Robert Stirling Reid was born Edinburgh, Scotland on 12 March 1883. He was articled to Thomas Greenshields Leadbetter (1859-1931) and James McLellan Fairley (1860-1942) of Leadbetter & Fairley in Edinburgh from 1901 to c.1905 and remained with them as a draughtsman until 1907. He also studied at at the Edinburgh School of Applied Art. He then worked as a draughtsman with Walter Lockhart Dick Peddie (1865-1902) and George Washington Browne (1853-1939) of Peddie & Washington Browne in Edinburgh from 1907 to 1909 when he went into partnership with Leadbetter and Fairley as Leadbetter, Fairley & Reid.
Reid was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1931 and later that year a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA). He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Architects in Scotland (FIAS) and was President of the Edinburgh Architectural Association. He died in Edinburgh on 16 October 1947
See: Dictionary of Scottish architects 1660-1980 [link below]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 173, 24 October 1947 p.459
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal December 1947 p. 86