Background
Born in Lurgan, County Armagh, he was son of Forest Reid, master of a grammar school there, and Mary Weir, his wife.
Born in Lurgan, County Armagh, he was son of Forest Reid, master of a grammar school there, and Mary Weir, his wife.
At the age of fifteen he entered the University of Glasgow, where he graduated Master of Arts in 1816, and afterwards attended the divinity hall.
In 1827 he was unanimously elected moderator of the synod of Ulster, aged 28. lieutenant was a time of bitter controversy, and, though himself an upholder of the catholic doctrine of the Trinity, Reid had the respect of the Arian party, which was then on the eve of secession. During his term of office he preached before the synod a sermon on the controversy, which he published, with a preface and historical notes.
In 1833 the University of Glasgow conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity In 1837 he was appointed professor of ecclesiastical history, church government, and pastoral theology, in the Royal Belfast College.
In 1841 he was presented by the crown to the professorship of church history in the University of Glasgow. He spent part of 1845 and of 1846 on the continent, visiting Germany, France, and Italy.
Reid died on 26 March 1851. Reid married, in February 1826, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Arrott, a Belfast surgeon, and had eleven children, of whom five survived him.
In acknowledgment of his literary services a pension was settled by government on his widow and family.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Reid, James Seaton". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Company
1885–1900.