Life Stories
William Gordon Reid
William Gordon Reid (1964 BA Theology) died on 18 May 2025 aged 82.
Gordon was born in 1943 in Hawick in the Scottish Borders where his mother was a midwife and his father worked in the tweed and hosiery manufacturing industry which was central to the town. He was an only child and when he asked his mother why he had no siblings, she joked that if one reaches perfection the first time, there is no need to try again. Only later did he learn that she had nearly died in childbirth.
He was a precocious reader and started primary school early before going on to Galashiels Academy. He studied French, German, Latin and New Testament Greek at school which led him to study for an MA in Languages at Edinburgh University. His considerable aptitude in languages served him well in his subsequent career and he welcomed the challenge of adding new languages to his repertoire.
He contemplated applying to join the Foreign Office but instead began his studies at the Edinburgh Theological College. In 1964, he went to Keble College where he read Theology, under the tutelage and influence of Anglo-Catholic figureheads, Austin Farrar and Colin Stephenson. Following the completion of his BA at Keble, he completed his theological training at Cuddesdon Theological College near Oxford.
Gordon was ordained to the priesthood in 1968 and became a curate at St Salvador’s Edinburgh. He was a tutor at Salisbury Theological College before returning to Edinburgh in 1972 to be named Rector of St Michael and All Saints, the most Anglo-Catholic church in Edinburgh. He freely admitted that he came from the ‘bells and smells’ tradition of the Anglican Church and was very partial to elaborately embroidered vestments. He served there until 1984 when he was appointed Provost of Inverness Cathedral, the most northerly diocese of the British Isles covering most of the Highlands.
In 1988, he was invited to join the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe, a ‘parish’ of 150 English speaking chaplaincies from Gibraltar to Vladivostok. In the Diocese of Europe, he served in Ankara, Izmir, Stockholm, Malta and Gibraltar and was also appointed Archdeacon of Italy in Milan.
In 2004, he was appointed as Rector of St Clement’s Church in Philadelphia where he stayed until his retirement in 2014; he was Rector Emeritus until his death in 2025. After a life of so much travel, he was happy to decide that Philadelphia was to be his home. In retirement, he continued to minister in local parishes and was popular as a clergyman who would make himself available at the weekend, celebrating Eucharist, hearing confessions and preaching for no longer than seven minutes.
Gordon never lost his lilting Scottish brogue with which he charmed many of those he met. He had a mischievous sense of humour and an easy grace in forging personal connections especially with the young. He had strong and progressive views on marriage and homosexuality which he was not afraid of expressing, often in the face of vocal opposition.
He used to marvel at the life that the ‘wee boy from Hawick’ had enjoyed but could never have dreamed of. ‘I have always by nature been an improvisor rather than a planner’ he wrote, ‘inclined to believe in a God who leaves much to chance and random happenings rather than one who has everything planned and predetermined. Looking back on my life, I see that the crucial moments and choices came about very quietly and casually and yet, if certain small events had not happened, my life would have been utterly different.’
On a personal note, Isla Smith would like to record her appreciation of the welcome Gordon gave her and the Warden to the St Clement’s Vicarage on their annual foray to the States. He was very proud of his association with the College as he felt that the time spent at Keble had determined his path and instilled in him the values so ardently held for the rest of his life. Isla enjoys the fact that she has a daily reminder of her treasured friendship with Gordon in the unlikely form of a fridge magnet which he gave her on her last visit, with a scurrilous political message which still makes her laugh.
Kindly provided by Isla Smith, former Keble Development Director