Wilfrid Thomas Reid was born on 4 March 1887 in Battersea, Surrey, the son of James Reid and Alice Wilson Reid (nee Arbuckle). He was educated at Bedford Modern School before taking up an apprenticeship from 1 June 1903 to 1 June 1908 at the Queen's Engineering Works of W. H. Allen, Son and Co. Ltd located in Queens Park, Bedford, England, where his father was a manager. Reid then worked as a marine engineer with the Fairfield Shipyards on the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, from 1909 to 1911, before returning to W.H. Allen until March 1915. In the course of his work at the company, he travelled across the Atlantic several times

During the initial stages of the First World War, Reid worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory. In July 1916, he started working for the Bristol Aeroplane Company (then known as the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company) as chief draughtsman, assisting Frank Barnwell, working on aircraft such as the Bristol M.R.1, the Braemar bomber, M.1D and Bristol Ten-seater. He was elected Associate Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society on 19 April 1917, then to the rank of Fellow (FRAeS) on 10 November 1925. Meanwhile he had become an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 20 July 1920.

In October 1921, Barnwell left the company to emigrate to Australia and Reid took over the role as chief designer, designing the Bristol Racer, Bloodhound and Berkeley. Barnwell subsequently returned in 1923 and displaced Reid as chief designer. This caused Reid to leave the company.

In 1924, Canadian Vickers Limited, located in Montreal, Quebec, hired Reid to be their chief aircraft designer; Reid arrived in Montreal on 18 Jun 1924. He was given the plans for an aircraft started by R. K. Pierson who worked for Vickers Limited, the British parent company of Canadian Vickers Limited. Reid, together with a man named Newall, developed the design into the aircraft known as the Vedette.

Reid went on to design the Vanessa, Vista, Vigil, Velos, Varuna and HS-3L. In February 1928, Reid left Vickers and started Reid Aircraft, based at what was to become known as the Cartierville airport. Reid designed the Rambler, a trainer plane conceived for the many flying clubs emerging at that time. Wishing to establish a Canadian subsidiary, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the USA was also interested in the metal construction of the Rambler and decided to invest in the project, giving birth in December 1928 to Curtiss-Reid Aircraft. Able to input a sizeable amount of money, Curtiss-Reid Aircraft developed the Cartierville airport. The company went bankrupt in 1932 but was immediately re-activated under the same name by Montreal Aircraft Industries, headed by J.A.D. McCurdy. Reid was not part of the new company.

Several years after he sold Reid Aircraft, he bought a diesel engine sales agency, the Crude Oil Engine Co. (which he renamed the Crude Oil Engine and Engineering Co.). It supplied engines for marine use and other purposes.

Wilfrid Thomas Reid died in Newton Abbot, Devon, on 5 April 1968 of heart failure.

1. https://aerovision.org/en/person/wilfrid-t-reid-2/
2. The Elusive Wilfrid T. Reid: Leading Canadian Aircraft Designer of the 1920s, Pierre Thiffault, The Journal of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Vol. 45, no. 2 (2007)