Arthur Stanley Ramsey

"Arthur Ramsey" redirects here. For the Archbishop, see Michael Ramsey.

Arthur Stanley Ramsey (9 September 1867 – 31 December 1954) was a British mathematician and author of mathematics and physics textbooks.[1] He was Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and its President from 1915–52.[2]

Biography

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The son of Rev. Adam Averell Ramsey of Dewsbury,[3] a Congregational minister,[4] and his wife Hephzibah, Ramsey was educated at Batley Grammar School and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read Mathematics (B.A. (6th Wrangler) 1889; M.A. 1893).[5]

He was Assistant Master at Fettes College from 1890 to 1897, moving into academia as Fellow of Magdalene in 1897. He was Bursar of the college, 1904–13 and University Lecturer in Mathematics, 1926-32. As a tutor, he supervised the maths work of William Empson, who would go on to apply path-breaking tools of analytical logic to the criticism of literature.

In 1902 Ramsey married (Mary) Agnes (1875-1927),[6] daughter of Rev. Plumpton Stravenson Wilson,[7] vicar of Horbling, Lincs. and sister to the cricketer and footballer Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson. Mary herself was academically accomplished, having earned a Class II Honours Certificate in Modern History from St Hugh's College, Oxford.[8] In April 1913, Mary stood for election to the Cambridge Board of Guardians in Bridge Ward, and was elected with 321 votes.[9]

Ramsey and his wife had two daughters, Bridget and Margaret, and two sons, philosopher and mathematician Frank Plumpton Ramsey (1903–1930) and Michael Ramsey (1904–1988) who was the Archbishop of Canterbury for thirteen years.[10][11] Mary Agnes was killed in 1927 in a road traffic accident.[12]

He is buried in the Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge; his son Frank and wife Mary are buried in the same plot.[13] His home, Howfield, Buckingham Road, is now part of Cambridge Blackfriars.

Publications

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References

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  1. ^ Mr. A. S. Ramsey Resurgence Of Magdalene College, Cambridge (Obituaries)
  2. ^ "Ramsey, Arthur Stanley (RMSY886AS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ Alumni Cantabrigienses: Abbas-Cutts, vol. II, University of Cambridge, 1953, pg 241
  4. ^ Religion in Victorian Britain Vol II: Controversies, Gerald Parsons and James Richard Moore, Manchester University Press, 1988, pg 262
  5. ^ Who's Who in Science- International, 1914, ed. Henry Holder Stephenson, pg 481
  6. ^ The Letters of Lewis Carroll, ed. Morton N. Cohen, Oxford University Press, 1979, pg 1023
  7. ^ Brief Lives: Twentieth-century pen portraits from the Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Colin Matthew, Oxford University Press, 1999, pg 437
  8. ^ The Letters of Lewis Carroll, ed. Morton N. Cohen, Oxford University Press, 1979, pg 1023
  9. ^ "Cambridge Independent Press". Cambridge Independent Press. 13 April 1913. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Frank Plumpton Ramsey". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  11. ^ Maria C. Galavotti, ed. (2006). "Frank Ramsey, a Biographical Sketch (chapter authored by Gabrielle Taylor)". Cambridge and Vienna: Frank P. Ramsey and the Vienna Circle. Springer. pp. 1–19. ISBN 9781402041006. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  12. ^ Road Accidents. Wife Of President Of Magdalene Killed. The Times Tuesday, 16 August 1927; pg. 7; Issue 44661; col E
  13. ^ A Guide to Churchill College, Cambridge: text by Dr Mark Goldie, pages 62 and 63 (2009)
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