Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ramsay, Thomas Kennedy

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
652056Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 47 — Ramsay, Thomas Kennedy1896Charles Alexander Harris

RAMSAY, THOMAS KENNEDY (1826–1886), Canadian judge and jurist, born in Ayr on 2 Sept. 1826, was third son of David Ramsay of Grimmat in the parish of Straiton, Ayrshire, and Edinburgh, writer to the signet. His mother was a daughter of Thomas Kennedy of Kirkmechan House, Ayr; she died in 1878. His father died early, and his mother went to St. John's, Maryhill, where Ramsay began his education under private tutors; later he was trained at a school at St. Andrews, then at Ayr academy, and afterwards in France. In 1847 Ramsay, his mother, and brothers migrated to Canada, and settled on the estate of St. Hugues. After studying law in the office of Meredith, Bethune, & Dunkin, solicitors, he was admitted to the bar in 1852, and soon practised with success. He was also an active contributor to the press; for a time he aided in the management of ‘La Patrie,’ in which he fought the battle of the seigneurs (landed proprietors) with substantial success; later he conducted the ‘Evening Telegraph;’ he also edited the ‘Law Reporter,’ and aided in establishing the ‘Lower Canada Jurist.’ In 1859 he was appointed secretary of the commission for the codification of the civil law of Lower Canada, but in 1862 was superseded by the liberals, who complained that he took part in political meetings. In 1865 he published his ‘Index to Reported Cases,’ and soon afterwards he was appointed crown prosecutor at Montreal; in 1866 he prosecuted the fenian raiders at Sweetsburg. In 1867 he became Q.C., and unsuccessfully contested, for the second time, a seat in the Canadian House of Commons.

In 1870 Ramsay was appointed an assistant justice of the superior court, and in 1873 a puisne judge of the court of queen's bench for the Dominion. His industry was immense, and his devotion to work shortened his life. He spent great pains upon his judgments, invariably writing them out. He was especially well read in Roman law. He wrote various pamphlets on legal subjects, and left in manuscript a ‘Digest of the Decisions of the Court of Appeal.’ His only relaxation he sought in farming on his estate at St. Hugues. He died unmarried on 22 Dec. 1886, and was buried at the Mount Royal cemetery, Montreal.

[Montreal Gazette, 23 and 25 Dec. 1886; Montreal Legal News, 1 Jan. 1887.]

C. A. H.