Reid & Sons is a firm of

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

s founded in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

in 1788 by Christian Ker Reid and which continues to trade today as part of the 'Goldsmiths Group'. In 2013 Reid & Sons celebrated its 235th anniversary.Reid Family of Silversmiths - the Silver Collection website
/ref> Over the years the various branches of the company have been known as Christian Ker Reid; Reid & Son; Reid & Sons; Reid & Sons Ltd; Craddock & Reid; William Ker Reid and Edward Ker Reid.

Establishment

The business was founded in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1788 by Christian Ker Reid (1756-1834) who was born in

the Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1756, the son of Andrew Reid, a brewer, and his wife Christian ''née'' Bruce. In 1769 aged 12 he was apprenticed to the Edinburgh silversmith William Davie, following which he gained a position with Langlands & Robertson as a journeyman silversmith. In 1778 Reid arrived in Newcastle from Edinburgh where he started his own company and making his first submissions to the Newcastle Assay Office in February 1791. He married Margaret Todd in Newcastle in 1781 but she died in 1783. In 1784 he married Mrs Margery Thomson ''née'' Forsdyce and with her had at least thirteen children. In 1818 the partnership of Christian Ker Reid and David Reid Snr. was registered but Christian Ker Reid continued to assay silverwork under his own mark until 1819. He died in 1834 following which his sons William Ker Reid (1787-1868), David Reid Snr. (1792-1869) and Christian Bruce Reid (1805-1889) ran the company. The Reid family married into the Barnard family of silversmiths as brothers William Ker Reid and David Reid Snr. married sisters Mary and Elizabeth Barnard, the daughters of Edward Barnard Snr. who established

Edward Barnard and Sons Edward Barnard and Sons was a firm of British silversmiths. They created the Lily font, a large silver gilt baptismal font used in the christening services of members of the British Royal family. The company's origins date back to about 1680, ...

. William Ker Reid's marriage to Mary Barnard produced thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. In 1847 his son and heir Edward Ker Reid married his cousin Anna Barnard, daughter of John Barnard Snr.; they were both the grandchildren of Edward Barnard Snr.).

Reid & Sons

The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park for Grand International Exhibition of 1851

In 1838 the company received a Royal Appointment from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. On the retirement of Christian Bruce Reid from the company in 1845 his two older brothers took Christian John Reid (1816-1891), son of David Reid Snr, as a partner in the company. The firm, known as Reid & Sons, operated from 12 Dean Street, 14 Grey Street (1843) and 41 Grey Street in Newcastle (1855) and exhibited at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

of 1851 and at the

1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862, officially the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art, also known as the Great London Exposition, was a world's fair held from 1 May to 1 November 1862 in South Kensington, London, England. Th ...

, again held in London. Between 1844 and 1898/9 Reid & Sons sent a number of

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and the time at t ...

s for trial at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, coming second in 1844. On other occasions the company came third in the trials and did well enough for the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

to buy a number of their chronometers. The Antarctic explorer

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

had a Reid & Sons chronometer. In 1858 William Ker Reid left the business having been an absent partner since 1812 when he had moved to London to set up his own company. On the death of David Reid Snr. in 1868 Christian John Reid ran the company with his brother David Reid Jr. (1832-1914, who retired from the company in 1882) and his sons Thomas Arthur Reid (1845-1910) and Walter Cecil Reid (1846-1933) in partnership with Francis James Langford at 41 Grey Street and 48 Grainger Street in Newcastle. Christian Leopold Reid (1872-1924) joined the partnership on the retirement of Walter Cecil Reid. In 1909 the company relocated to Blackett Street in Newcastle under the co-management of Thomas Arthur Reid, Christian Leopold Reid and William Septimus Leete (1865-1930). In 1930 the firm was converted into a limited liability company with the name Reid & Sons Ltd. which in 1967 became a subsidiary of the Northern Goldsmiths Co Ltd, who were founded in Newcastle in 1892. The company has been part of the jewellery group Aurum Holdings since 2004, which is established as 'Goldsmiths' with about 160 shops across England and Northern Ireland. In 2013 Reid & Sons celebrated its 235th anniversary. Among the company's most notable commissions are the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, the Rugby League Trophy and

's chronometer. A timepiece made for the

Newcastle & Berwick Railway The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway as well as the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. Both companies were part of the group of business i ...

is in the collection of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

in London.Reid & Sons
-

Science Museum Group The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums: * The Science Museum in South Kensington, London * The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester * The National Railway Museum in York * The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Na ...

Collection Examples of their

s are held in the collection of the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

in London.Jonathan Betts
''Marine Chronometers at Greenwich''
Oxford University Press (2017) - Google Books pgs. 542-543

William Ker Reid

Until 1858 William Ker Reid remained an absent partner in Reid & Sons in Newcastle. In 1812 he set up his own business in London when he went into partnership with Joseph Craddock to form Craddock & Reid. In 1814 Reid was made a Freeman of the Goldsmiths Company by Redemption and a Liveryman in 1818. In 1825 William Ker Reid set up a new company without Craddock on

Chancery Lane Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City,Goldsmiths Company by Patrimony in 1842 and was made a Liveryman in 1848. By 1856 he was managing the company under his own name, while in 1874 the business relocated to

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

in London where it remained until his death in 1886. His son, London-based silversmith William Lewis Reid (1858-1923), married and later divorced the militant suffragette and journalist Katharine Gatty (1870-1952). Their daughter Eve Lewis Reid was born in 1893.London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 for Emma Katharine Gatty - Islington, St Mary, Islington, 1891-1894 - Ancestry.com
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid and Sons Business families of the United Kingdom 1788 establishments in England English silversmiths Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne Manufacturing companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne