Ransford, Tessa, 1938-2015 (poet and Scottish Poetry Library founder)
Dates
- Existence: 8 July 1938 - 2 September 2015
Biography
Poet, editor and translator Tessa Ransford was born in Mumbai (then Bombay), India, on 8 July 1938. She was the daughter of Sir Alister and Lady Torfrida Ransford. Her father had been Master of the Mint in Bombay. The family moved back to England in 1944, then to Scotland in 1948. Tessa studied at St Leonard’s School in St Andrews then at Edinburgh University where she read German and was awarded a degree in Philosophy.
She married a minister of the Church of Scotland and for over a decade they did missionary work in Pakistan (herself a Quaker). The couple and their two sons returned to Edinburgh in the 1960s and Tessa wo worked at the Netherbow Centre in the Royal Mile and attended evening classes in Scottish literature.
She set up the Scottish Poetry Library in 1984 at Tweeddale Court in Edinburgh, and was its founding director. Earlier, in 1982, the Scottish Poetry Library Association had been founded. She then spearheaded work to launch a purpose-built library which finally opened in spring 1999. Once the new premises had opened she retired from the role as Scottish Poetry Library director and became involved in new literary ventures, particularly Scottish PEN, of which she was President 2003-06, and the promotion of poetry pamphlets.