Rev Herbert Reid

While with the Highland Division he was awarded the Military Cross on 1st June 1917 and on 12th January he was promoted to be Deputy Assistant Principal Chaplain, ranking as Lt-Colonel, and attached to the XVIIth Corps, commanded by Sir Charles Fergusson, Bart.
 
This gave him a larger sphere of usefulness in providing for the comfort of the men at the front, and he established two large marquees, the " Clyde and the " Kelvin " Scottish Churches Huts in front of Arras, with the St. Andrew's Club in the town. The " Clyde " and the " Kelvin - tents were managed by two Greenock ministers, the Rev. Wm. London and Rev. Andrew Bennett.

Mr. Reid was demobilised on 1st May, 1919 and on Sunday 11th May he occupied once more the Hamilton pulpit which was followed by a hearty social meeting and welcome home.

General Sir Charles Fergusson the commander of the corps to which Mr. Reid was attached to had
expressed to him his unstilted admiration for all he had done for the men. Sir Charles had
recommended him for the C.M.G. it was approved at army headquarters in France but was
turned down by the men in London and he got instead his second " Mentioned in Despatches"


Just one year after his semi-jubilee, Mr. Reid discovered that he was suffering from diabetes.
The specialist, whom he consulted, said he must give up all work for a year. Asked if at the end
of that time he would be fit for full duty again he replied, " Not for seven years at least." Mr. Reid,
very reluctantly, was accordingly forced to intimate to the Kirk Session that he was applying for a
colleague and successor, and that he did not wish to take any retiring allowance from the congregation
thus leaving the whole stipend and the manse to his successor. He then retired to Gourock where lie
built for himself a bungalow, Roslevan, on Levan Point, midway between Ashton and the Cloch.


Was ordained on 27th September, 1895 Reid had been for 31/2 years a missionary  assistant to Dr. D. M. Ross, St. John's Free Church, Dundee  before taking over as minister of the West Free Church, Thurso.

Mr. Reid was inducted to the Hamilton Church on 24th November 1903
 When the war broke out in 1914 Mr Reid, who was a Territorial chaplain was the first chosen by the Church to go
out to the men at the front but at the urgent request of Lord Balfour of Burleigh, he went instead to Bedford where the 51st (Highland) Territorial Division was being trained.
There he established two large. Marquees of Birkmyre canvas as
recreation and canteen tents for the comfort of the men, and staffed by students from Glasgow Free Church College.

When the Highland Division embarked for France on 30th April 1915 he went with them as chaplain attached to the Argyllshire Highlanders. As he did not know how long he might be away he felt that it was not fair to his congregation to leave them so long without a minister and offered to resign - the congregation refused to accept.

Rev Reid was also a sucessfull writer having published two volumes of "The Reids Of Kittochside" and the publication of "The Story Of Our Kirk" which was used on this site to give the history of the Hamilton Bardrainney Church.

This page last modified on Friday, September 17, 2010

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