Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Sir William Reid (25 April 1791 – 31 October 1858) was a Scottish military engineer, administrator and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

. He was Governor of the

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

s (1839–1846), of the

British Windward Islands The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Gren ...

(1846–1848), and of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

(1851–1858). Reid founded the Bermuda National Library in 1839.

Early life and education

William Reid was born on 25 April 1791 at

Kinglassie Kinglassie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Ghlaise'') is a small village and parish in central Fife, Scotland. It is located two miles southwest of Glenrothes. It has a population of around () The civil parish has a population of 22,543 (in 2011).Cens ...

, Fife, the fifth child and eldest son of James Reid, minister of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

at Kinglassie, and his wife, Alexandrina, daughter of Thomas Fyers, chief engineer in Scotland. He was educated at a private school in Musselburgh. In 1806 he was admitted to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Military career

Reid was commissioned in the

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

, Board of Ordnance, as no. 419, with the rank of second lieutenant on 10 February 1809, promoted first lieutenant on 23 April 1810, whereupon he joined

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 metr ...

's army at Lisbon. From 1810 to 1814 he served with the British army in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. He returned to England in 1814 and was promoted second captain on 20 December. In 1815 he served in the latter stages of the Anglo-American War including participating in Sir Edward Pakenham's unsuccessful attack on New Orleans. In 1816 he returned to Woolwich to become adjutant of the Royal Sappers and Miners and in the same year he accompanied the expedition against Algiers under

Lord Exmouth Viscount Exmouth, of Canonteign in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1816 for the prominent naval officer Edward Pellew, 1st Baron Exmouth. He had already been created a baro ...

. From 1819 to 1824 he was on half pay. Between 1824 and 1827 Reid served with the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

in Ireland then without employment until on 28 January 1829 he was promoted regimental first captain and sent to Exeter to quell the reform riots. Reid was in the Leeward Islands in 1831 to direct the task of reconstruction after the Great Barbados hurricane and in Barbados saw at firsthand the destructive power of storms. He became interested in hurricanes, which were at the time a matter of intense scientific controversy. During his two-and-a-half-year stay he became absorbed in trying to understand the nature of

North Atlantic hurricane An Atlantic hurricane, also known as tropical storm or simply hurricane, is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily between the months of June and November. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of ...

s, which led to a lifelong study of tropical storms. In 1835 Reid commanded a brigade in the British Legion raised by the Queen Regent of Spain. In 1837 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and was stationed from then until 1839 in Portsmouth. In England, Reid presented scientific ideas he had developed with William Redfield studying storm data before the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1838 to great acclaim. In the same year Reid published his "An Attempt to Develop the Law of Storms by Means of Facts". For this he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1838 and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1839. Reid published a second book in 1849, "Progress of the Development of the Law of Storms", and in that year became vice-president of the Royal Society. He was promoted colonel on 11 November 1851 and major-general 30 May 1856.

Personal life

On 5 November 1818 at Clapham, Surrey, Reid married Sarah, youngest daughter of John Bolland, hop merchant and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Bletchingley (UK Parliament constituency), Surrey. They had five daughters.

Administrator

From 1839 to 1846 Reid was civil

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and military Commander-in-Chief of the

Imperial fortress Imperial fortress was the designation given in the British Empire to four colonies that were located in strategic positions from each of which Royal Navy squadrons could control the surrounding regions and, between them, much of the planet. His ...

, then Governor-in-Chief of the

(1846–1848), and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial fortress of

(1851–1858). He returned to England to become Commanding Royal Engineer at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, and in 1850–51 chaired the executive committee of the Great Exhibition, being awarded

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

in recognition of his chairmanship in 1851. Reid was a member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

and of learned societies of many countries. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in February 1839.

Death

Reid returned to England from Malta in 1858. He died aged 67 after a short illness at his home, 117 Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, London on 31 October 1858."Deaths." ''The Times'' ondon, England2 November 1858: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 23 June 2013. His wife had died on 19 February 1858. Their five daughters survived them.

Legacy

Reid is now chiefly remembered for his contribution to the intense debate on storms which dominated meteorology in the first half of the nineteenth century. He is also remembered as a successful governor, genuinely concerned with the well-being of those he was sent to govern.

Family

His daughter, Grace Reid, married Basil Simouth de Ros Hall, son of

Basil Hall Basil Hall (31 December 1788 – 11 September 1844) was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. He was the second son of Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, an eminent man of science. Biography Although his family home was ...

. His daughter Charlotte Cuyler Reid married General Sir Neville Chamberlain. His daughter Sophia Reid married Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Hallewell, the son of Edmund Gilling Hallewell MP.

References

Sources

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Mount Carmel Hospital Main Gate

The Bermudian
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, William 1791 births 1858 deaths People from Kinglassie Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers British Army generals British science writers British Army personnel of the War of 1812 British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British meteorologists Governors of Bermuda Governors of the Windward Islands Governors and Governors-General of Malta British Auxiliary Legion personnel Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath