Horatio Ross was named in honor of Horatio, Lord Nelson, an intimate friend of his father, Hercules Ross. Horatio Ross served as a member of Parliament for Aberdeen in 1832-1834, but is remembered especially as an extraordinary sportsman. His amateur interests led him in 1849 to master the calotype process, under the tutelage of the (unrelated) Edinburgh photographer James Ross, and in 1856 Ross was a founder and vice-president of the Photographic Society of Scotland.