Sir Robert Gillespie Reid (12 October 1842 – 3 June 1908) was a Scottish

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

contractor most famous for building large railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founder of

Reid Newfoundland Company The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canad ...

, from 1889 until his death, he built, owned, and operated the

Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge railway system in North America. Early construction ] In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Leg ...

Early career

As a young man, Reid spent a few years in Australia mining gold. In 1871, Reid settled in North America, where he began his career as a contractor. He built one section of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, and was responsible for the erection of the international bridge over the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

, the international railway bridge over the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

and the Lachine bridge over the

St. Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roma ...

Newfoundland

Reid brought his business ventures to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

in 1889. In 1893, he signed a contract with the government of Newfoundland, and as president of the Reid Newfoundland Company he built the railway from Whitbourne to

Port aux Basques Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfou ...

. The contract specified he work the line for ten years. In return he received a large grant of land. In 1898, he further contracted to work all the railways in Newfoundland for fifty years on condition that at the end of this time they should become his property. This bargain, which included other matters such as steamers, docks and telegraphs, was extraordinarily favourable to Reid, who, by further enormous grants of land, became one of the largest landed proprietors in the world.

Public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

was aroused against the deal, and at first the governor, Herbert Murray, refused to ratify it. After the premier, James Spearman Winter, had been replaced by

Robert Bond Sir Robert Bond (25 February 1857 – 16 March 1927) was the last Premier of Newfoundland Colony from 1900 to 1907 and the first prime minister of the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1907 to 1909 after the 1907 Imperial Conference conferred do ...

, the terms of the contract were revised, being made more favourable to Newfoundland, and Reid's interests were transferred to a company, the Reid Newfoundland Company, of which he was the first president. The Reid Newfoundland Company owned and operated the Whitbourne to Port aux Basques railway for 33 years and also ran the coastal boat and telegraph services on the island. Reid was knighted in 1907.

Legacy

There is a $3,500 Robert Gillespie Reid Memorial Scholarship available for

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

References

;Attribution *
"Reid, Sir Robert Gillespie"
''Biography at Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'' 1842 births 1908 deaths Canadian knights Knights Bachelor People from Perth and Kinross British railway civil engineers Canadian people in rail transport Canadian railway entrepreneurs Scottish engineers Scottish emigrants to Canada People from Newfoundland (island) 19th-century Canadian businesspeople 19th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Canada-business-bio-stub

Early career

Newfoundland

Legacy

Further reading

References