Biographical entry Ramsay, Edward Pierson (1842 - 1916)

Summary

Edward Ramsay was Curator of the Australian Museum 1874-1894 and was a consulting ornithologist 1894-1909. He was a founder of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1874 and played a prominent role in government zoological matters particularly fisheries.

Details

Born Dobroyd Estate, Long Cove, Sydney, 3 December 1842. Died Sydney, 16 December 1916. Educated University of Sydney (studied medicine 1863-65). Honorary LLD, St Andrews University, Scotland 1886. Collecting expedition for Rufous Scrub-Bird, Clarence and Richmond rivers 1866; Dobroyd New Plant and Seed Nursery 1867-68; owner, Iindah sugar plantation, Maryborough district, Queensland 1868 for several years; councillor, Australian Museum, Sydney 1874-94, where he added 17,600 skins, including the Dobroyd Collection made by him and his brothers, published a Catalogue of the Australian Birds in the Australian Museum at Sydney in four parts 1876-94 and began publishing the Records of the museum in 1890; consulting ornithologist to the Museum 1895-1916. Trustee, Hyde, Phillip and Cook parks from 1878, trustee, Zoological Station, Watsons Bay from 1879. Founding treasurer, Entomological Society of New South Wales 1861; member, Philosophical Society (New South Wales) 1865; corresponding member, Zoological Society of London 1866; a founder, Linnean Society of New South Wales 1874. Member, Royal Commission on the Fisheries of New South Wales 1880; member, New South Wales Commission for the Melbourne International Exhibition 1880; Commissioner for New South Wales and Tasmania, International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883, receiving a gold medal and a diploma of honour; "Mitglied", Imperial Zoological and Botanical Society of Vienna 1883; Corresponding Member, Italian Anthropological Society 1883; Knight of the Crown of Italy 1884; medal for exhibits, Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London 1886; life member, Royal Society of Edinburgh; member, Royal Irish Academy. As well as ornithology he worked in the areas of icthyology, herpetology, mammalogy and botany.

A son, John Simeon Pierson Ramsay, became a well-known ornithologist, specialising in photography.

Archival resources

Australian Museum

• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1880 - 1886, Series 134; Australian Museum. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1860 - 1912, ML MSS 563; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1862 - 1903, ML MSS 1589; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1865 - 1893, ML MSS 1370; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1862 - 1893, ML MSS 2278; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller - Records, 1862 - 1873, ML MSS 562; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Gregory Macalister Mathews - Records, 1900 - 1949, MS 1465; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John Gould - Records, 1838 - 1884, MS 454; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• John Gould - Records, 1888 - 1951, MS 1755; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Royal Society of New South Wales

• Edward Pearson Ramsay - Records, 1856 - 1865; Royal Society of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Chisholm, A. H., 'Ramsay, Edward Pierson (1842-1916), ornithologist and zoologist', in Bede Nairn (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 6, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1976, pp. 3-4. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060004b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Etheridge, R., 'Obituary Notice [Edward Pierson Ramsay]', Museum Records, vol. 11, 1917. Details
• Whitley, G. P., 'A Survey of Australian Ichthyology', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. 89, 1964. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Ramsay, E P', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-892345. Details

See also

• Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2001, 492 pp. Details