OBITUARY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2643, 14 December 1915, Page 6

OBITUARY

MR. NICHOLAS REID. , Tlje death occurred yesterday of Mr. Nicholas Roid-, ono of Wellington's bestkubwu citizens, and up till a few years ago one of. the City's commercial magnates. Though , never ono to court the public eye, his-services to the community as chairman of tho Wellington Harbour/Board, president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, and in other capacities, more particularly noted below, were very much valued! As an authority on commerce in Now Zealand he was respected from one end of. New Zealand to the other, and as a man of sterling integrity, and business courtesy he established.. A. name that will always be revered in this City.' The late Mr. Reidi was born in Glasgow in 1837, and he-arrived in New Zealand in the barque Queen of tlie Avon in 1859. Soon after his arrival lie joined the linn of W. and G. Turnbull and Co., in which firm ho at length became senior partner, ultimately retiring in 1911, after more than,'so years' association with the house. As one of the original directors of the Gear Meat Company he was .very largely responsible for the isat'e establishment and early progress N of this company, which . lias fsinco developed into a huge commercial enterprise. Mr. Reid was one of the founders of the New Zealand Candle 'Company, aud the Empire Manufacturing Company, Ltd., one of the original directors of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and at the time of his death he was still on the directorate of the Gear Meat Company, and on the local boards of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company and the National Mutual Life Associa-1 tiou. , Tho highest public honour ever con- I fcrred on Mr.. Reid was. his appointment as one of the three commissionersto receive their Rpyal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York, now King George and Queen Mary, on the occasion of their visit to Wellington in 1901. Tlie other commissioners wore the late Mr. John Plimmer and Mr. -J. H. B. Coates. Mr. Reid was chairman of the Wellington' Harbour Board, and membe.r for several years. Whilo on the board he strongly opposed the piaking' of tho dock, which proved such an ill-starred undertaking for all concerned. He .was also appointed by the Government one of • tho commissioners to ' control ■ tho Government Life Insurance office some years, ago, .retiring when the system of control was changed. I No business man in Wellington • was more highly esteemed and respected than Mr. Nicholas Reid. His honesty and integrity were above reproach, and in all business relations with other men 1 lie was just, generous, and courteous. Mr. Roid is survived hy Mrs. Reid, who was a Miss Priscilla Weight. His family consists of Messrs. William Reid, of the Empire Packing Co.; Alfred Reid, of Laer.y and Co.; Howard and Walter Reid, of Reid and Reid, oil merchants; Donald Reid, farmer, Upper Hutt; Malcolm Roid, agent, Wellington. Mr. Norman Reid, another son, who was a tea taster in Wellington, died recently. Tlie daughters are Mesdames Alan Strang aud Walter Strang, of Palmerston North, and Williamson, of Poverty Bay. ' "