Walter Rea, 1st Baron Rea

The Right Honourable The Lord Rea
Comptroller of the Household
In office 12 November 1931 – 30 September 1932
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Goronwy Owen
Succeeded by	George Penny
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 3 February 1915 – 5 December 1916
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	new apappointment
Succeeded by	John Pratt
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 29 January 1937 – 26 May 1948 Hereditary peerage
Preceded by	Peerage created
Succeeded by	The 2nd Lord Rea
Member of Parliament for Dewsbury
In office 27 October 1931 – 25 October 1935
Preceded by	Benjamin Riley
Succeeded by	Benjamin Riley
Member of Parliament for Bradford North
In office 6 December 1923 – 9 October 1924
Preceded by	Archibald Boyd-Carpenter
Succeeded by	Eugene Ramsden
Member of Parliament for Scarborough
In office 8 February 1906 – 25 November 1918
Preceded by	Joseph Compton-Rickett
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	18 May 1873 (1873-05-18)
Died	26 May 1948 (1948-05-27) (aged 75)
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Evelyn Jemima

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, and served under H. H. Asquith as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1915 to 1916.

General election 1918: Oldham^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	YEdmund Bartley-Denniss	26,568	34.3	+12.4
C	Liberal	YWilliam Barton	26,254	34.0	+6.1
	Labour	William C. Robinson	15,178	19.6	N/A
	Liberal	Walter Rea	9,323	12.1	−16.0
Turnout				54.2	−32.6
Registered electors			71,378
Majority			11,390	14.7	N/A
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+14.2
Majority			11,076	14.4	+8.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

He later represented Bradford North between 1923 and 1924 and Dewsbury between 1931 and 1935. From 1931 to 1932 he held office in the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald as Comptroller of the Household. Rea was created a Baronet, of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland, in 1935^[2] and in 1937 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Rea, of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland.^[3]

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, who became Liberal leader in the House of Lords. His daughter Elisabeth, also from his first marriage, was married to the industrialist Sir Michael Clapham. Lady Rea died in 1964.

Coat of arms of Walter Rea, 1st Baron Rea

Crest A stag at gaze Gules resting the dexter fore-leg on an anchor Or. Escutcheon Or on a fess wavy Azure between three stags courant Gules a lymphad sails furled of the field. Supporters On either side a stag Gules each charged on the shoulder with a bezant thereon an anchor Azure. Motto In Omnia Promptus [4]