Andrew Ramsay (Q64106)

Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay (1814-1891) was born in Glasgow and began his career in various business ventures before meeting the politician and chemist Lyon Playfair and the literary scholar and writer John Nichol, both of whom influenced the young Ramsay into developing an interest in science and literature. Ramsay eventually found his niche in the study of geology, with a particular interest in the geology of the Isle of Arran, where he took many vacations and field trips. In April 1841 Ramsay was appointed assistant geologist to Henry de la Beche who was conducting field studies in Pembrokeshire. It was in this part of Wales, as well as in Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, that Ramsay was to carry out his most important field work. He was appointed local directer of the Pembrokeshire survey from 1844 to 1845. In 1848 Ramsay took the post of Professor of Geology at University College, London, from where he would transfer, in 1851, to the departmental chair of the newly-established Royal School of Mines in Kensington. In 1872 he succeeded as director general of the Geological Survey, a position he held until his retirement in 1881. Amongst Ramsay's published works are The Geology of Arran (1841), The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain (1863) and The Geology of North Wales (1866), the fruits of his labours in the British geological field. He received several honours during his lifetime, including Fellow of the Geological Society in 1844 and of the Royal Society in 1862, and president of the British Association in 1880. He was knighted in 1881.