Sir Charles Brinsley Pemberton Peake (1897–1958) was born on 2 January 1897 to Colonel William Pemberton Peake and Alice Ambrosing Bucknell. He went to school at Wyggeston School in Leicester. In 1914, he took a commission as a Captain of the Leicestershire Regiment and was Captain of the PAO Leicestershire Yeomanry from 1919 to 1929. Peake was awarded the Military Cross (MC) and was also mentioned in dispatches for his First World War military service.

After the war, Peake studied French at Magdalen College in Oxford, graduating in 1921. In February 1922, Peake began his career in the diplomatic service serving as third secretary in the British legation in Sofia [Bulgaria] from April 1922 to April 1924. Peake then worked in London as second secretary (July 1925), the British embassy in Constantinople (October to December 1925), the British embassy in Tokyo (October 1926 – May 1928), and in Bern where he acted as chargé d'affaires. Peake married his wife, Catherine Marie Knight (1904-1992), on 3 July 1926. Together, they had four sons.

In July 1934, Peake was promoted to first secretary in Paris. Peake then requested to move to the News Department of the Foreign Office, which he headed up in 1929. Peake also became Chief Press Adviser for the Ministry of Information. From January 1941 to February 1942, he became Personal Assistant to Lord Halifax, who was the British Ambassador to the United States. In 1941, Peake was appointed Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and was promoted to Counsellor.

Peake went on to work as British Representative with the French National Committee (February 1942 to 1944) and then Political Adviser to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force (1944 to 1945). Peake then worked as Consul-General in Tangier (1945 to 1946) and then as the British Ambassador to Belgrade (August 1946 to October 1951). In June 1948, Peake was promoted to a Knight Commander (KCMG). In his final post before retirement, Peake was the British Ambassador to Athens from October 1951 to April 1957. During his retirement, Peake was also a special adviser to the Colonial Office in Cyprus.

Peake died on 10 April 1958.