th Marquess of Tweeddale, mother of twin sons Edward Hay, 13th Marquess of Tweeddale and David Hay, 14th Marquess of Tweeddale.
• Martin Raymond Peake, 2nd (and last) Viscount Ingleby (31 May 1926 - 14 October 2008)
• Imogen Clarissa Peake (18 January 1934 - 29 October 1937)
• Hon Mary Rose Peake (born 23 April 1940), married Everard John Robert March Phillipps de Lisle.

Honours

Peake became a Privy Counsellor in 1943 and was raised to the peerage on 17 January 1956 as Viscount Ingleby, of Snilesworth in the North Riding of the County of York.

Death

Lord Ingleby died in 1966 at the age of 68. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his only son, Martin.

Arms

Coat of arms of Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby

Coronet Coronet of a viscount Crest A Heart Gules between two Wings displayed Erminois Escutcheon Sable three Crosses patée Argent within an Orle of eight Fleur-de-lys and a Bordure Or Supporters On either side a Blackfaced Swaledale Ram proper holding in the mouth a Rose Argent barbed seeded slipped and leaved also proper Motto Quae Supra Quaerenda (What is on high is worth seeking)