| Honorific-Prefix: | Commodore The Honourable |
| Sir James Maxwell Ramsay | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | KCMG, KCVO, CBE, DSC |
| Order: | 20th |
| Office: | Governor of Queensland |
| Term Start: | 22 April 1977 |
| Term End: | 21 July 1985 |
| Premier: | Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
| Predecessor: | Sir Colin Hannah |
| Successor: | Sir Walter Campbell |
| Birth Date: | 27 August 1916 |
| Birth Place: | Hobart, Tasmania |
| Death Place: | Broadbeach, Queensland |
| Allegiance: | Australia |
| Branch: | Royal Australian Navy |
| Serviceyears: | 1930–1972 |
| Rank: | Commodore |
| Battles: | Second World War Korean War |
| Mawards: | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Bachelor Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross Knight of the Order of St John Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) |
Commodore Sir James Maxwell Ramsay, (27 August 1916 – 1 May 1986) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy and the 20th Governor of Queensland, serving from 22 April 1977 until 21 July 1985.[1]
Ramsay was one of six surviving children. He attended the Macquarie Street State School and The Hutchins School in Hobart. He proved himself to be quite adept at what he attempted in these schools; he was successful in becoming a cadet captain, excelled in Rugby, and was a high achiever in academic and professional subjects.[2] Appointed a naval cadet on 1 January 1930,[3] he graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College at Flinders Naval Depot in 1933 and was appointed a midshipman on 1 May 1934.[4] He had a distinguished naval career. In 1945 Ramsay attended Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, England, and in the same year married Janet Grace Burley. During the Second World War he served on British and Australian ships in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans, and 1972 he retired from the navy. He served as Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia from 1974 until 1977.[5]
Ramsay married Janet Burley, a Red Cross welfare officer, on 24 November 1945 at the parish church, Denham, Buckinghamshire.