1808 in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1808 in Scotland.
See also:List of years in Scotland
Timeline of Scottish history
1808 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Timeline of Scottish history
1808 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Incumbents
Law officers
Judiciary
- Lord President of the Court of Session â Lord Succoth to 31 August; then Lord Avontoun
- Lord Justice General â The Duke of Montrose
- Lord Justice Clerk â Lord Granton
Events
- January â Christopher Anderson begins missionary work in The Pleasance district of Edinburgh, which will lead to his taking over the Charlotte Chapel.
- 2 March â inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society is held in Edinburgh under the presidency of Prof. Robert Jameson.[1][2]
- 21 May â Thomas Telford's Tongland bridge is fully completed.
- 27 May â the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway becomes the first railway line in Scotland to be authorised by Act of Parliament.[3]
- 7 June â first meeting at the Bogside Racecourse, Irvine.[4]
- October â Thomas Telford's DunkeldâBirnam 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
- 22 January â James Fergusson, architectural historian (died 1886 in London)
- 29 February â Hugh Falconer, geologist, botanist, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist (died 1865 in London)
- 9 May â John Scott Russell, shipbuilder (died 1882 on the Isle of Wight)
- 11 June â James Ballantine, painter (died 1877)
- 16 June â James Frederick Ferrier, metaphysical and epistemological philosopher (died 1864)
- 2 July â Thomas Simpson, Arctic explorer (probable suicide 1840 in the United States)
- 19 August â James Nasmyth, mechanical engineer (died 1890 in England)
- 24 August â William Lindsay Alexander, church leader (died 1884)
- c. 7 or 8 September â William Livingston (Uilleam Macdhunleibhe), Gaelic poet (died 1870)[8]
- 15 September â John Hutton Balfour, botanist (died 1884)
- 21 September â Evan MacColl, poet writing in Gaelic and English (died 1898 in Canada)
- 19 December â 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
- 20 January â Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (born 1749)
- 28 January â James Finlayson, minister of the Church of Scotland (born 1758)
- 13 February â William Fullarton, British Army officer, agriculturalist and colonial governor (born 1754; died in London)
- 19 June â Alexander Dalrymple, hydrographer (born 1737)
- 2 July â Robert Arnot, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (born 1744)
- 21 August â John Adamson, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (born 1742)
- 23 August â Robert Small, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, mathematician and astronomer (born 1732)
- 5 September â John Home, Episcopalian minister, playwright and writer (born 1722)
- 20 September â John Elliot, Royal Navy officer (born 1732)
- 15 October â James Anderson of Hermiston, agriculturalist (born 1739)
- 24 October â Francis Wemyss-Charteris, landowner (born 1723)
The arts
- Walter Scott's poem Marmion: a tale of Flodden Field is published in Edinburgh.