Author: Capt. Ray Riley

Alexander Ramsay was born in Hong Kong on January 12th 1909. His mother was sent there from Peking where her husband was the Editor of the only English language newspaper in China; his parents felt that it was important for his birth to occur in a British colony; he was the eldest of four boys. He attended Nautical College on board the HMS Worcester, a ship anchored in the mouth of the Thames River; he started his training in 1926 where he obtained his Foreign Going Masters Certificate. Captain Ramsay was appointed Master of the very prestigious company line “Jardine Matheson”, there being two very well known and respected lines, the other being “Blue Funnel” Line. Captain Ramsay’s wife, Marina Ramsay was the daughter of a former Russian Consul to Harbin when the Communists took power; he stayed in China and practiced law, he knew ten (10) languages! Captain Ramsay’s wife was sent to an English language school and thus knew Russian, Chinese and English. Alexander Ramsay and family ca. 1948 During the...