William Ramsay

Portrait of William Ramsay

William was born about 1658, to James Ramsay and Anne Baird. His older brother John inherited the title of baronet. This portrait shows him in a red velvet suit; an early representation of what would develop into an enduring fashion for velvet costumes. He was an advocate and Writer to the Signet, and in his thirties, around the time of his marriage to Mr Hayes’s daughter in Edinburgh on 11 Jan 1690, at 8pm, in the Hayes home. The new couple was dead 3 months later (the bubonic plague and typhus were rampant). William’s portrait appears to have been preserved by his father.

Not to be confused with another William Ramsay Writer to the Signet, who acted as factor for Captain George Ramsay, brother, and drew up legal documents for other relatives, in the early 18c.