Robert Caldwell Reid (4 February 1839 – 18 March 1897) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, 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 Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population ...

, Scotland, in 1839. His parents were Peter and Mariah Reid (née Caldwell). His family had owned ''

The John O'Groat Journal North of Scotland Newspapers (NOSN) is the trade name under which Scottish Provincial Press publishes two weekly newspapers, the ''John O'Groat Journal'' and the ''Caithness Courier'', both serving the Caithness area in the Highland council area ...

'' for two or three generations. Back home, he learned the trade of a banker.

Professional career

Reid emigrated 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 ...

, Australia in the early 1850s. From there, he joined the

West Coast Gold Rush The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867. Description The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River in ...

as a gold buyer for the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

near Okarito; experiences which he documented in his book ''Golden Coast''. He speculated with land in the

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

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 Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

and when he joined parliament in 1879, he bought the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

pro-Grey publication ''New Zealander'', but the newspaper was unprofitable. He had bought the ''West Coast Times'' in 1874, which he sold in late 1883 or early 1884. He then joined

George McCullagh Reed George McCullagh Reed (1831 – 13 November 1898) was a New Zealand presbyterian minister, journalist and newspaper proprietor. Reed was born in County Monaghan, Ireland in about 1831. He received his education from Queen's College, Belfast, ...

in business in London, and they published a newspaper, the ''Anglo-New Zealander'', aimed at colonists. That venture failed, and Reid returned to New Zealand, where he owned ''The Dunedin Herald'', the ''

Greymouth Star The ''Greymouth Star'', formerly the ''Greymouth Evening Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Greymouth and circulated on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island from Westport to Haast. History The ''Greymouth Evening Star'' was on ...

'', and from April 1889 until his death, the ''

Westport News The ''Westport News'' is an independently-owned evening newspaper published in Westport, New Zealand. It is published on weekdays, and is one of New Zealand's smallest independent newspapers. The ''Westport News'' is distributed from Karamea in t ...

''.

Political career

For six months during 1869 (20 March – 22 September), Reid represented the Buller electorate in the

Nelson Provincial Council Nelson Province was constituted in 1853 under the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, and originally covered the entire upper South Island, including all of present-day Buller, Kaikoura, Marlborough, and Tasman districts, along with Nelson Ci ...

. Reid sought election to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the 1876 election, standing for the

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

electorate. In the two-member electorate, he came third out of five candidates; the later Premier

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the List of prime ministers of New Zealand, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand, premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. ...

came fourth. He represented the Hokitika electorate from

1879 Events January–March * January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. * January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. * Janu ...

to 1881, when he was defeated by

Gerard George Fitzgerald Gerard George Fitzgerald (10 October 1832 – 7 June 1904) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in New Zealand. Like his brother James FitzGerald, he was a journalist of considerable ability, and co-founded ''The Southland Times'' in 1862. F ...

Family and death

In 1869, he married Emily Manning, the daughter of James Manning of

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 ...

. 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. He was survived by his wife.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Robert C 1839 births 1897 deaths New Zealand editors New Zealand magazine editors Members of the Nelson Provincial Council Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1875–1876 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1881 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from Wick, Caithness Scottish emigrants to New Zealand People from Westport, New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians People of the West Coast Gold Rush