Robert Reid (New Zealand politician) explained

Robert Caldwell Reid
Constituency Mp:Hokitika
Parliament:New Zealand
Term Start:5 September 1879
Term End:8 November 1881
Predecessor:Edmund Barff
Seymour Thorne George
Successor:Gerard George Fitzgerald
Birth Date:4 February 1839
Birth Place:Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Death Place:Westport, New Zealand
Restingplace:Middle Orowaiti Cemetery
Occupation:Newspaper proprietor

Robert Caldwell Reid (4 February 1839 – 18 March 1897) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the West Coast, New Zealand. Born in Scotland and attracted by the gold rushes in Victoria and the West Coast, he was later the proprietor of a series of newspapers.

Early life

Reid was born in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, in 1839.[1] His parents were Peter and Mariah Reid (née Caldwell). His family had owned The John O'Groat Journal for two or three generations.[2] [3] Back home, he learned the trade of a banker.

Professional career

Reid emigrated to Victoria, Australia in the early 1850s. From there, he joined the West Coast gold rush as a gold buyer for the Bank of New Zealand near Okarito; experiences which he documented in his book Golden Coast. He speculated with land in the Greymouth area. He then went into business with Mr Loutit, trading under the banner of Loutit and Reid.

Reid was the proprietor of several newspapers. He was a strong supporter of Sir George Grey and when he joined parliament in 1879, he bought the Wellington pro-Grey publication New Zealander, but the newspaper was unprofitable. He had bought the West Coast Times in 1874,[4] which he sold in late 1883 or early 1884. He then joined George McCullagh Reed in business in London, and they published a newspaper, the Anglo-New Zealander, aimed at colonists.[5] That venture failed, and Reid returned to New Zealand, where he owned The Dunedin Herald, the Greymouth Star, and from April 1889 until his death, the Westport News.[6]

Political career

For six months during 1869 (20 March – 22 September), Reid represented the Buller electorate in the Nelson Provincial Council.[7]

Reid sought election to the House of Representatives in the 1876 election, standing for the Hokitika electorate. In the two-member electorate, he came third out of five candidates; the later Premier Richard Seddon came fourth.[8]

He represented the Hokitika electorate from 1879 to 1881,[9] when he was defeated by Gerard George Fitzgerald.[10]

Family and death

In 1869, he married Emily Manning, the daughter of James Manning of Dunedin. While in London, he had an attack of paralysis, which disabled him for the rest of his life, with much of the running of his newspapers conducted by his wife. He died at Westport on 18 March 1897, and was buried at Middle Orowaiti Cemetery.[11] He was survived by his wife.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Scotland, select births and baptisms, 1564–1950 . 2014 . Ancestry.com Operations . 2 March 2015 . subscription .
  2. Book: Scholefield . Guy . Guy Scholefield . A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : M–Addenda . II . 1940 . . Wellington . 6 October 2013 . 221.
  3. News: Robert Caldwell Reid . 2 March 2015 . West Coast Times . 10514 . 20 March 1897 . 2.
  4. Web site: West Coast Times . . 2 March 2015.
  5. News: The Anglo-New Zealander and Australian Times . 2 March 2015 . . IV . 1322 . 27 September 1884 . 3.
  6. Book: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts . 1906 . . Cyclopedia Company Limited . 2 March 2015 . Christchurch . Westport.
  7. Book: Scholefield, Guy . Guy Scholefield

    . Guy Scholefield . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 . 3rd . First published in 1913 . 1950 . Govt. Printer . Wellington . 214.

  8. News: Declaration of the Poll . 20 February 2015 . West Coast Times . 3219 . 19 January 1876 . 2.
  9. Book: Wilson, James Oakley . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 . 4th . First ed. published 1913 . 1985 . V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer . Wellington . 154283103 . 229.
  10. News: Westland . 23 December 2010 . Tuapeka Times . XIV . 797 . 14 December 1881 . 5.
  11. Web site: Cemetery record . Buller District Council . 2 March 2015.