James Davis Ogilvie, M.B., B.S., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.

James Ogilvie was born in 1914 and studied medicine at Bart's. He entered general practice at Ash, near Sandwich, in 1938 and remained there for the next twenty-five years, becoming a notable figure in east Kent archaeology and in local government. Ogilvie was particularly interested in Roman roads and his attention was initially focused on the route between Richborough and Canterbury. His earliest excavation revealed the causeway, previously postulated but not proven, between Richborough island and the mainland but, though his extensive research continued over a number of years, he was unable to establish a single line.

Ogilvie used his daily medical rounds through the Kent countryside to further his research. He monitored any farming or civil engineering activities which might reveal clues, a prime example being the Stourmouth-Adisham water main project in 1960 which involved cutting a six-mile trench through territory vital to his Richborough-Canterbury road project. Ogilvie was a strong advocate of co-operation between amateur and professional archaeologists, valuing their complementary contributions of local knowledge and academic training. In all his research, he quickly sought assistance from local enthusiasts for excavation and from professionals for interpretation and analysis. He was a popular member of the community, enjoying the goodwill of local farmers and landowners for his excavations and was much in demand as a lecturer to local societies. He was president of the Ash Field Club, chairman of the parish council, president of the Kent Association of Parish Councils and a member of Kent County Council from 1949-52. Secondary only to archaeology was Ogilvie's enthusiasm for mountaineering. He left Ash in 1963 to practise in Patterdale, Cumbria, where he was a member of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club and founded the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team. He led the first ascent of Kisterfel in Lapland in 1958. Ogilvie retired from full-time practice in 1973 but continued as a locum in the north of England and the Orkney Islands, and retired back to Ash in 1983. He died on 8 January 1997.