Richard Geraint Rees
{{Short description|British judge}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = His Honour Judge
| name = Richard Geraint Rees
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1907|5|5}}
| birth_place = Aberystwyth, Wales
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1986|3|27|1907|5|5}}
| death_place = Weybridge, England
| citizenship = United Kingdom
| education = Cardiff High School
| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|University College Wales, Aberystwyth|St John's College, Cambridge}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Judge|British Army officer}}
| years_active =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Mary Davies|1938}}
- {{marriage|Margaret Green|1950}}
}}
| children = 2
| relatives = {{ubl|Goronwy Rees (brother)}}
| module = {{Infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch_label = Branch
| branch = British Army
| serviceyears_label = Years
| serviceyears = 1939–1946
| rank = Lieutenant colonel
| unit = 21st Army Group
}}
}}
His Honour Judge Richard Geraint Rees (5 May 1907 – 27 March 1986) was a British judge.
Early life and education
Rees was born in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, on 5 May 1907. He was the eldest of four children of Apphia Mary James and the Rev. Richard Jenkyn Rees, a minister of the Tabernacle Calvinistic Methodist Church. His younger brother was the journalist Goronwy Rees.{{Dictionary of Welsh Biography |id=s2-REES-JEN-1868 |title=REES, RICHARD JENKIN (1868 - 1963), minister (Presb.) |year=2001 |first=Gomer Morgan |last=Roberts |access-date=22 October 2023}}
Rees was first educated at Cardiff High School, a grammar school when he joined, which changed to a comprehensive school in 1973.[https://archive.org/stream/reportssubmitted1925univ/reportssubmitted1925univ_djvu.txt Reports submitted to the Court of Governors / University College of Wales, Aberystwyth] He studied at University College Wales, Aberystwyth and then St John's College, Cambridge, receiving a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree with first-class honours. He was awarded the Samuel Evans Prize for his successes.{{cite book |author= |title=Reports submitted to the Court of Governors / University College of Wales, Aberystwyth |url=https://archive.org/details/reportssubmitted1925univ |via=Internet Archive |publisher=Aberystwyth : University College of Wales |page=71}}
Military career
Rees was commissioned into the Welsh Guards in November 1939. From 1943 to 1944, he served as deputy assistant adjutant general (DAAG) of the London District. From 1943 to 1945, he served as assistant director of the Army Welfare Services of the British Army Staff, Paris with the rank of lieutenant colonel.{{cite journal |author= |date=1 December 2007 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-168446 |title=Rees, His Honour Richard Geraint |journal=Who's Who (UK) |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U168446 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=22 October 2023}}
On 1 October 1944, Rees was appointed to the HQ British Army Staff and began organising all British Military Welfare amenities in Paris. He was mentioned in dispatches on 4 April 1946 and it was written that "this officer has exhibited devotion to duty of a high order and his ceaseless efforts have been a source of great encouragement to all."{{cite web |url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/90150/Rees-Richard-Geraint.htm |title=Rees, Richard Geraint |author= |website=Tracesofwar |publisher=STIWOT |access-date=22 October 2023}}{{UK National Archives ID |id=D7394829 |name=Rees, Richard Geraint}}
Rees was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) on 14 March 1947 for work with the United States Army during his time as assistant director of the Army Welfare Services in Paris.
Legal career
Rees practised law in the South Wales circuit from 1934 to 1939. He practised in London and the Wales and Chester circuit from 1946 to 1956. Then, from 1956 to 1971, he sat at the Magistrates' court as a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate.
In 1971, Rees was sworn in by the Lord Chancellor as a circuit judge, which he remained until 1981. He was appointed deputy chairman of Inner London Sessions shortly after.{{cite book |last=Jones |first=T. Mervyn |date=1987 |title=Going public |url=https://archive.org/details/goingpublic0000tmer |via=Internet Archive |publisher=Cowbridge : D Brown and Sons |page=53 |isbn=090592875X}}
From 1971 to 1981, Rees sat as a permanent judge at the Central Criminal Court.[http://www.liverycompanies.info/a-z-list-of-companies/old-bailey-judges-at-the.html Old Bailey Judges at the Central Criminal Court] – Livery Companies of the City of London
Personal life
Rees married Mary Davies in 1938. They had one son. He then married Margaret Green, widow of Robert Philip Brent Grotrian, on 28 January 1950. They had one daughter.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:People from Aberystwyth
Category:People educated at Cardiff High School
Category:Alumni of Aberystwyth University
Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:20th-century Welsh judges
Category:Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)