James Reid (Canadian politician)

This article is about the British Columbia politician. For other people, see James Reid.

The Honourable
James Reid
Senator for Cariboo, British Columbia
In office
October 8, 1888 – May 3, 1904
Appointed byJohn A. Macdonald
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Cariboo
In office
1881–1888
Preceded byJoshua Spencer Thompson
Succeeded byFrancis Stillman Barnard
Personal details
Born(1839-08-02)August 2, 1839
Wakefield, Lower Canada
DiedMay 3, 1904(1904-05-03) (aged 64)
Vancouver, British Columbia
Political partyLiberal-Conservative

James Reid (August 2, 1839 – May 3, 1904) was a Canadian entrepreneur and parliamentarian from British Columbia.[1]

Reid was born in Wakefield, Lower Canada,[1] the son of James Reid and Ann Maxwell, and was educated in Hull, Quebec and Ottawa. He moved to British Columbia in 1862,[2] with a cousin, nearly perishing on the trip to the northern Cariboo region.[citation needed] Reid eventually prospered as a miner and established his own business empire in Quesnellemouth (now Quesnel). In 1883, he married Charlotte Clarke.[2] Reid's business included saw and flour mills, mining operations, riverboat construction and the main general store in Quesnel. Reid owned his own riverboat, the Charlotte which was one of the main supply vessels into the area.

Reid was elected to Member of Parliament for Cariboo as a Liberal-Conservative in an 1881 by-election on the death of incumbent MP Joshua Spencer Thompson. He was acclaimed in the following federal election and re-elected in 1887. Prime Minister Macdonald appointed Reid to the Senate in 1888. He held that office until his death[1] in Vancouver in 1904.[2]

  1. ^ a b c James Reid – Parliament of Canada biography
  2. ^ a b c Johnson, J.K. (1968). The Canadian Directory of Parliament 1867-1967. Public Archives of Canada.