John Rees (civil servant)

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.

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 Nottingham East.

He also unsuccessfully contested Kilmarnock Burghs at a by-election in 1911.[2]

He married Mary Catherine Dormer in 1891,[3] and was created a baronet on 8 May 1919. Lady Rees was a correspondent of George Orwell.[4]

Their daughter Rosemary Rees, 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.[5]

He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son, Richard Rees, the inspiration for Ravelston in Orwell's Keep The Aspidistra Flying.

• Tours in India
• The Mahommedans
• The Real India
• Modern India
• Current Political Problems

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Rees