as a teenager ramsden worked for the bank of new south wales at wanganui and later as a shepherd on a farm near castlepoint. he became a journalist for the "wairarapa times-age" in 1919 when he was 20 years old. he moved to auckland to work for the "auckland star" and then to wellington where he worked for "the new zealand times". in june 1924 he was employed by w h morton cameron of the globe encyclopedia company of chicago. by the mid 1920s he had moved to sydney where he worked for the sydney morning herald. by 1925 he was working for the newcastle, new south wales sun newspaper. during 1926 he was writing in the auckland star and his articles, particularly of early new zealand european history, were published by the paper from time to time up to 1935. ramsden then moved back to sydney in 1929 becoming the illustrations editor and special writer for the sydney morning herald. in 1934 ramsden switched to the sydney-based associated newspapers limited. due to ill health ramsden moved to christchurch to work for the press in 1942 where his journalistic focus was on history and maori affairs. moving back to wellington in 1945, ramsden joined the evening post becoming its diplomatic correspondent and art critic. he also wrote occasional article on topics of personal interest.