Simon Ramsay, 16th Earl of Dalhousie, (17 October 1914 – 15 July 1999), styled The Honourable Simon Ramsay between 1928 and 1950, was a British land owner, Scottish Unionist Party politician and colonial governor.

Background and education

Ramsay was the second son of

Arthur Ramsay, 14th Earl of Dalhousie Arthur George Maule Ramsay, 14th Earl of Dalhousie JP (4 September 1878 – 23 December 1928), styled Lord Ramsay between 1880 and 1887, was a Scottish peer and soldier. Early life Ramsay was born at Atkinson's Hotel, Torquay, Devon, the eldest ...

and Lady Mary Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, sixth daughter of

Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster, (1 October 1830 – 24 December 1910), known as 2nd Baron Aveland from 1867 to 1888 and as 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby from 1888 to 1892, was a British Liberal politician ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He served in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, gaining the rank of Major, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for bravery during the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

. In 1950 he inherited the title after his older brother, John Gilbert Ramsay, the 15th Earl, died without marrying.

Public life

In 1945, Ramsay was elected as the Unionist

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Forfarshire Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agri ...

and served until 1950 when he succeeded as

Earl of Dalhousie Earl of Dalhousie, in the County of Midlothian, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, held by the Chief of Clan Ramsay. History The family descends from Sir George Ramsay, who represented Kincardineshire in the Scottish Parliament in 1617. ...

and Chief of

Clan Ramsay Clan Ramsay is a Lowland Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 29 ...

on the death of his brother. Between 1946 and 1948 he served as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. He was appointed

Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (also known as the Central African Federation) served as the representative of the British monarch in the country. The federation was formed on 1 August 1953 from the former coloni ...

in 1957, and served until 1963 when the federation broke up, with

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

and

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

becoming independent

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

respectively while

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

returned to its status as a

self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to a ...

. He refused to renew his commission with the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

after being forced to read the controversial 1963

speech from the throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

prepared by Sir Roy Welensky who was highly critical of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

's policies to gradually end White rule in the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

. Shortly after he left politics altogether and retired to his estate. Ironically, he disliked politics and never made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, only taking his place in 1978. In 1953, Dalhousie was awarded an honorary degree by

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, which had been founded in 1818 by the 9th Earl. He served as

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

(1965–1992), Lord-Lieutenant of Angus (1967–1989) and Chancellor of the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

(1977–92), with the institution naming a significant building after him in September 2008. He was a Lieutenant of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a perso ...

, the monarch's bodyguard in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and was created a Knight of the

Order of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order. The ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1971. In 1985 He received the Queen Elizabeth II Version of the

Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal The Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal is a civil decoration awarded by the British monarch to servants of the royal household for long and faithful service. History The Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal was establish ...

for 20 years of service to the Royal Family.

Family

Lord Dalhousie married Margaret Stirling of Keir (died 1997), daughter of Brigadier-General Archibald Stirling of Keir, a

, and a granddaughter maternally of the 13th Lord Lovat, in June 1940. They had three sons and two daughters. His third child and eldest son,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, inherited the title upon his death. *Lady Elizabeth Anne Ramsay (16 September 1941), married

Richard Lumley, 12th Earl of Scarbrough Richard Aldred Lumley, 12th Earl of Scarbrough (5 December 1932 – 23 March 2004), styled Viscount Lumley between 1945 and 1969, was an English nobleman. Education and military service The eldest son of Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough, Lum ...

on 9 July 1970. They have four children and one granddaughter. *Lady Sarah Mary Ramsay (18 October 1945), married Sir John Chippendale Lindley Keswick on 23 April 1966. They have three sons and five grandchildren. * James Hubert Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie (17 January 1948), married Marilyn Butter on 3 October 1973. They have three children and five grandsons: **Lady Lorna Theresa Ramsay (6 February 1975) she married Fergus Lefebvre on 12 November 2005. They have three sons. **Lady Alice Magdalene Ramsay (10 August 1977) she is married to Michael Dickinson. They have one son. **Simon David Ramsay, Lord Ramsay (18 April 1981) he married Kaitlin Kubinsky on 24 September 2016. They have one son. *Hon. Anthony Ramsay (2 March 1949), married Georgina Astor on 3 November 1973, divorced in 1979. They have one son and one grandson. He remarried Vilma Salcedo in 1984. They have two daughters. **Alexander Simon Ramsay (12 January 1977), married Caroline Taylor. They have one son. **Zoë Mary Ramsay (1984) **Isabella Ramsay (1986) *Hon. John Patrick Ramsay (b. 9 August 1952), married Louisa Jane d'Abo on 25 July 1981. They have two children: **Christopher Ramsay (18 February 1984) **Lucy Emma Ramsay (1985)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalhousie, Simon Ramsay, 16th Earl 1914 births 1999 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Ramsay, Simon Ramsay, Simon Dalhousie, E16 Black Watch officers British Army personnel of World War II Governors-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Ramsay, Simon Earls of Dalhousie Knights of the Thistle Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Military Cross Deputy Lieutenants of Angus Lord-Lieutenants of Angus Chancellors of the University of Dundee

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

Members of the Royal Company of Archers People educated at Eton College