Letters of Fox Maule-Ramsay (1801-1874), 11th Earl of Dalhousie

The material is composed of: a letter about government patronage and the Church of Scotland; a letter accepting an invitation to Wellington College Speech Day; letter to an unnamed correspondent promising to attend a ceremony in Montrose; letter thanking the loan of a book; letter to Miss Dempster from Brechin Castle; and letter from Invermark, Brechin. There is also a stamped and franked cover with the Dalhousie signature.

Fox Maule-Ramsay was born at Brechin Castle, Angus, on 22 April 1801. He was educated at Charterhouse and then entered the army serving with the 79th Highlanders in 1819 in Canada He retired as a Captain in 1831. He entered Liberal politics and was an MP for Perthshire, 1835-1837, for the Elgin Burghs, 1838-1841, and for Perth, 1841-1852. He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Panmure in 1852, and his cousin as Earl of Dalhousie in 1860. The Earl had earlier been Under-Secretary for the Home Department, 1835-1841, Vice-President of the Board of Trade, 1841, and Secretary of War, 1846-1852. He was also President of the Board of Control, 1852, and was appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1853. Maule-Ramsay was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University in 1842, and was a Governor of Charterhouse. He was a Knight of the Thistle. He had married Montagu Abercromby, daughter of the 2nd Baron Abercromby. Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie, died on 6 July 1874.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Miscellaneous letters, purchased E. Hall, 1964, Accession no. E64.6, and in February 1976, Accession no. E76.8.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of national biography. Vol. 13. Masquerier-Myles. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1909.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

The UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes several locations of Fox Maule-Ramsay related material.