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 territori ...

. Founder of Reid Newfoundland Company, 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, and was responsible for the erection of the international bridge over the Niagara River, the international railway bridge over the Rio Grande 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 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. 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.

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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, 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.

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