George Reid

The Right Honourable Sir George Reid GCB GCMG KC
Reid in 1915
4th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905
Monarch	Edward VII
Governor‑General	Lord Northcote
Preceded by	Chris Watson
Succeeded by	Alfred Deakin
1st Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 May 1901 – 17 August 1904
Prime Minister	Edmund Barton Alfred Deakin Chris Watson
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Chris Watson
In office 7 July 1905 – 16 November 1908
Prime Minister	Alfred Deakin Andrew Fisher
Preceded by	Chris Watson
Succeeded by	Joseph Cook
12th Premier of New South Wales
In office 3 August 1894 – 13 September 1899
Monarch	Victoria
Governor	Sir Robert Duff Lord Hampden
Preceded by	George Dibbs
Succeeded by	William Lyne
Leader of the Free Trade Party[a]
In office 18 November 1891 – 16 November 1908
Deputy	William McMillan Dugald Thomson Joseph Cook
Preceded by	Henry Parkes
Succeeded by	Joseph Cook
Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 1 January 1910 – 1 January 1916
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Andrew Fisher
Member of the Australian Parliament for East Sydney
In office 29 March 1901 – 18 August 1903
Preceded by	Division created
In office 4 September 1903 – 24 December 1909
Succeeded by	John West
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for East Sydney
In office 14 December 1880 – 3 August 1884
Preceded by	John Davies
Succeeded by	Sydney Burdekin
In office 2 March 1887 – 3 August 1894
Preceded by	George Griffiths
Succeeded by	District abolished
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Sydney-King
In office 3 August 1894 – 30 March 1901
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Ernest Broughton
Member of the House of Commons for St George's, Hanover Square
In office 11 January 1916 – 12 September 1918
Preceded by	Sír Alexander Henderson
Succeeded by	Sir Newton Moore
Personal details
Born	(1845-02-25)25 February 1845 Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Died	12 September 1918(1918-09-12) (aged 73) London, England
Resting place	Putney Vale Cemetery 51°26′26″N 0°14′21″W / 51.440426°N 0.239237°W / 51.440426; -0.239237
Political party	None (before 1887) Free Trade[a] (1887–1909) Liberal (1909–1910) Unionist (after 1913)
Spouse	Florence Brumby ​ ​ (m. 1891)​
Relations	Anne Fairbairn (granddaughter)
Children	3
Parents	Rev. John Reid; Marion Reid (née Crybbace)
Education	Scotch College
Profession	Civil servant, barrister, diplomat, politician

Sir George Houston Reid GCB GCMG PC KC (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician, diplomat and barrister who served as the fourth prime minister of Australia, from 1904 to 1905, holding office as the leader of the Free Trade Party. He previously served as the 12th premier of New South Wales from 1894 to 1899,^[1] and later the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Australia from 1910 to 1916.

Reid was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He and his family immigrated to Australia when he was young. They initially settled in Melbourne, but moved to Sydney when Reid was 13, at which point he left school and began working as a clerk. He later joined the New South Wales civil service, and rose through the ranks to become secretary of the Attorney-General's Department. Reid was also something of a public intellectual, publishing several works in defence of liberalism and free trade. He began studying law in 1876 and was admitted to the bar in 1879. In 1880, he resigned from the civil service to run for parliament, winning election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

From 1883 to 1884, Reid was Minister of Public Instruction in the government of Alexander Stuart. He joined the Free Trade Party of Henry Parkes in 1887, but refused to serve in Parkes' governments due to personal enmity. When Parkes resigned as party leader in 1891, Reid was elected in his place. He became premier after the 1894 election and remained in office for just over five years. Despite never winning majority government, Reid was able to pass a number of domestic reforms concerning the civil service and public finances. He was an advocate of federation and played a part in drafting the Constitution of Australia, where he became known as a strong defender of his colony's interests. In 1901, he was elected to the new Federal Parliament representing the Division of East Sydney.

Reid retained the leadership of the Free Trade and Liberal Association after federation, and consequently became Australia's first Leader of the Opposition. For the first few years, the Protectionist Party governed with the support of the Australian Labor Party. Alfred Deakin's Protectionist minority government collapsed in April 1904, and he was briefly succeeded by Labor's Chris Watson, who proved unable to govern and resigned after four months. As a result, Reid became prime minister in August 1904, heading yet another minority government. He included four Protectionists in his cabinet, but was unable to achieve much before his government was brought down in July 1905. One notable exception was the passage of the landmark Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, which dealt with industrial relations.

At the 1906 election, Reid secured the most votes in the Australian House of Representatives and the equal-most seats, but was well short of a majority and could not form government. He resigned as party leader in 1908, after opposing the formation of the Commonwealth Liberal Party (a merger with the Protectionists). Reid accepted an appointment as Australia's first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1910, and remained in the position until 1916. He subsequently won election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, serving until his sudden death two years later.

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