Mr James George Reed was born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, on 27 December 1893.

He was the son of James George Reed (b. 1863), a boiler maker and shipbuilder, and Edith Rachel Thomas (b. 1863). His father was native to Cardiff, whilst his mother hailed from Carmarthenshire, and they were married in 1885. He had six siblings: Myra Rachel (1886-1971, later Mrs Charles Simpson Kyd), William Henry (b. 1887), Alexander (1890-1955), Mary Matilda (b. 1891) and Henry David (1895-1947).

James appears on the 1901 census with his family living at 100 Paget Street, Canton, Cardiff. By the time of the 1911 census, the family were living at Inglenook, Sully Road, Penarth, Cardiff and James was described as a butcher. He was a regular attendee of Sunday school in his local Trinity Methodist Church.

James boarded the Titanic at Southampton on 10 April 1912 as a third-class passenger (ticket number  362316, which cost £7, 5s). His destination and reason for travelling are not known. He died in the sinking, and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

A brass plaque was erected in James' memory at Trinity Methodist Church. The inscription reads:

IN MEMORY OF
JAMES REED, AGED 18 YEARS
WHO WAS DROWNED IN THE
R.M.S. TITANIC DISASTER
APRIL 15^TH 1912
ERECTED BY THE MEMBERS OF HIS
SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

Both his parents continued to live in Penarth. His father died on 7 May 1916, whilst his mother passed away on 7 June 1950. 

He is remembered on his parents' headstone in Penarth cemetery, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, Section E, Plot 49