Sir John David Rees, 1st Baronet, (16 December 1854 – 2 June 1922) was a colonial administrator in British India and subsequently a Member of Parliament at 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

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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 MP for Montgomery constituency, and from 1912 to 1922 as the Unionist MP for

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. He also unsuccessfully contested Kilmarnock Burghs at a by-election in 1911.

Family

He married Mary Catherine Dormer in 1891, and was created a baronet on 8 May 1919. Lady Rees was a correspondent of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

. Their daughter

Rosemary Rees Rosemary Rees Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (23 September 1901 – 8 March 1994) was a British aviator who worked for the Air Transport Auxiliary. She was second in command to Margaret Wyndham Gore, Margot Gore at ...

, later 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. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, Richard Rees, the inspiration for Ravelston in Orwell's

Keep The Aspidistra Flying ''Keep the Aspidistra Flying'', first published in 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock's romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and Social status, statu ...

Selected works

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

Arms

References

External links

* 1854 births 1922 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Rees, John, 1st Baronet Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire People educated at Cheltenham College British non-fiction writers {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1850s-stub