09. John Ramsay

Dates of Rectorship: 1741 – 1744

Before –
Before 1741: Rector at Turriff for short period

After –
From Feb. 1744: Factor to Lord Halkerton at Muir of Pert

Additional Information –
Probably unmarried. Details other than those recorded here are unknown. His temper does not seem suited to being a priest. There are numerous incidents of libel cases, and he seems to have been generally litigious. Indeed, in 1744, whilst it is not recorded what the cause was, he fell out so badly with the vestry that they refused to pay his stipend. He responded by suing them. They responded by informing the authorities that he was not a “duly qualified minister in law” (meaning he had not sworn an oath of allegience to the King, being a Jacobite).
This backhanded and uncharitable approach is not as unchristian on the part of the vestry as it may seem. The Episcopal Church being only semi-legal in this period (and on the eve of the 1745 Rising no less), there was no other process by which to remove him and prevent him from causing further trouble.

After this, he left the priesthood (but was probably never formally laicised), and went to work for Lord Halkerton as a property manager. He remained a Christian and Episcopalian, and is recorded as a Communicant at a Christmas service in Muir of Pert in 1744 as “Mr. John Ramsay”, notably not, “the Rev. Mr. John Ramsay”. What became of him thereafter is unknown, but it seems his life continued happily enough. The Lord Halkerton who came after the one Ramsay was initially working for was an expatriate in the Netherlands, and would have needed an experienced factor to run his estates in Scotland. As such, it is likely that Ramsay spent the rest of his life working for the Halkertons, but this is not confirmed.