Alfred George Ramsey was born at Daylesford, Victoria. He moved to Sydney with his parents while still a boy and then to New Zealand. Ramsey's father worked on the Hokitika
Times newspaper and Ramsey was apprenticed to the paper. The family later re-located to Melbourne and, following the outbreak of the Gympie goldrush, they moved again.
The family arrived in Gympie in late 1867 and Ramsey joined the mechanical staff of the Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette when it began publication in 1868. In Ramsey's obituary, the Brisbane Courier writes: 'it was not long before he became a part proprietor of the paper, and later, with the late Mr. Jacob Stumm, purchased the interest of the other partners, and they became owners of the paper. At the time of his death he was senior partner.'
Source: '
Obituary',
Brisbane Courier, (1 June 1926): 6