Overview of Simon Ramsay

Land-owner, statesman and Politician. Ramsay was the second son of Arthur Maule Ramsay, the 14th Earl of Dalhousie and was educated at Eton and Oxford. He served in the army during World War II and was awarded the Military Cross. In 1945, he was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Forfarshire and served until 1950 when he inherited the Earldom of Dalhousie on the death of his brother, the 15th Earl. He was appointed Governor-General of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1957, and served until 1963 when this federation broke up, with Zambia and Malawi gaining independence.

In 1953, he was awarded an honorary degree by Dalhousie University (Canada), which had been founded in 1818 by his ancestor George Ramsay, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie (1770 - 1838). Ramsay went on to serve as Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (from 1965), Lord Lieutenant of Angus (1967-89) and Chancellor of the University of Dundee (1977-92). He was a Lieutenant of the Royal Company of Archers (the monarch's bodyguard in Scotland) and was created a Knight of the Order of the Thistle by Queen Elizabeth II (1971).