Robert Carstairs Reid (6 December 1845–4 March 1894) was a 19th-century Scottish civil engineer. He specialised in harbour works and water supply.

Life

He was born in Kettle, Fife on 6 December 1845, the second son of Amelia Carstairs (1818-1890) and her husband, Rev William Reid (1810-1884) the local minister. He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution then studied civil engineering at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

before joining the office of James Leslie. His first major project was Thornhill Waterworks. He then did various surveys before working on the Lintrathen Extension to

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

's Waterworks and the Moorfoot Extension to

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 ...

's Waterworks. In 1881 he became a partner with his friend, creating J & A Leslie & Reid, engineers. Their main work was upgrading Paisley's water supply. He died at home, 60 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh's West End on 4 March 1894. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave lies on the south side of the south-west spur.

Family

In 1875 he married Charlotte Leslie (1846-1935) sister of his schoolfriend and later business partner

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (4 April 1661) was a Scottish army officer. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of field marshal in Swedish Army, and in Scotland became Lord General in comma ...

. Their children included William Carstairs Reid

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(d.1937).

References

1845 births 1894 deaths People from Fife Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish civil engineers {{UK-engineer-stub