The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The company was founded by Sir Robert Gillespie Reid of Scotland, a businessman who had interests in the development of the pulp and paper industry and mining industry. The company was also the owner and operator of the coastal boat service, known as the Alphabet Fleet, the telegraph line and the electrical service in St. John's.