Reeves was probably born in Glasgow, but grew up in Liverpool, where he began working as a docker before completing an apprenticeship as a coremaker.
[1] Inspired particularly by John Ruskin, Reeves became an active socialist at an early age, and was a founder member of the Democratic Federation.
He remained in the group as it became the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but left in 1887 when the local branch dissolved due to a lack of members.
Despite this, he was not discouraged, and in 1895 left iron working to set up a newsagent business, believing this would allow him more time for his socialist activism.
In 1928, he contested his forty-second election, standing for Bootle Town Council, and he finally won a seat, which he held until his death two years later.