Thomas Bridgehill Wilson Ramsay (2 July 1877 – 20 October 1956) was a Scottish

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, and National Liberal Party politician and

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 ...

(MP).

Family and education

Ramsay was the son of A. W. Ramsay of

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

. He was studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

graduating with an MA and

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007 He does not seem to have ever married.

Career

Ramsay practiced law in London and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1910. He was sometime president of the Debating Society and as his practice developed he specialised in appeals to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

Scottish heritage

According to reports Ramsay was always a keen proponent of his native country Scotland, its institutions and traditions. He was sometime President and Chief of the

Scottish Clans A Scottish clan (from Goidelic languages, Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official ...

Association of London; a trustee and Elder and Session Clerk of St Columba's Church, in Pont Street,

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

and was Treasurer and Convener of the Maintenance of the Ministry Fund of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

in England. He was also a life member of many Scottish societies.

Politics

Ramsay's first attempt to enter

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

came at the 1922 general election when he stood as a

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

candidate in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency. Ramsay did not stand for election at the general elections of 1923 or

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

but was adopted as candidate for the Liberal seat of

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

at the 1929 general election when the sitting MP Alexander Livingstone announced he was standing down. At the election Ramsay faced a three-cornered contest against Labour's John Macdiarmid, a retired railway auditor and Unionist candidate Captain Ian Moffat-Pender, a former Scottish

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

international. Ramsay held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 1,288 votes over Labour, with the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

in third place. Ramsay seems to have been an assiduous member of the House of Commons. It was reported in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper that he put in the most attendances at divisions for the Liberal Party in 1930 with 441 attendances out of a possible 484.

National Liberal

In 1931 an economic crisis led to the formation of a National Government led by Labour prime minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

and initially supported by the Conservative and Liberal parties. However the Liberals were increasingly divided over the issue of the National Government, particularly over the issue Free Trade. The official party led by Sir

Herbert Samuel Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935. He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to beco ...

became more and more worried about the government's stance on Free Trade and worried about the predominance of the Conservatives in the coalition. However a group of Liberal MPs led by

Sir John Simon John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three peop ...

who were concerned to ensure the National Government had a wide cross-party base formed the Liberal National Party to more openly support MacDonald's administration. Ramsay became one of the founder members of this group and thereafter sat in the House of Commons as a Liberal National. He held his seat at the 1931 general election in a straight fight with Moffat-Pender for the Conservatives. At the 1935 general election, Ramsay was not opposed by an official Liberal candidate or his Unionist coalition partners, but he was faced by Labour's

Malcolm Macmillan Malcolm Kenneth MacMillan (21 August 1913 – 17 November 1978) was a Scottish Labour Party politician and journalist. At the 1935 general election, at the age of 22, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Western Isles. He joine ...

and an Independent candidate representing the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

, Sir Alexander MacEwen. Macmillan won the seat with a majority of 1,345 votes and at 22 years of age became the youngest member of the House of Commons. Ramsay was one of the possible National candidates for the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

which occurred in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

when Sir Ian Macpherson announced he was to stand down on medical advice. In the event the constituency chose

Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle U ...

the son of the Prime Minister to contest the

. Ramsay did not stand for election again.

Death

Ramsay died in London on 20 October 1956, aged 79 years. A memorial service was held for him at St Columba's Church in

Pont Street Pont Street is a fashionable street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, traversing the areas of Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The street is not far from the Knightsbridge department store Harrods to its north-west. The street ...

on 13 November 1956 at which his sister was the chief mourner. The service was officiated by the

Moderator of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Asse ...

the Right Reverend Dr R. F. V. Scott.The Times, 14 November 1956 p12

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, Thomas Bridgehill Wilson 1877 births 1956 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) politicians Scottish Liberal Party MPs UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Elders of the Church of Scotland