My Family Tree

Donald Ramsay was baptized in Campbelltown, Argyll, Scotland, the son of John Ramsey and Margaret Tayler of Ugadale Beg.

Donald Ramsay and Mary MacMillan, later his wife, both emigrated to Prince Edward Island from Scotland around 1770, when he would have been in his early twenties. Some sources say that Mary was brought up by the Ramsay family; in his booklet on the Ramsay family, Thomas Ramsay just says that she travelled to the Island with them. It's also possible that they were married in Scotland, before emigrating.

Maps made by Robert Gray on the occasion of his trip across Lot 13 in 1793 show the farms on the banks of the Conway (now Trout) River as being inhabited by Roderick Gillies, Donald Ramsay, Malcolm Ramsay and George Penman. Gray noted that Donald Ramsay, George Penman, and Malcolm Ramsay had built a grist mill.

Donald died before 1798.

In the 1798 census, Mary was the Widow Ramsay, in Lot 13 with a household of 9. The John Ramsay in Lot 13 was likely their son, married to Margaret Penman, and a head of household in 1798. We have approximate dates of birth for Michael and Malcolm, and they would be the two boys under 16; the 4 males between 16-60 could then be Neil, Donald, Archibald and Angus. There were two girls. One might have expected Donald to have had a daughter named Margaret, after his mother.

According to most sources, children of Donald and Mary were: John, Neil, Donald, Malcolm, Michael, Archibald, Angus, Mary, and Eleanor. Given Mary's approximate dates, she probably had her children from from around 1771 to 1793.

Thomas Ramsay's booklet on the Ramsay family, published in 1920 said:
John, called "Justice John", married Margaret Penman, daughter of George Penman. They lived in Port Hill, Lot 13.
Neil married Katherine Mclntosh, lived in Arlington, Lot 14;
Malcolm married Eleanor Boyle, resided in Lot 11;
Michael married Nancy Smith (1790‑1867), lived in Lot 12;
Archibald, no record;
Angus, no record;
Donald married Mary Cameron or Cannon, resided at Arlington, Lot 14;
Mary married Archibald Montgomery, Port Hill, Lot 13; and
Eleanor married James Townsend.

In the 1861 census, Ramsay households in Lot 13 were headed by Andrew, Arthur, Donald, David and Alexander.

The entry in Past and Present of PEI seems to suggest that Malcolm's father Donald did not arrive with the rest of the Ramsay family on the Annabella:
"Robert Ramsay, Mrs. Rogers' maternal grandfather, was a son of Malcolm and Ella (Boyle) Ramsay, the former being a son of Donald Ramsay, and born in Scotland, where he was educated for mercantile pursuits in the West Indies. He was on his way to Quebec with his parents with the intention to embark at that point for the West Indies, but for some reason stopped in Prince Edward Island, where he remained. Here Donald Ramsay engaged in teaching school, while the remaining members of the family located on Lot 12."