Robert Wardlaw Ramsay
Robert Wardlaw inherited the Tillicoultry and Whitehill estates, along with a considerable fortune in lands and investments from his maternal uncle George Ramsay, who died in 1825. These expectations, together with his inheritance from Robert Balfour of Balcurnie, who died in 1815, and his uncle General James Balfour, enabled him to resign from the Royal Navy where he was serving as a Captain. He altered his name to Wardlaw Ramsay, to meet the the terms of the entail. Lady Ann Lindsay married him on 16 April 1811, and they lived at Tillicoultry House, while also keeping a town house at 11 Moray Place. They were keen members of the Charlotte Chapel, and this marble bust was commissioned by the congregation. Now lost.
As a landowner, Robert served as Deputy Lieutenant of Midlothian in 1832. He kept up with his Navy friends, and was surely gratified when William Scoreseby named Cape Wardlaw after him, as recorded in his Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale-Fishery. He died on 12 April 1836. Below is an entry from his ship’s logbook, confirming his captaincy of the ships Dover and Asia in November 1802. All his logbooks have been preserved.
Inventory of his title deeds GD143/52
