Kobenhaven at dockKøbenhavn at seaAmelia IVSYMaha ChakriSSVina, The Brancaster WreckMercator at sea
Ramage & Ferguson was a Scottish shipbuilder active from 1877 to 1934, who specialised in luxury steam-yachts usually with steel hulls and timber decks. They also made several notable windjammers including the stunning five-masted København.
The company was formed in May 1877 in the outer harbour area of the Water of Leith on the west side of the Shore in Leith, backing onto the then relatively new Victoria Dock. Ships were launched into the Water of Leith, greatly limiting the maximum size of ship capable of launch. Production moved from iron to steel in 1880 and major expansions were made in 1892. The company quickly gained a reputation for creating luxury steam yachts for the rich and famous. They also made tramp steamers and various mid-sized vessels for East India service.[1]
The "Ferguson" of Ramage & Ferguson is elusive and appears to have been a silent (and anonymous) partner. Probably the funder of the venture, there is some indication that Ferguson may have been Robert McNair Ferguson or connected to him in some way.
In 1918 their yard manager, Henry Robb, left to form his own rival shipbuilding company.
Ramage & Ferguson got into financial difficulty in 1934 and was bought over by Henry Robb & Sons, an existing shipbuilder in Leith, as a secondary yard. The yard was used up until the 1970s and cleared of buildings in 1985. The slipway remained intact until around 1995 when it was built over to form a section of the Water of Leith Walkway. The position is still visible from the eastern bank.
He was apprenticed to William Denny and BrothersinDumbarton around 1848, where he learnt his skills as a shipbuilder. In 1877 he moved to Edinburgh and founded Ramage & Ferguson. The identity of Ferguson is elusive.
In 1900 he was living at The Hawthorns, 212 Ferry Road in Leith.[2] By this time he had retired and passed the business to his son, Alexander Gulliland Ramage.
He died on 16 July 1920 and is buried in Warriston Cemetery. The grave lies on the sloping diagonal path leading from the lower vaults to the now-sealed eastern entrance.
He is thought to have been born in or near Glasgow around 1870. He was the son of Richard Ramage and his wife, Elizabeth Ogilvie Gulliland (b.1836).
He took over from his father Richard Ramage as partner and managing director of Ramage & Ferguson around 1895. His younger brother John Thomson Ramage (1885-1933) acted as his assistant and design engineer.
SYRosabelle (1902) for Theodore Pim, later requisitioned by the Admiralty and sunk by U-374 in December 1941[8]
SSVienna (1903) for the Currie Line
SYLorena (1903) a steam yacht made for the American ″Asphalt King″ Amzi L. Barber, and named for his daughter.[9] Sold to George Jay Gould in 1907 and renamed SY Atalanta[10]
SSPalmella (1920) part of the re-equipping of the Ellerman Wilson Line who had heavy losses in the First World War
SYKøbenhavn for the Danish government (1921) (the largest sail ship ever built in Britain) lost at sea 1928
SMY Naz Perwer (1923) a beautiful steam yacht for Prince Youssouf KamalofEgypt
