I have since discovered some more information on him from a 1938 Who’s Who:
Director, WA Beardsell & Co., Ltd., Madras. s. of Douglas Reid. b. at Saffi, Morocco, 1894, British. Educ. Gresham’s School, Holt and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. m. Olive Ashley Biggs, 1925; 3 d. Hazel, Beryl and Rachel.