Russell Rea

Russell Rea (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.

Rea was the third son of Daniel Key Rea from Eskdale in Cumberland and his wife Elizabeth, who was the daughter of Liverpool shipbuilder Joseph Russell. He was educated privately.

In 1872 he married Jane Philip Mactaggart, the daughter of Peter Mactaggart from Liverpool. They had two sons and a daughter, Ada Hope Russell Rea (1870-1922). The older son, Walter (1873–1948), entered politics and became a Member of Parliament (MP) for most of the period from 1906 to 1935, and was ennobled in 1937 with the hereditary title of Baron Rea. The younger son ran the Liverpool branch of the family business.

In the 1890s, he founded the ship-owning and merchant company of R. and J. H. Rea in Liverpool. The business grew to have branches in Cardiff, Southampton, Bristol, and Newcastle upon Tyne, and Rea was senior director of all main company and all its subsidiaries. He was also deputy chairman of the Taff Vale Railway.

Rea was the Liberal candidate at the November 1897 by-election in the Exchange division of Liverpool, where he lost by only 54 votes (1% of the total) to the Liberal Unionist candidate Charles McArthur.

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