Robert Reid

Robert Reid (18 October 1842 – 12 May 1904) was an Australian businessman and politician. He established Robert Reid & Co., one of Australia's largest importing firms, and was prominent in Melbourne commercial circles. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1892 to 1903 and was a government minister on two occasions. He also briefly filled a casual vacancy in the Senate in 1903.

Early life Reid was born on 18 October 1842 in Leven, Fifeshire, Scotland. He was the second son born to Catherine (née Lambert) and Robert Reid. His father was a stationer and bookseller.

Business career In 1874, Reid established his own wholesale drapery importing firm in Flinders Lane, in partnership with John Adair and Edward Warne. Known as Warne & Reid from 1876, by 1881 the firm had 90 employees and opened a factory in Collingwood in 1882 with 250 employees. A Sydney branch was opened in the same year.

Colonial politics Reid was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1892 as one of the members for Melbourne Province. He was active in the National Association, a fundraising group associated with business interests, and was a supporter of free trade. He served as minister for defence and minister for health in James Brown Patterson's government from January 1893 to September 1894. He supported "a White Australia yielding to coloured labour where necessary", He was the first person to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate. Reid was not active on committees and spoke primarily on economic and defence matters. He did not seek re-election at the 1903 federal election, retiring at the end of Sargood's original term on 31 December 1903. They acquired a small house and acreage in Deepdene (formerly Balwyn) in 1870, which they named Belmont.

Reid suffered from diabetes. He fell into a diabetic coma while on a trip to London in early 1904 and died at St. Ermin's Hotel on 12 May 1904. He was interred at Hampstead Cemetery and his estate was sworn for probate at £196,501 .