Cirrus@Austlit

William Fergusson Reid - the second son of Reverend John Reid - was educated at Edinburgh University, and on arrival in Australia was appointed the first minister to the Presbyterian charge at Queanbeyan, New South Wales. He later resigned from the ministry and took up teaching in North Ryde, New South Wales.

Around 1869, Reid came to Queensland, where from 1870 to 1875 he worked for the Education Department at Doughboy, Purga Creek and Bundamba Schools. Reid also worked as a journalist in Queensland for the Courier and Queensland Times.

In 1870, Reid married Mary Barratt and purchased property near Ipswich, which he sold in 1881, afterwards moving to Sydney where he worked as a freelance journalist. Reid was largely responsible for the establishment of the first Presbyterian Church at Waverley in 1884.

William Reid was the brother of Sir George Houstoun Reid (q.v.) and also of Mark Watt Reid, who discovered the Reid River in North Queensland. He was the grandfather of Barrett Reid (q.v.)