THE LORDS De RAMSEY
1737 Coulson Fellowes,
The eldest son of William Fellowes of Lincolns Inn London and of Eggesford Devon acquired the site of the former abbey at Ramsey. Coulson represented Huntingdonshire in the House of Commons between 1741 and 1761 under the patronage of the 4th Earl of Sandwich of Hinchingbrooke, Huntingdon.
1769 William Fellowes
Inherited the estate he was the Member of Parliament for Sudbury and for Andover. He was High Sheriff for Huntingdonshire in 1779.
1804 William Henry Fellowes
Inherited the estate, he represented the Borough of Huntingdon in the House of Commons between 1796 and 1806 also the county of Huntingdonshire between 1807 and 1830 under the patronage of the Earls of Sandwich. William Henry commissioned John Soane to alter and enlarge the family house and its entrance at Ramsey. Soane was engaged between 1804 and 1808 at a cost of some £11000 to £12000. His widow Emma lived for a further 25 years after his death in 1837. She endowed the building of the church at Ramsey St. Marys in 1858.
1837 Edward Fellowes inherited the estate.
In the same year he was returned as the Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire serving until 1880. As the Fenmans Friend and over some fifty years Edward was involved in the management of the Middle Level Commissioners and the Ouse Outfall Board His leadership was recognised by a banquet in his honour in 1879.
He was created the lst Baron De Ramsey in 1887 a title he enjoyed for only one month until his death at the age of 79. Edward Fellowes further extended the family house employing the services of Edward Blore, spending some £10,000 on the fabric of the building between 1838 and 1841.
The Alms Houses and The Terrace over looking the Abbey Green’ The Estate Office over looking the Church Green and The Abbey Rooms were all built by Edward. He also helped to finance the building of the churches at Ramsey Forty Foot and at Ponders Bridge and the parsonage and school at Ponders Bridge. Edward was also involved in the restoration of the parish church at Ramsey The clock tower on the Great Whyte in Ramsey was erected in 1888 as a memorial to the 1st Lord De Ramsey.
1887 William Henry Fellowes became the 2nd Lord De Ramsey.
He served in the Life Guards until his marriage to Lady Rosamund Spencer Churchill. He was the Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire between 1880 and 1885 and for North Huntingdonshire between 1885 and 1887. He served as vice chairman of the Huntingdonshire County Council; he sold land to the County Council for the small holder scheme. He was chairman of the Middle Level Commissioners and of the County Conservative Association.
In 1914 he was in Germany with his son consulting an eye specialist. He was interned for 15 months, his son was held for the duration of the war. William Henry eventually lost his sight. He spent the summer at Ramsey and the winter at the Norfolk property, Haveringland Hall. He was President of the Huntingdonshire Agriculture Society and a Justice of the Peace.
Lord De Ramsey provided The Reading and Billiard Rooms for the town in 1892 and The Games Room in 1908. He was also responsible for the addition of the Vestry to the parish church in 1910. On his elevation to the peerage his brother Ailwyn Edward Fellowes was elected to represent North Huntingdonshire between 1887 and 1906. Follow this link to see an Ordance survey map showing Ramsey at this time.
He served as President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 1905 to 1906. William Henry died in 1925 five years after the death of his wife Captain Coulson Churchill Fellowes the heir to the title died on active service in 1915 as did Lord Guernsey in 1914, the husband of Gladys one of Coulson’s sisters; memorial windows are to be found in the parish church.
1926 Coulsons son Ailwyn Edward Fellowes.
Became the 3rd Lord De Ramsey at the age of fifteen and held the title until his death in 1993.At the time of his coming of age in 1931 the trustees of the estate decided to vacate the Abbey residence in Ramsey ,making Abbots Ripton Hall the family seat
In 1937 Diana Broughton, the daughter of Coulson Fellowes leased the Abbey to the Governors of the Ramsey Grammar School for 99 years and the following year the pupils moved from School Lane Diana died in 1937 and in her memory Major Henry Rogers Broughton in 1952 gifted the Abbey Gate House to the National Trust.
The 3rd Lord De Ramsey served in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry, was captured in Singapore in 1941 and imprisoned for 3 years. He was Chairman of the Middle Level Commissioners and President of the Association of Drainage Authorities, the Country Landowners Association and first President— of the East of England Show. His service to agriculture was acknowledged by the award of K.B.E. in 1974; he was also the recipient of the Gold Medal of the Royal Agricultural Society.
1993 The elder son John Ailwyn Fellowes became the 4th and current Lord De Ramsey.
He lives with his family at Abbots Ripton Hall. He has maintained the Fellowes interest in the countryside, serving on local and national bodies associated with agriculture, drainage, plant science and the Environment. He was the first Chairman of the Environment Agency of England and Wales. He was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by Cranfield University, and is currently the President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
