Ronald Ramsay

Ronald Erskine Ramsay was the first Suffragan Bishop of Malmesbury, with the additional title of Archdeacon of Swindon, from 1927 until 1946.

He was born on 4 November 1882 [1] and educated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Ordained in 1909 his first post was a curacy in Lozells. Later Warden of the Clifton College Mission, he served during the First World War as a chaplain to the Forces. He had been interviewed in May 1916, and his experience of extempore preaching at open-air meetings made him a suitable candidate for the Chaplaincy.[2] He served for one year in France with the Glosters including when they were active during the Battle of the Somme[3] Following this he was Clerical Secretary to the Bristol Board of Finance until his ordination to the episcopate. A man of deep compassion,[4] he retired in 1946[5] and died on 26 March 1954.[6]

An obituary on one of his sons referred to his father, Ronald, being a notable cricketer and the only bishop known to have been captain of his golf club.[7]