Person

Ramsay, A. C. (Andrew Crombie), 1814-1891

1814-1891

Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay was born on January 31, 1814, in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

He was a Scottish geologist and author. In 1827, after the death of his father, he had to take a clerkship in a cotton broker's office. Unhappy, he found consolation in literature and science, especially geology. In 1840, he produced a geological model of Isle of Arran, an island off the coast of Scotland, and presented it to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Glasgow. Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871) was impressed with his model and recruited him for a position on the British Geological Survey. Ramsay served in this position for forty years. He became a Professor of Geology at the University College in England in 1848. In 1849, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1851, he was appointed Professorship of Geology at the Royal School of Mines and in 1856, he was elected President of the Geological Section of the British Association. In 1857, he represented the British Geological Society to the American Association for Advancement of Science visiting Canada and Northeastern United States. In 1862, he became President of the Geological Society and received its Wollaston Medal. He received the Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 1879. In 1881, he was knighted by Queen Victoria. He published numerous papers on geology, e.g., “Geology of Arran" (1841), “On Glacial Origin of Certain Lakes in Switzerland” (1862), “The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain” (1863), and “The Geology of North Wales” (1881).

In 1852, he married Mary Louisa Williams (1825-1917). He died on December 9, 1891, in Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales.