Sir James Henry Ramsay, 10th Baronet, FBA (1832–1925) was a British historian and landowner, who produced a seven-volume history of England and an original study of the revenues of its kings.

Early life and family

Born on 21 May 1832 at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, he was the son of the philosopher

Sir George Ramsay, 9th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

(died 1871), of Bamff, and his wife Emily Eugenia, ''née'' Lennon (died 1885), daughter of an Irish

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. G. E. Cokayne, '' The Complete Baronetage'', vol. 4 (1900), p. 260. He attended

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, taking first-class honours in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

in 1854 and in law and modern history the following year, graduating with a BA.

Historian and later life

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

of Christ Church from 1854 to 1861, Ramsay left upon marriage 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 ...

in 1863 but likely never practised.

Richard Lodge Sir Richard Lodge (20 June 1855 – 2 June 1936) was a British historian. He was born at Penkhull, Staffordshire, the fourth of eight sons and a daughter of Oliver Lodge (1826–1884), later a china clay merchant at Wolstanton, Staffordshire, an ...

, revised by

Marjorie Chibnall Marjorie McCallum Chibnall (27 September 1915 – 23 June 2012) was an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator. She edited the ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' by Orderic Vitalis, with whom she shared the same birthplace of Atcham in S ...

"Ramsay, Sir James Henry, tenth baronet"
''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, September 2004). Retrieved 17 September 2019. After examining modern history and law papers at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in the late 1860s, he decided to produce his own history of England, financially enabled when he succeeded to his father's title and estates in 1871, which would comprise 13,872 acres worth £4,570 in 1883. He settled down to his research but produced only articles until the first two volumes of his history series was published in 1892; between then and 1913, he penned five further volumes spanning the period 55 BC to AD 1485. The books were primarily reference histories, offering chronological narratives; Ramsay aimed to give inline citations to his sources following the emerging German practice, although his narrative style was not always popular. As the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' notes, "Ramsay's most original contribution to knowledge was the work he did on the

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

s of the kings of England, based on his study of the issue rolls, receipt rolls, and enrolled customs accounts in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

". This had shortcomings and he omitted to search other relevant sources, but the approach was pioneering and formed the basis of his 1925 monograph, ''A History of the Revenues of the Kings of England, 1066–1399''. Ramsay received honorary doctorates from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and he was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 1915. He died on 17 February 1925. His daughters included the classicist

Agnata Butler Agnata Frances Butler (née Ramsay; 28 January 1867 – 27 May 1931) was a British classics scholar. She was among the first generation of women to take the Classical Tripos examinations at the University of Cambridge, and was the only person to ...

and the politician

Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, DBE (''née'' Ramsay; 6 November 1874 – 21 October 1960), known as the Marchioness of Tullibardine from 1899 to 1917, was a Scottish noblewoman and Scottish Unionist Party politician. S ...

. His son James succeeded to the baronetcy.

Works

* ''The Foundations of England, Vol. 1: 55 BC to 1066'' (1898) * ''The Foundations of England, Vol. 2: 1066 to 1154'' * ''The

Angevin Empire The Angevin Empire (; ) was the collection of territories held by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly all of present-day England, half of France, and parts of Ireland and Wal ...

: 1154 to 1216'' (1903) * ''The Dawn of the Constitution: 1216 to 1307'' (1908) * ''Genesis of Lancaster, Vol. 1: 1307 to 1368'' (1913) * ''Genesis of Lancaster, Vol. 2: 1369 to 1399'' * '' Lancaster and York, Vol. 1: 1399 to 1437'' (1892) * ''Lancaster and York, Vol. 2: 1437-1485''

Early life and family

Historian and later life

Works

References

Further reading