Early life

Little is known about his early life. He was born Darlington Durham and his father was John Reid. He was married and had at least one child, a son. Both his wife and son predeceased him.

Career

William Reid was working as a journalist in Newcastle when he began a partnership with Peter Stewart Macliver a Scottish businessman who decided to go south and provide Bristol with a daily newspaper. This step was taken in 1858 at which time half a dozen daily newspapers existed but none were published between London and Penzance.

Despite improvements in newspaper production methods in the middle of the nineteenth century, relatively large sums of money were needed to launch a new title. Due to this the idea that a daily paper would be produced in Bristol was still regarded by many as impractical and there is no evidence that proprietors of the evening weeklies had even given the matter a thought. Reid and Macliver believed a well run daily paper could earn its owner a decent income of up to £3000 a year. As a man of enterprise Peter Stewart Macliver had the necessary capital to support such a paper.

The birth of the Western Daily Press

On 1 June 1858 The Western Daily Press (WDP) was brought the world to the breakfast tables of Bristol Victorian society.  Although Macliver was the proprietor, Reid was managing editor and therefore had total responsibility for its printing and publication. Although based in Bristol the Press circulated  throughout Gloucester and into the neighbouring counties of Somerset and Wiltshire even extending into parts of South Wales. The WDP  was a Liberal penny broadsheet comprising 4 pages and in the first issue Reid set out what the readers should expect.

He believed in the freedom of the press but that the paper should act upon conviction and guide opinion and his  policy of dealing with opponents with impartiality evoked a large body of approval. The correspondence columns were open to all schools of thought and not only stimulated an interest in national themes but also quickened a healthy exchange of views and an enlightened public opinion.  Reid was regarded by many ‘the doyen of Bristol journalism’ and much admired.

After the death of Macliver in 1891 Reid became sole proprietor of the Press as well as the Bristol ‘Observer’ and Bristol’s first evening paper ‘Evening News’ which MacLiver had started in 1859 and 1877 respectively.

Death

Walter Reid worked at the Western Daily Press for nearly 59 years. A week before his death he contracted a severe cold and died at his home Tyndalls Park Clifton on 18 February 1917 age 89. Following a  well attended service at Highbury Chapel, St Michael’s Hill Cotham he was buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery on 22 February 1917.