 He was ordained into the Anglican church in November 1761 by the Bishop of London.Choosing to work amongst slaves on the Caribbean, he travelled to the island of Saint Christopher (now Saint Kitts), where he was appointed to St. John's, Capisterre in 1762, and to Christ Church Nichola Town, the following year.James Ramsay married Rebecca Akers, the daughter of Edmund Akers, a plantation owner on St Kitts, in 1763.