Baron Rea, ofEskdale in theCounty of Cumberland, is a title in thePeerage of the United Kingdom.[2] It was created in 1937 for the businessman andLiberal politicianSir Walter Rea, 1st Baronet, who had earlier representedScarborough,Bradford North andDewsbury in theHouse of Commons. He had already been created aBaronet, of Eskdale in the County of Cumberland, in 1935.[3] He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baron. During theSecond World War he served as personal staff officer to BrigadierColin Gubbins, the Head ofSOE, a key British intelligence and guerrilla operations agency. Lord Rea served as Leader of theLiberal Party in theHouse of Lords from 1955 to 1967. His daughter, the Right Hon. Ann Felicity Rea, married SOE veteranMalcolm Munthe in 1945. His nephew, the third Baron, who succeeded in 1981, was a physician. He was one of the ninety electedhereditary peers elected to remain in theHouse of Lords after the passing of theHouse of Lords Act 1999, and sat on theLabour benches. As of 2020[update] the titles are held by his son, the fourth Baron, who succeeded his father in that year.
Russell Rea, father of the first Baron, was also aMember of Parliament and had been admitted to thePrivy Council in 1909. The sculptorBetty Rea 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".
Theheir presumptive is the present holder's brother Hon. Daniel William Rea (b. 1958), whose heir is his eldest son William Alexander Rea (b. 1991)[4]
