Parsley Peel

Robert Peel
The Peel arms commissioned by Parsley Peel. Inset to show the lion is holding a shuttle.
Born	Robert Peele 1723 Peele Fold, Oswaldtwistle
Died	September 1795 (aged 71–72)
Other names	"Parsley" Peel
Known for	Textile manufacturer
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Haworth
Children	William, Edmund Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet Laurence, Joseph John, Anne
Parent(s)	William Peele Jane Anne Peele

Robert Peel (1723 – 12 September 1795), commonly known as Parsley Peel, was an influential cotton mill owner and grandfather to Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, future prime minister of Great Britain. Peel started life as a yeoman farmer but experimented with calico printing, eventually creating a parsley leaf pattern which would become his trademark. Despite losing a number of machines during riots, Peel's company became the largest in the textile sector by the time of his death, with 23 factories.

Robert Peele was born in 1723 at Peele Fold in Oswaldtwistle to William Peele and Jane Anne Peele. His family were traditionally yeoman farmers, until his grandfather Robert Peele abandoned the trade in favour of making woollen cloth. Parsley's father, William, attempted to return the family to farming and after his education at Blackburn Grammar School, he initially joined his father in this pursuit. He inherited the woodblocks his grandfather used for printing on wool and started experimenting with them. When his wife's brother, William Haworth, returned from an apprenticeship to a calico-printer in London, the pair attempted to set up a business in calico printing. They received financial backing from William Yates, the landlord of the local public house and formed Haworth, Peel and Yates in 1750, consisting of a factory in Blackburn and a warehouse in Manchester. By this point, Peel had dropped the final 'e' from his surname, his reason being that "it was of no use, as it did not add to the sound".

Peel had gained a reputation for trying new methods within the industry, being one of the first textile manufacturers to use carding cylinders. He began experimenting at his home with different forms of printing until, according to family tradition, his young daughter Anne brought him a sprig of parsley and begged him to use it as a pattern. He etched this design onto a pewter plate to allow the printing, which was then finished with an iron by one of the women of the household. There are other versions of the tale, which dispute whether the experiments happened at the farm at Peel Fold or his house in Fish Lane and suggest a poor neighbour, Mrs. Milton, calendered the cloth to finish it.