Christian Ramsay

Christian Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie (; 28 February 1786 – 22 January 1839), She was the only child of Christian McDowal and Charles Broun. The Broun family had a history in the legal profession; her father was an advocate and his father a judge, George Broun, Lord Coalstoun. On 14 May 1805, she married George Ramsay, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie and was styled Countess of Dalhousie. Their second son, Charles, died at nine years old. Their youngest, James, born 22 April 1812, inherited his father's title in 1838 and was created Marquess of Dalhousie in 1849.

Scientific work

Dalhousie was a keen botanist; she catalogued plants on herbarium sheets, fully identified and complete with collection dates, notes on habitats and some with watercolour pictures she had painted. Dalhousie presented a paper to the Society, at the time of her death she was the only female honorary member. Records of correspondence with Kew botanist, Sir William Hooker, include large collections of plants from Simla and Penang in 1831. Her collections were included when Joseph Dalton Hooker compiled his Flora Indica. William Hooker relied on her for botanical samples, and called her a "very zealous botanist". She spent much time in high society on 22 January 1839 in the home of Dean Ramsay aged 52. One report mentions that she was so dedicated to her studies that she died with a list of plants in her hand. Sir William Hooker dedicated a volume of Curtis's Botanical Magazine to her. Julia Catherine Beckwith, who is credited as Canada's first writer of fiction, dedicated her first novel to her. Rhododendron dalhousieae Hook. f. was named for her by Joseph Dalton Hooker.