Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 47.djvu/449

 gimental lieutenant-colonel. In December 1846 he was transferred from the Bermudas to Barbados, to be governor-in-chief of the Windward West India Islands. He devoted himself to the amelioration of the condition of the coloured race and to the development of the resources of the colonies; but he resigned the government in 1848, owing to the action of the colonial office in reinstating the chief justice of St. Lucia, who, having exposed himself to censure in a case of libel, had been suspended by Reid with the approval of the secretary of state. While in Barbados, he first suggested a series of rudimentary technical treatises which was carried out by the publisher, John Weale [q. v.] of Holborn.

Reid returned to England in September 1848, and on 1 Jan. 1849 resumed military duty as commanding royal engineer at Woolwich. He was elected a vice-president of the Royal Society in 1849. On 12 Feb. 1850, on the recommendation of Henry Labouchere (afterwards Lord Taunton) [q. v.], president of the board of trade, Reid was appointed chairman of the executive committee of the Great Exhibition to be held the following year in Hyde Park, London. His judicious arrangements contributed materially to the success of this undertaking, and its punctual opening at the appointed time was in great measure due to his quiet determination. He was rewarded with a civil K.C.B. in 1851.

On 27 Oct. 1851 Reid was appointed governor and commander-in-chief at Malta. On the 11th of the following month he was promoted brevet-colonel. He became a regimental colonel on 17 Feb. 1854 and major-general on 30 May 1856. At Malta Reid displayed the unostentatious activity which had distinguished his previous governments. In a time of special difficulty, when Malta was an entrepôt of the first importance to the British army in the Crimea, and its resources were strained to the uttermost, he succeeded in meeting all demands, acting in perfect harmony with the admiral at the station, Sir Houston Stewart [q. v.] He also carried forward measures for the benefit of the people: he founded an agricultural school; he imported improved agricultural implements; he introduced a new species of the cotton plant and seeds adapted to the climate; he established barometers in public places to warn the shipping and fishermen of impending gales. He also took in hand the library of the old knights of Malta, and, by introducing modern books, made it a useful public library for the community.

Reid returned to England in the summer of 1858, and died after a short illness on 31 Oct. of that year at his residence, 117 (now 93) Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, London. He married, on 5 Nov. 1818, at Clapham, Sarah (born on 16 Oct. 1795), youngest daughter of John Bolland, M.P., formerly of Marham, Yorkshire, and later of Clapham, London. Lady Reid died at St. Leonards, Sussex, on 19 Feb. 1858, nine months before her husband. Five daughters survived them, of whom Charlotte Cuyler married General Sir Neville Chamberlain, G.C.B., G.C.S.I.

Reid was a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and of many learned societies and institutions of various countries. His diplomas, with all his private papers, were destroyed in the fire at the Pantechnicon, Baker Street, London, in 1874. A monument was erected to his memory by the people of the Bermudas in the grounds surrounding the public buildings at Hamilton. It is an obelisk of grey granite, with a medallion bust and inscription. Reid's name is also recorded in the royal engineers' memorial in Rochester Cathedral to the officers who served in the Peninsular war. An engraving was published by Graves of Pall Mall, London, of a portrait of Reid, by J. Lane, a copy of which hangs in the mess of the royal engineers at Chatham. Besides the works noticed, Reid published: 1. ‘Defence of Fortresses,’ pamphlet, 8vo, 1823. 2. ‘Defence of Towns and Villages,’ pamphlet, 8vo, 1823. 3. ‘The Progress of the Development of the Law of Storms and of the Variable Winds, with the Practical Application of the Subject to Navigation,’ 8vo, London, 1849. 4. ‘Narrative, written by Sea-Commanders, illustrative of the Law of Storms and of its Practical Application to Navigation, edited by Sir W. Reid, No. 1,’ 8vo, London, 1851 (no further numbers were published). He made many contributions to the ‘Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers,’ quarto series, vol. i. 1837: ‘On Assaults,’ ‘Forts of Salamanca and Fortress of Burgos,’ ‘Account of the Attack of Fort Laredo near Santoña,’ ‘Description of the Concrete Sea-wall at Brighton and the Groynes which defend the foot of it,’ ‘A Short Account of the Failure of a Part of the Brighton Chain Pier in the Gale of 30 Nov. 1836,’ ‘Hints for the Compilation of an Aide-Mémoire for the Corps of Royal Engineers,’ ‘On the Destruction of Stone Bridges.’ Vol. ii. 1838: ‘On Entrenchments as Supports in Battle and on the Necessity of completing the Military Organisation of the Royal Engineers,’ ‘Further Observations on the Moving of the Shingle of the Beach along the Coast,’ ‘On Hurricanes.’ Vol. iii.