Ramsay Traquair

Born in Edinburgh in 1874, he came from a notably artistic family: his father was the scientist and museum curator Ramsay Heatley Traquair, and his mother was the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair. He later settled in Canada and became an important figure at McGill University, where he served as Macdonald Professor of Architecture from 1914 to 1938.

Alongside his teaching, he carried out pioneering research into the history of French Canadian architecture. His studies helped bring serious attention to Quebec's older buildings and traditions, and they eventually led to The Old Architecture of Quebec in 1947, a work remembered for helping awaken wider interest in that heritage.

He died in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, in 1952. While best known as an architect and educator, he is also remembered for writing shaped by close observation and a strong sense of historical continuity.