1808 in Scotland
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| See also: | List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 1808 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere | ||||
Events from the year 1808 in Scotland.
Incumbents[edit]
Law officers[edit]
Judiciary[edit]
- Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Succoth to 31 August; then Lord Avontoun
- Lord Justice General – The Duke of Montrose
- Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Granton
Events[edit]
- January – Christopher Anderson begins missionary work in The Pleasance district of Edinburgh, which will lead to his taking over the Charlotte Chapel.
- 2 March – inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society is held in Edinburgh under the presidency of Prof. Robert Jameson.[1][2]
- 21 May – Thomas Telford's Tongland bridge is fully completed.
- 27 May – the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway becomes the first railway line in Scotland to be authorised by Act of Parliament.[3]
- 7 June – first meeting at the Bogside Racecourse, Irvine.[4]
- October – Thomas Telford's Dunkeld–Birnam bridge is opened to road traffic.[5]
- John Rennie's new Musselburgh Bridge (over the Esk) is completed.[6]
- Court of Session Act reforms the Court of Session.
- Broadford flax mill is established in Aberdeen, the earliest iron-framed textile mill in Scotland.[7]
- William Blackwood begins publication of the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, edited by David Brewster.
- Travel writer Sir John Carr publishes Caledonian Sketches, or a Tour through Scotland in 1807.
Births[edit]
- 22 January – James Fergusson, architectural historian (died 1886 in London)
- 29 February – Hugh Falconer, geologist, botanist, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist (died 1865 in London)
- 9 May – John Scott Russell, shipbuilder (died 1882 on the Isle of Wight)
- 11 June – James Ballantine, painter (died 1877)
- 16 June – James Frederick Ferrier, metaphysical and epistemological philosopher (died 1864)
- 2 July – Thomas Simpson, Arctic explorer (probable suicide 1840 in the United States)
- 19 August – James Nasmyth, mechanical engineer (died 1890 in England)
- 24 August – William Lindsay Alexander, church leader (died 1884)
- c. 7 or 8 September – William Livingston (Uilleam Macdhunleibhe), Gaelic poet (died 1870)[8]
- 15 September – John Hutton Balfour, botanist (died 1884)
- 21 September – Evan MacColl, poet writing in Gaelic and English (died 1898 in Canada)
- 19 December – Horatius Bonar, Free Church minister and hymnodist (died 1889)
- James Gall, evangelical minister, astronomer and cartographer (died 1895)
- David Moore, born Muir, botanist (died 1879 in Ireland)
- David Rhind, architect (died 1883)
- James Aitken Wylie, Free Church minister and religious historian (died 1890)
Deaths[edit]
- 20 January – Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (born 1749)
- 28 January – James Finlayson, minister of the Church of Scotland (born 1758)
- 13 February – William Fullarton, British Army officer, agriculturalist and colonial governor (born 1754; died in London)
- 19 June – Alexander Dalrymple, hydrographer (born 1737)
- 2 July – Robert Arnot, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (born 1744)
- 21 August – John Adamson, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (born 1742)
- 23 August – Robert Small, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, mathematician and astronomer (born 1732)
- 5 September – John Home, Episcopalian minister, playwright and writer (born 1722)
- 20 September – John Elliot, Royal Navy officer (born 1732)
- 15 October – James Anderson of Hermiston, agriculturalist (born 1739)
- 24 October – Francis Wemyss-Charteris, landowner (born 1723)
The arts[edit]
- Walter Scott's poem Marmion: a tale of Flodden Field is published in Edinburgh.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Wernerian Natural History Society". Scholarly Societies Project. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
- ^ Sweet, Jessie M. (1967). "The Wernerian Natural History Society in Edinburgh". Freiberger Forschungshefte, Reihe C. 223: 205–218.
- ^ Lewin, Henry Grote (1925). Early British Railways: a short history of their origin and development, 1801–1844. London: Locomotive Publishing Co.
- ^ "Bogside Racecourse". greyhoundderby.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
- ^ "Telford's Bridge". Dunkeld & Birnam Tourist Association. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ "Musselburgh, New Bridge". Canmore. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
- ^ "Aberdeen, Maberly Street, Broadford Works". Canmore. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. July 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Whyte, Christopher (1991). William Livingston/Uilleam Macdhunleibhe (1808–70): a survey of his poetry and prose. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2014-08-18.