Robert Reid (Australian politician, born 1842)
Robert Reid was a Scottish-born Australian politician. Born in Leven, Fife, he migrated to Australia, arriving Hobson's Bay on the Ralph Waller from Liverpool, 7 April 1855, the ship having struck an iceberg near the Island of Desolation. He worked in the retail trade before becoming a businessman.
In 1891, after the death of Nunn, co-owner with Buckley of Buckley & Nunn store, Reid bought the business and sold it on in London in 1892 for £300,000.
In October 1892 Reid was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Melbourne Province as a Free Trader, becoming Minister for Defence and Minister for Health. Reid lost his ministerial positions in 1894, but was re-created Minister for Health and also Minister for Public Instruction in 1902. On 21 January 1903, he was appointed to the Australian Senate for Victoria to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Sir Frederick Sargood.
Reid did not contest the 1903 election, and died in 1904 on a visit to London. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery.
Reid was survived by his wife, four sons and six daughters. His sons continued the family business. His daughter Isabelle was a veterinary surgeon. She established a practice in Balwyn, Victoria close to the family home.
