John Ramsay (15 August 1814 – 24 Jun 1892)[1] was a Scottish distiller, merchant and Liberal Party politician.
He enlarged and improved the pier at Port Ellen in 1881 and became one of the pioneers of the export trade in Scotch whisky to the United States.
He helped to improve the island's infrastructure and built Kildalton Castle, a rambling Scottish baronial country house in Port Ellen.
[3] In April 1868, Ramsay was elected at a by-election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling Burghs when his predecessor gave up the seat under the influence of a spiritualist prophet.
He only sat until the general election in November that year,[1] when he lost the seat to the future prime minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman.