John Ramsay L’Amy of Dunkenny WS FRSE DL (1813-1892) was a Scottish lawyer, phrenologist and early photographer. To distinguish himself from his grandfather, of the same name, he was often styled “Younger Dunkenny”.

Life

He was born at 27 Northumberland Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

on 9 April 1813 the son of

James L'Amy James L'Amy of Dunkenny (8 July 1772- 15 January 1854) was a Scottish advocate and amateur phrenologist. He served as Sheriff of Forfar from 1819 until death. Life L'Amy was born on 8 July 1772 the son of Agnes (née) Hamilton and John Ramsay L ...

FRSE and his wife Mary Carson. He was apprenticed to his lawyer neighbour

George Combe George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a trained Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote a noted study, ''The Constitution o ...

(it being inappropriate to be apprenticed to your father in the legal world) at 25 Northumberland Street. Through Combe he acquired an interest in phrenology. In 1845 he married Mary Riche Macleod Innes (1819-1875) at

South Leith Parish Church South Leith Parish Church, originally the Kirk of Our Lady, St Mary, is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. It is the principal church and congregation in Leith, in Edinburgh. Its kirkyard is the burial place for John Home (author of ''Do ...

and they appear to have emigrated to

Coogee, New South Wales Coogee is a beachside suburb of local government area City of Randwick 8 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is typically associated as being part of the Eas ...

in Australia where their first child, Christine Ramsay L’Amy was born in 1846. They returned to Scotland around 1850, then living on the estate at

Mordington Mordington is an agricultural parish in the extreme south-east of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders region. It is five miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed and borders Northumberland to the east, and south (where the boundary is the Whiteadder ...

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...

. He was an early member of the Edinburgh Photographic Society (established 1861) and exhibited from 1864. Subjects included

Eyemouth Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at the ...

Harbour, Foulden,

Ayton Castle Ayton Castle may refer to the following castles in the United Kingdom: * Ayton Castle, North Yorkshire, located near West Ayton, North Yorkshire, England * Ayton Castle, Scottish Borders, located to the east of Ayton in the Scottish Borders, Sco ...

Norham Castle Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) is a castle in Northumberland, England, overlooking the River Tweed, on the border between England and Scotland. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle saw much action during ...

, Chirnside Bridge and at least 29 portraits. In 1875, due to both his photographic and phrenological interests, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were David Milne Home, Archibald Campbell Swinton, Sir

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846-8) and as president of the British ...

, and Sir

Andrew Douglas Maclagan Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan PRSE FRCPE FRCSE FCS FRSSA (17 April 1812, in Ayr – 5 April 1900, in Edinburgh) was a Scottish surgeon, toxicologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He served as president of 5 learned societies: the Royal ...

. He died on 26 March 1892 and is buried in Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh.

Family

Other children with his wife Mary included William Ramsay L’Amy (1850-1903), Norman Ramsay L’Amy (1854-1855) and Simpson MacLeod L’Amy (b.1860). In 1885, following his wife's death in 1875, he married Adeline Attye, the widow of James Malcolm. His aunt was the poet Agnes Lyon.

References

External links

portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Amy, John Ramsay 1813 births 1892 deaths Lawyers from Edinburgh Phrenologists Photographers from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh