British educator and encyclopædist, born at Llanbrynmair, Wales, in 1743. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry, and was for over twenty years tutor in the Hoxton academy. In 1768 he was ordained also pastor of a Presbyterian church in Southwark, London, and after holding this post fifteen years, took charge of another congregation. In 1786 he became principal of an academy at Hackney. In that year he completed an edition of Chambers’s Cyclopædia, on which he had been engaged for ten years. His wide learning and scientific attainments procured for him fellowship in the Royal Society and the Linnæan Society. In 1802 he commenced the Cyclopædia which is known by his name, and completed it in 1819 in 45 volumes. This able work was soon reprinted in Philadelphia. Dr. Rees died on the 9th of June 1825.
