View source for Walter Rea, 1st Baron Rea

{{Short description|British merchant banker and Liberal politician}}
{{Other people||Walter Rea (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Lord Rea
| honorific-suffix = 
| image            = Walter Rea.jpg
| caption          = 
| office1          = [[Comptroller of the Household]]
| monarch1         = [[George V]]
| primeminister1   = [[Ramsay MacDonald]]
| term_start1      = 12 November 1931
| term_end1        = 30 September 1932
| predecessor1     = [[Goronwy Owen (politician)|Goronwy Owen]]
| successor1       = [[George Penny]]
| office2          = [[Lords Commissioners of the Treasury|Lord Commissioner of the Treasury]]
| monarch2         = [[George V]]
| primeminister2   = [[H. H. Asquith]]
| term_start2      = 3 February 1915
| term_end2        = 5 December 1916
| predecessor2     = ''new apappointment''
| successor2       = [[John Pratt (Liberal politician)|John Pratt]]
| office6          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_start6      = 29 January 1937
| term_end6        = 26 May 1948<br />[[Hereditary peer]]age
| predecessor6     = ''[[Baron Rea|Peerage created]]''
| successor6       = [[Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea|The 2nd Lord Rea]]
| office7          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Dewsbury]]
| term_start7      = 27 October 1931
| term_end7        = 25 October 1935
| predecessor7     = [[Ben Riley (politician)|Benjamin Riley]]
| successor7       = [[Ben Riley (politician)|Benjamin Riley]]
| office8          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Bradford North (UK Parliament constituency)|Bradford North]]
| term_start8      = 6 December 1923
| term_end8        = 9 October 1924
| predecessor8     = [[Archibald Boyd-Carpenter]]
| successor8       = [[Eugene Ramsden, 1st Baron Ramsden|Eugene Ramsden]]
| office9          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Scarborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Scarborough]]
| term_start9      = 8 February 1906
| term_end9        = 25 November 1918
| predecessor9     = [[Joseph Compton-Rickett]]
| successor9       = ''constituency abolished''
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date text|18 May 1873}}
| death_date       = {{death-date and age|26 May 1948|18 May 1873}}
| nationality      = 
| party            = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
| education        = 
| spouse           = Evelyn<br />Jemima
| children         = 
}}

'''Walter Russell Rea, 1st Baron Rea''' (18 May 1873 – 26 May 1948), was a British merchant banker and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician.

Rea was the son of [[Russell Rea]]. He was elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] for [[Scarborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Scarborough]] in 1906, a seat he held until 1918, and served under [[H. H. Asquith]] as a Junior [[Lord of the Treasury]] from 1915 to 1916.

{{Election box begin |
|title=[[1918 United Kingdom general election|General election 1918]]: Oldham<ref name="lib23">''The Liberal Year Book'' (1923), p.261</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link coalition 1918|
|party      = Unionist Party (UK)
|candidate  = {{Y}}[[Edmund Bartley-Denniss]]
|votes      = 26,568
|percentage = 34.3
|change     = +12.4
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link coalition 1918|
|party      = Liberal Party (UK)
|candidate  = {{Y}}[[Andrew William Barton|William Barton]]
|votes      = 26,254
|percentage = 34.0
|change     = +6.1
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Labour Party (UK)
|candidate  = [[William C. Robinson (politician)|William C. Robinson]]
|votes      = 15,178
|percentage = 19.6
|change     = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party      = Liberal Party (UK)
|candidate  = Walter Rea
|votes      = 9,323
|percentage = 12.1
|change     = &minus;16.0
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes      = 
|percentage = 54.2
|change     = &minus;32.6
}}
{{Election box registered electors|
|reg. electors = 71,378
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes      = 11,390
|percentage = 14.7
|change     = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election box gain with party link|
|winner = Unionist Party (UK)
|loser  = Liberal Party (UK)
|swing  = +14.2
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes      = 11,076
|percentage = 14.4
|change     = +8.6
}}
{{Election box hold with party link|
|winner = Liberal Party (UK)
|swing  = ''N/A''
}}
{{Election box end 1918}}
He later represented [[Bradford North (UK Parliament constituency)|Bradford North]] between 1923 and 1924 and [[Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Dewsbury]] between 1931 and 1935. From 1931 to 1932 he held office in the [[National Government 1931-1935|National Government]] of [[Ramsay MacDonald]] as [[Comptroller of the Household]]. Rea was created a '''Baronet''', of [[Eskdale, Cumbria|Eskdale]] in the [[Cumberland|County of Cumberland]], in 1935<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34179 |date=12 July 1935 |page=4522}}</ref> and in 1937 he was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Rea''', of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34408 |date=15 June 1937 |page=3856}}</ref>

Lord Rea married, firstly, Evelyn, daughter of J. J. Muirhead, in 1896. After her death in 1930 he married, secondly, Jemima, daughter of Reverend Alexander Ewing, in 1931. He died in May 1948, aged 75, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his first marriage, [[Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea|Philip]], who became Liberal leader in the [[House of Lords]]. His daughter Elisabeth, also from his first marriage, was married to the industrialist [[Michael Clapham (industrialist)|Sir Michael Clapham]]. Lady Rea died in 1964.
{{Infobox emblem wide
|image = Rea Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Or on a fess wavy Azure between three stags courant Gules a lymphad sails furled of the field.
|crest = A stag at gaze Gules resting the dexter fore-leg on an anchor Or.
|supporters = On either side a stag Gules each charged on the shoulder with a bezant thereon an anchor Azure.
|motto = In Omnia Promptus <ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/edates.htm UK General Elections since 1832]
* {{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig  |title=British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 |orig-year=1969 |edition= 3rd |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-06-X}}
* {{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-walter-rea |  Walter Rea }}
* {{NPG name|name=Walter Rea}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef  | before = [[Joseph Compton-Rickett|Joseph Rickett]] }}
{{s-ttl
  | title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Scarborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Scarborough]]
  | years = [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]]–[[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918]]
}}
{{s-non | reason = constituency abolished }}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Bradford North (UK Parliament constituency)|Bradford North]]
  | years  = [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]]–[[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]
  | before = [[Archibald Boyd-Carpenter]]
  | after  = [[Eugene Ramsden, 1st Baron Ramsden|Eugene Ramsden]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Dewsbury]]
  | years  = [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931]]–[[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]]
  | before = [[Ben Riley (MP)|Ben Riley]]
  | after  = [[Ben Riley (MP)|Ben Riley]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box  | title = [[Comptroller of the Household]]  | years = 1931–1932  | before = [[Goronwy Owen (politician)|Goronwy Owen]] | after = [[Frederick Penny, 1st Viscount Marchwood|Sir Frederick Penny]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box | title = [[Liberal Chief Whip]] | years = 1931–1935 | before = [[Goronwy Owen (politician)|Goronwy Owen]] | after = [[Percy Harris (politician)|Percy Harris]]}}
{{succession box|title=Treasurer of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]|years=1941–1947|before=Percy Heffer|with = Herbert Worsley (1942–1947)|after=[[Patrick Moynihan, 2nd Baron Moynihan|Patrick Moynihan]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation}}
{{s-ttl
  | title = [[Baron Rea]]
  | years = 1937–1948
}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea|Philip Rea]] }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new|Creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Rea|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Eskdale)''' | years=1935–1948}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea|Philip Rea]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Walter Rea, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1906–1910|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1923–1924|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935|Rea, Walter]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Politicians from Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Barons created by George VI]]
[[Category:Barons Rea|1]]

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