[1] Reid was born in London in 1860, to Scottish parents, and the family later moved to Edinburgh.

[3] Her painting Faith (later named A Bruges Market Place) was included in the 1905 book Women Painters of the World.

Reid travelled and lived in Norway, France and Belgium, and was in 1900 awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris.

[2][1] Reid exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

[5] Between 1895-1932 Reid exhibited six times at the Parisian Salon de Société des Artistes Français, frequently at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1877-1922, and in almost every year between 1880-1938 at the Royal Glasgow Institute of theFine Arts.