Ramsey Abbey, located in Huningtonshire, England, was founded as a Benedictine abbey in 969, by St. Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, as granted by AEthelwine, Danish Earl of East Anglia. The earliest known damage to the abbey was in 1143, when Geoffrey de Mandeville used the structure as a fortress. Ramsey Abbey remained in use as a Benedictine monastery until 1536-1539, the time of the 'Dissolution of the Monasteries.' After the Dissolution, Ramsey Abby came into the possession of the Cromwell family, and was converted into his winter residence by Sir Henry Cromwell, Lord of Ramsey, over the last half of the 16th century. It was here that Cromwell had the Ramsey Abbey Gate House installed after removing it from its original location.

The historic market town of Ramsey, England is a post town in the modern district of Huntingtonshire, situated in the county of Cambridgeshire, and is the seat of the Lords de Ramsey, major landowners in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. The town of Ramsey developed around Ramsey Abbey, and, in 1110, the abbey was granted permission by Henry I to hold its first fair during Easter week. From the Appendix of RAMSEY: The Lives of an English Fenland Town 1260-1600, are found Ramsey/Ramseye inhabitants of Ramsey and the vills of Hepmangrove and Bury - eight from 1380-1436, and two from 1464-1493. In 1380, Brother John Ramsey raised a hue and cry against Nicholas Brouse; in 1435, Alice Ramsey held a messuage (plot of land with a building); in 1440, Agnes Ramseye held a plot of land; in 1473, John Ramseye held the office of hay warden. Other Ramsey place names within the district of Huntingtonshire are the villages of Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey Heights Mereside and Ramsey St. Mary's.

Among the Ramsey armories in the General Armory of England is Sir Thomas Ramsey, Knight, Sheriff of London 1568, and Lord Mayor 1577, and his brother, William Ramsey, sons of John Ramsey, Esq. of Eatonbridge.

The first of the name recorded in Scotland was Simundus de Ramesia, who witnessed the Charter of Livingstone to the Abbey of Holyrood dated 1140. Neish de Ramsay was a physician to Alexander II, King of Scotland, and was granted lands in Bamff, Ardormie, and Kinkeadly in 1232. The Ramsays have held the lands of Bamff from 1232.

Among the Scottish Peers were Sir George Ramsay - Lord Ramsay of Melrose in Roxburghshire, 1618; Sir John Ramsay - Lord Bothwell, 1486; Sir John Ramsay - Viscount Haddington (Earl of Holderness in England), 1606; William Ramsay, Lord Ramsay - Lord Carrington and Earl of Dalhouise, both in Edinburghshire, 1633. George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhouisie, was Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia and Governor of Canada 1819-1828. James Hubert Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhouisie, is the current Chief of Clan Ramsay.

Within the field of Scottish literature is Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), poet of Crawford, Lanarkshire, who started the first circulating library in Scotland. Among his works was The Gentle Shepherd, long ranked as the best of all pastoral comedies. He died at 'Ramsay's Lodge', Castle Rock, Edinburgh. In the field of science stands Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916), of Glasgow, who became a professor of chemistry at several schools before becoming professor of University College, London. As an experimenter, he is known for his studies of inert gases and the discovered of helium. Along with his work with Lord Rayleigh, came the discovery of three more gases, neon, krypton, and xenon. Both Sir William Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh received the Nobel prize in 1904.

William Ramsay, of Galloway, Scotland, came to colonial Virginia, where he was one of the founding trustees of the town of Alexander in 1749. During the French and Indian War, he served as Capt. of the militia, assistant commissary. He was Overseer of Alexander 1765-1760, Lord Mayor of Alexander 1761, as well as a member of the Committee of Safety and the Committee of Correspondence. As Justice of Fairfax County, Virginia, he assisted in the organization of the Fairfax Independent Company in 1769, and in 1774 was a signer of the 'Fairfax Resolves.' He also served as Alexander's first postmaster. During a return visit to Scotland, he was made Burgess of the towns of Dumfries and Kiroudbrigh. William Ramsay's son, Colonel Dennis Ramsay, also served as mayor of Alexander, and was a pallbearer at President George Washington's funeral held at Alexander.

Dr. David Ramsay (1749-1815) was born on the farm of Ulster Scot parents in Lancaster County, PA, and is credited with being the 'father of American history.' He graduated from Princeton in 1765, and the Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1773. After supporting himself as a teacher, he established his medical practice at Charleston, SC, from where he served in the state legislature, and became a leading voice for American Independence. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for two terms, and, in his latter term, served as president pro tem in the absence of John Hancock. During the Revolutionary War, he served as field-surgeon, and, when Charleston fell, he was taken prisoner and held at St. Augustine, FL for nearly a year. During the war, Dr. Ramsay collected his material for its history, and, from his voluminous writings came his History of the American Revolution (3 Vols.), History of the Revolution in South Carolina, and his biography on the Life of George Washington. He was also instrumental in establishing the Medical Society of South Carolina.