Did you know that the man who fathered the late former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, was a Scottish chemist and pharmacist from a place called Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland?

And did you know that during the colonial era, James Ramsey John lived in Accra, where he had a long-term but secretive relationship with Rawlings’ mother, Victoria Agbotui, a Ghanaian woman?

Here is more about the man who very little know about especially in the Ghanaian setting.

According to scattered information online, James Ramsey John was a Scottish chemist and pharmacist from Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, whose brief but consequential presence in the then Gold Coast placed him permanently in Ghana’s political and historical narrative as the father of Jerry John Rawlings, Ghana’s longest-serving leader.

Born and raised in southern Scotland, John trained as a chemist/pharmacist, a profession that took him abroad during the late colonial period when British firms and institutions operated extensively across West Africa.

By the mid-20th century, he was working in the Gold Coast, reportedly in association with expatriate commercial or medical services, possibly under the umbrella of British trading interests active at the time.

During his stay in the Gold Coast, John entered into a relationship with Victoria Agbotui, an Ewe woman from Dzelukope near Keta. The union resulted in the birth of Jerry Rawlings John on June 22, 1947, in Accra.

Despite his professional standing, James Ramsey John did not play an active role in his son’s upbringing.

Multiple biographical accounts indicate that he did not formally acknowledge Rawlings publicly, nor did he live with the child or his mother.

Rawlings was raised solely by his mother, a circumstance that later shaped his strong identification with ordinary Ghanaians and his outspoken rejection of privilege and elitism.

By the late 1950s, John had returned to Britain, leaving Ghana permanently when Rawlings was still a child. From that point, his life faded almost entirely from public view.

Efforts by Rawlings in later years to trace or reconnect with his father reportedly yielded no success, and there is no widely available public record detailing John’s later life, career, or death in Scotland.

What is known of James Ramsey John today is drawn largely from brief references in biographies of Rawlings and occasional historical accounts. No comprehensive personal archive, public interviews, or extended family records have surfaced to illuminate his private life beyond his nationality, profession, and place of origin.

Yet, his legacy — albeit indirect — is firmly embedded in Ghana’s modern history. His son, Jerry John Rawlings, would rise from modest beginnings to become a Flight Lieutenant in the Ghana Air Force, lead two military political interventions, and govern Ghana for nearly two decades, profoundly reshaping the country’s political landscape.

In that sense, James Ramsey John remains a largely unseen figure whose connection to Ghana lies not in public service or political activism, but in lineage — linking a small Scottish town in Kirkcudbrightshire to one of Africa’s most influential post-independence leaders.

It is also a reminder that history often begins in places few people ever talk about.

AE