View source for Sir John Rees, 1st Baronet

{{Short description|British politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
[[File:1906 John David Rees MP.jpg|thumb|right|John David Rees, circa 1906]]
[[File:John David Rees Vanity Fair 1907-02-20.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|"[[Montgomery (UK Parliament constituency)|Montgomery District]]"<br>Rees as caricatured by Spy ([[Leslie Ward]]) in [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], February 1907}}]]
'''Sir John David Rees, 1st Baronet''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCIE|CVO}} (16 December 1854 &ndash; 2 June 1922<ref>{{Rayment-hc|n|3|date=March 2012}}</ref>) was a colonial administrator in [[British India]] and subsequently a Member of Parliament at [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster]].

==Biography==
He was educated at [[Cheltenham College]] and joined the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1875. He served mostly in the south of India where he was Under-Secretary in the [[Madras]] Government, and later the British Resident in [[Travancore]] and [[Cochin]]. He also served as an Additional Member of the [[Governor-General's Council]] in the 1890s.

In 1901, Rees retired from the Civil Service. He was an active proponent of the Raj and wrote a number of books on British India. ''The Real India'', first published in 1908, went through a number of editions. In 1902, he had even contributed a number of columns to the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' on Indian matters.

== Parliament ==
He served two terms as [[Member of Parliament]] (MP): from 1906 to 1910 as the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] MP for [[Montgomery (UK Parliament constituency)|Montgomery]] constituency, and from 1912 to 1922 as the [[Liberal Unionist Party|Unionist]] MP for [[Nottingham East (UK Parliament constituency)|Nottingham East]].

He also unsuccessfully contested [[Kilmarnock Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Kilmarnock Burghs]] at a  [[1911 Kilmarnock Burghs by-election|by-election in 1911]].<ref>Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916</ref>

== Family ==
He married Mary Catherine Dormer in 1891,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rees, John David|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|pages=1465–1466|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1465}}</ref> and was created a [[baronet]] on 8 May 1919. Lady Rees was a correspondent of [[George Orwell]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter from Orwell to Mary Catherine Rees|url=http://digitool-b.lib.ucl.ac.uk:8881/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=1064457&local_base=GEN01|publisher=UCL Library Services}}</ref>

Their daughter [[Rosemary Rees]], later [[Rosemary Rees|Lady du Cros]] (1901-1994) was an aviator and one of the first eight female pilots appointed to the [[Air Transport Auxiliary]] during the Second World War. She was also a qualified flight instructor and was one of the few pilots to receive an MBE for her work in this field.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rosemary Theresa (nee Rees), Lady du Cros (1901-1994)|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp136417/rosemary-theresa-nee-rees-lady-du-cros|publisher=[[National Portrait Gallery, London]]}}</ref>

He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, [[Sir Richard Rees, 2nd Baronet|Richard Rees]], the inspiration for Ravelston in Orwell's [[Keep The Aspidistra Flying]].

==Selected works==
* ''Tours in India''
* ''The Mahommedans''
* ''The Real India''
* ''Modern India''
* ''Current Political Problems''

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Rees (of Aylwards Chase) Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Argent a chevron Sable between three ravens Proper on a chief of the second between two plates each charged with a cross Gules a like plate charged with a demi-lion rampant erased Azure.
|crest = A demi-lion rampant erased Azure charged on the shoulder with a plate thereon a cross Gules.
|motto = Deus Alit Eos (God Nourishes Them)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Baronetage |date=1921}}</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-rees-1 | John Rees }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Montgomery (UK Parliament constituency)|Montgomery]]
  | years  = [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]] – [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|December 1910]]
  | before = [[Edward Pryce-Jones]]
  | after  = [[Edward Pryce-Jones]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Nottingham East (UK Parliament constituency)|Nottingham East]]
  | years  = [[1912 Nottingham East by-election|1912]]–[[1922 Nottingham East by-election|1922]]
  | before = [[James Morrison (British politician)|James Morrison]]
  | after  = [[John Houfton]]
}}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new | creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Rees baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Aylward's Chase)''' |years= 1919–1922}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sir Richard Rees, 2nd Baronet|Richard Rees]]}}

{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, John David}}
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1906–1910]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1918–1922]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom|Rees, John, 1st Baronet]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Cheltenham College]]
[[Category:British non-fiction writers]]


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