Person

Ramsay, Edward Pierson (1842 - 1916)

Born
3 December 1842
Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia
Died
16 December 1916
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Zoologist, Museum curator and Ornithologist
Alternative Names
  • Ramsay, Edward Pearson (Also known as)

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 ichthyology, herpetology, mammalogy and botany.

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

Chronology

1865 - 1866
Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
1874 - 1882
Career position - Member of Council, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1874 - 1894
Career position - Curator, Australian Museum
1885 - 1890
Career position - Member of Council, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1890
Career position - President, Section D (Biology), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1895 - 1916
Career position - Consulting ornithologist, Australian Museum

Related Corporate Bodies

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

Journal Articles

Resources

See also

  • Finney, Vanessa, Capturing nature: early scientific photography at the Australian Museum 1857 - 1893 (Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, 2019), 199 pp. Details
  • Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001), 492 pp. Details
  • Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details

McCarthy, G.J.

EOAS ID: biogs/P000730b.htm

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