Sir John David Rees, 1st Baronet, (16 December 1854 – 2 June 1922) was a colonial administrator in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and subsequently a Member of Parliament at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Biography

He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

in 1875. He served mostly in the south of India where he was Under-Secretary in the

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Government, and later the British Resident in

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

and

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. 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 ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' on Indian matters.

Parliament

He served two terms as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP): from 1906 to 1910 as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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

Nottingham East Nottingham East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Nadia Whittome of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Constituency profile On average earners' incomes are slightly lower than the ...

. 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 A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

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 The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...

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 Sir Richard Lodowick Edward Montagu Rees, 2nd Baronet (4 April 1900 – 24 July 1970) was a British diplomat, writer and painter. Rees was the son of Sir John Rees, 1st Baronet and his wife Mary Catherine Dormer. His sister was the pilot Rose ...

, 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 status, and the dis ...

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