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 the United Kingdom. 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.