Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/189

 the radicals, and supported against the teetotallers Bruce's moderate licensing bill. In the 1880 election at his suggestion Gladstone was invited to contest Leeds as well as Midlothian. With W. E. Forster, Reid's relations were always close, and he vigorously championed his political action in Ireland during 1880-2. The Mercury' under his editorship continued to support Gladstone when he took up the cause of home rule. Whilst at Leeds, Reid was also on friendly terms with Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton, at whose house at Fryston he was a frequent guest. Reid made many journeys abroad, chiefly in his journalistic capacity. In 1877 he visited Paris with letters of introduction from Lord Houghton to the Comte de Paris and M. Blowitz, and was introduced to Gambetta. A holiday trip in Germany, Hungary, and Roumania in 1878 he described in the 'Fortnightly Review.' He went to Tunis as special correspondent of the 'Standard' in 1881, and narrated his experiences in 'The Land of the Bey' (1882). In 1887 Reid withdrew from the editorship of the 'Leeds Mercury,' to which he continued a weekly contribution till his death, in order to become manager of the publishing firm of Cassell and Co. London was thenceforth his permanent home, and his work there was incessant. In January 1890 he added to his publishing labours the editorship of the 'Speaker,' a new weekly paper which he founded and which combined literature with liberal politics. A keen politician, he enjoyed the confidence of Gladstone and his leading followers, but his zeal in their behalf at times provoked the hostility of the extreme radical wing of the party. Reid became a strong supporter and a personal friend of Lord Rosebery, whose views he mainly sought to expound in the 'Speaker.' He was knighted on Lord Rosebery's recommendation in 1894 in consideration of 'services to letters and politics.' In Sept. 1899 Reid ceased to be editor of the 'Speaker,' which in spite of its literary merits was in the financial respect a qualified success. Subsequently he wrote a shrewd and well-informed survey of political affairs month by month for the 'Nineteenth Century,' as well as weekly contributions to the 'Leeds Mercury.' He was elected president of the Institute of Journalists for 1898-9. He had become in 1878 a member of the Reform Club on the proposition of Forster and Hugh Childers [q. v. Suppl. I], and he soon took a prominent part in its management, long acting as chairman of committee. He was elected an honorary member of the Eighty Club in 1892, at the instance of his friend Lord Russell of Killowen. Meanwhile Reid, who received the degree of LL.D. from St. Andrews University in 1893, made a reputation in literature. During his first residence at Leeds he had visited Haworth and interested himself in the lives of the Brontës. Ellen Nussey, Charlotte Brontë's intimate friend and school-fellow, entrusted to him the novelist's correspondence with herself and other material which had not been accessible to Mrs. Gaskell. With such aid Reid wrote some articles in 'Macmillan's Magazine' which he expanded into his 'Charlotte Brontë: a Monograph' (1877), which drew from Swinburne high appreciation. Reid showed admirable skill, too, as the biographer of W. E. Forster (2 vols. 1888) and of Richard Monckton Milnes, first Lord Houghton (2 vols. 1890). In both works he printed much valuable correspondence, and Gladstone helped him by reading the proofs. He also published memoirs of Lyon Playfair, first Lord Playfair of St. Andrews (1899); of John Deakin Heaton, M.D., of Leeds (1883); and a vivid monograph on his intimate friend William Black the novelist (1902). A 'Life of W. E. Gladstone,' which he edited in 1899, includes a general appreciation and an account of the statesman's last days from Reid's own pen. He further enjoyed success as a novelist. His 'Gladys Fane: a Story of Two Lives' (1884; 8th edit. 1902), and 'Mauleverer's Millions: a Yorkshire Romance' (1886), each had a wide circulation. He also left 'Memoirs' including much confidential matter of a political kind; portions were edited by his brother. Dr. Stuart Reid, in 1905.

Reid died, active to the last, and almost pen in hand, at his house, 26 Bramham Gardens, South Kensington, on 26 Feb. 1905, and was buried in Brompton cemetery. He was twice married: (1) on 5 Sept. 1867 to his cousin Kate (d. 4 Feb. 1870), daughter of the Rev. John Thornton of Stockport; and (2) on 26 March 1873 to Louisa, daughter of Benjamin Berry of Headingley, Leeds, who survived him. There was one son by the first marriage, and a son and a daughter by the second. A portrait in possession of the family was painted by Mr. Grenville Manton. [Memoirs of Sir Wemyss Reid, 1842-1885 (with portrait), edited by Stuart J. Reid, D.C.L., 1905 (the remainder of the autobiography is at present unpublished); Men of