George McCullagh Reed (1831 – 13 November 1898) was a New Zealand

presbyterian minister Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and newspaper proprietor. Reed was born in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

, Ireland in about 1831. He received his education from

Queen's College, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, from where he graduated in 1856. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and went to France, Switzerland, and in 1857 to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in Australia. From 1861, he was minister in Ipswich, Queensland, and it was there that he married Jessie Chalmers Ranken on 6 July 1863. He resigned from the ministry in 1866. Reed was elected to the second

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

for the district of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

in a

ministerial by-election A ministerial by-election is a by-election to fill a vacancy triggered by the appointment of the sitting member of parliament (MP) as a minister in the cabinet. The requirement for new ministers to stand for re-election was introduced in the Ho ...

on 4 August 1866 and held this seat until the end of the parliamentary term on 19 June 1867. He set up, bought, or edited many newspapers. He set up the ''Evening Star'' in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in 1870. While living in Auckland, he was elected to the

Auckland Provincial Council The Auckland Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Area The province covered roughly half of the North Island of New Zealand. It was the largest of the six initial provinces, both ...

for the Takapuna electorate, and he served from 21 November 1873 until the abolition of provincial government on 31 October 1876. He served on the executive council (10 December 1873 – 13 November 1874) and was provincial treasurer until his resignation from that post. In 1876, he established the ''Evening News'' in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. Some months later, he purchased a morning newspaper in Dunedin, the ''Otago Guardian'', together with

George Fenwick Sir George Fenwick (2 February 1847 – 23 September 1929) was a New Zealand newspaper proprietor and editor. He is best known for his time as manager and editor of the '' Otago Daily Times'', during which time he supported the campaign initiate ...

. The city could not sustain two morning papers and Fenwick and Reed bought their rival, the '' Otago Daily Times'' and its weekly, the ''Otago Guardian''. After time in Ireland as New Zealand's immigration agent, he was leader writer for '' The Argus'' in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

before joining ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' in 1883. He moved to the United Kingdom as the ''Herald's'' correspondent, and there he set up the ''Australian Times and Anglo-New-Zealander'' together with Robert Reid. Reed returned to Auckland and became editor of the ''Auckland Evening Bell''. In 1889, he was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' in Melbourne. In the following year, he was editor for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''. By 1895, he had returned to Auckland and rejoined ''The New Zealand Herald''. Reed died in Auckland of a heart attack on 13 November 1898. He was survived by three sons, including Vernon Reed and John Reed, and two daughters. He was buried in the Presbyterian section of the

Symonds Street Cemetery Symonds Street Cemetery is a historic cemetery and park in central Auckland, New Zealand. It is in 5.8 hectares of deciduous forest on the western slope of Grafton Gully, by the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, and is crossed by th ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, George McCullagh 1831 births 1898 deaths New Zealand journalists New Zealand Presbyterians People from County Monaghan Irish emigrants to New Zealand (before 1923) 19th-century journalists Male journalists Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Auckland Provincial Council Members of Auckland provincial executive councils Burials at Symonds Street Cemetery Alumni of Queen's University Belfast 19th-century male writers 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century New Zealand politicians The Argus (Melbourne) people The Sydney Morning Herald people