George Reid was born in Scotland an arrived in Melbourne with his family in 1852. He moved to Sydney in 1858, where he worked as a clerk in the treasury and studied law part time.

He was admitted to the bar in 1879, entered New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1880 and was premier from 1894 to 1899.

George Reid, Prime Minister from 1904 to 1905, was Leader of the Opposition for six of the first seven years of the Australian parliament.

He implemented a number of reforms in this period, in the areas of taxation, land law and social legislation.

He was elected to the first federal parliament in 1901 and became leader of the conservative Free Trade group.

He was able to form a coalition government in 1904 but, like his Labor predecessors, did not have a secure majority and so was unable to take any substantial initiatives. He was defeated by a combination of Labor and the Protectionists in 1905.

He left parliament in 1908, was knighted in 1909.

from 1910 to 1916 was Australia's founding High Commissioner in London .

He was then a member of the British Parliament until his death in 1918.