Baron Rea, of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

. It was created in 1937 for the businessman and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician Sir Walter Rea, 1st Baronet, who had earlier represented

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Bradford North Bradford North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until it was abolished for the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post sy ...

and

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. He had already been created a Baronet, of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland, in 1935. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served as personal staff officer to Brigadier

Colin Gubbins Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins, (2 July 1896 – 11 February 1976) was the prime mover of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War. Gubbins was also responsible for setting up the secret Auxiliary Units, a comman ...

, the Head of SOE, a key British intelligence and guerrilla operations agency. Lord Rea served as Leader of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1955 to 1967. His daughter, the Right Hon. Ann Felicity Rea, married SOE veteran

Malcolm Munthe Major Malcolm Grane Ludovic Martin Munthe MC (30 January 1910 – 24 November 1995) was a British soldier, writer, and curator, and son of the Swedish doctor and writer Axel Munthe and his English second wife Hilda Pennington-Mellor. Early ...

in 1945. His nephew, the third Baron, who succeeded in 1981, was a physician. He was one of the ninety elected

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

s elected to remain in the

after the passing of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

, and sat on the Labour benches. the titles are held by his son, the fourth Baron, who succeeded his father in that year.

Russell Rea Russell Rea PC (11 December 1846 – 5 February 1916) was an English ship-owner from Liverpool and Liberal Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1900 and 1916. Early life and family Rea was the third son of D ...

, father of the first Baron, was also a Member of Parliament and had been admitted to the Privy Council in 1909. The sculptor

Betty Rea Elizabeth Marion Rea (; 6 August 19042 April 1965) was an English sculptor and educationalist. Early life and education Betty Rea was born in London in 1904. Her father was Dr. Arthur Bevan and her mother's maiden name was Barnardo; Dr.Thomas ...

was the wife of the Hon. James Rea, younger son of the first Baron. They were the parents of the third Baron. The family surname and the title of the barony, Rea, is pronounced "Ree".

Barons Rea (1937)

Walter Russell Rea, 1st Baron Rea Walter Russell Rea, 1st Baron Rea (18 May 1873 – 26 May 1948), was a British merchant banker and Liberal politician. Rea was the son of Russell Rea. He was elected to the House of Commons for Scarborough in 1906, a seat he held until 1918, ...

(1873–1948) *

Philip Russell Rea, 2nd Baron Rea Philip Russell Rea, 2nd Baron Rea, PC (7 February 1900 – 22 April 1981) was a British hereditary peer, Liberal politician and merchant banker. The eldest son of Walter Rea, a Liberal politician, and his first wife, Evelyn, Rea was educated ...

(1900–1981) * (John) Nicolas Rea, 3rd Baron Rea (1928–2020) *Matthew James Rea, 4th Baron Rea (b. 1956) The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

is the present holder's brother Hon. Daniel William Rea (b. 1958), whose heir is his eldest son William Alexander Rea (b. 1991)

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. *
Lord Rea, Biography of Phillip Russell Rea: Journal of Liberal History, Issue 27, Summer 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea Baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Noble titles created in 1937 Peerages created for UK MPs