 Reid was the son of Sir Thomas Reid of Ewell Grove and his wife Elizabeth Goodfellow.He succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1824

Reid was the Member of Parliament for Dover, Kent from 1830 to 1831 and from 1832 to 1847.According to the "Legacies of British Slave-Ownership" at the University College London, Reid was awarded a payment as a slave trader in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 with the Slave Compensation Act 1837.