Caradoc Rees

Griffith Caradoc Rees (13 April 1868 – 20 September 1924)[1] was a Welsh lawyer, Liberal Party politician and later a judge.

Family and education

Rees was born in Birkenhead, the son of Griffiths Rees of Cilgerran in Cardiganshire and his wife Sarah from Llangynog, Montgomeryshire. He was educated at Liverpool Institute.[2] He never married.

Career

Rees went in for the law. He qualified as a solicitor and practised from 1895 to 1905. He was then called to the bar by the Middle Temple. In 1921 he was made a county court judge on the North Wales circuit. During his career he gained a reputation for his sound understanding of the law and for being humane judge.[3]

Politics

Always a committed Liberal, Rees first stood for election to Parliament in the December 1910 general election. As Liberal candidate in the Denbigh Boroughs he lost by a margin of only 9 votes to the sitting Conservative MP, William Ormsby-Gore.[4]

However, William Jones, the Liberal MP for the Arfon division of Caernarvonshire, died in May 1915, and Rees was elected unopposed at the resulting by-election on 6 July 1915. He held the seat until the constituency was abolished at the 1918 general election,[4] and did not stand for Parliament again.[5]

During his time as an MP, Rees served briefly as Parliamentary Secretary for the Home Office.[3] Although he was not a candidate at the 1918 Coupon election, he is credited with being one of the framers of the Coalition Liberal manifesto for that contest along with Herbert Fisher, Frederick Guest and Robert Munro.[6]

Death

Rees died at Colwyn Bay on Saturday 20 September 1924 aged 56 years.

References
  1. "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Who was Who;OUP, online 2012
  3. The Times, 22 September 1924 p18
  4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 456, 469. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  5. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  6. Michael Bentley, The Liberal Mind: 1914-1929; Cambridge University Press, 1977 p77
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