1847 in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1847 in Scotland.
See also:List of years in Scotland
Timeline of Scottish history
1847 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Timeline of Scottish history
1847 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Incumbents
Law officers
Judiciary
Events
- 28 April â the brig Exmouth carrying emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec is wrecked off Islay with only three survivors from more than 250 on board.[1][2]
- May â The congregations of the United Secession Church unite with most of those of the Relief Church to form the United Presbyterian Church.[3]
- 4 May â Glenalmond College opens its doors.
- 17 May â Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway extends through Scotland Street Tunnel to a new southern terminus in Princes Street, Edinburgh.
- 17 August â Queen Victoria arrives in HMY Victoria and Albert off Greenock at the start of a visit to Scotland.
- 18 September â Educational Institute of Scotland formally constituted as a teachers' union "for the purpose of promoting sound learning and of advancing the interests of education in Scotland".[4]
- 4â8 November â James Young Simpson discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and first uses it, successfully, on a patient, in an obstetric case in Edinburgh.[5][6]
- 23 November â the Otago Association ship Philip Laing sets sail from Greenock carrying settlers, mostly from the Free Church of Scotland, bound for Port Chalmers in New Zealand.
- The Ordnance Survey confirms Ben Nevis as the highest mountain in the British Isles, ahead of Ben Macdui.
- Michael Nairn begins manufacture of floorcloth at Kirkcaldy.
- Thomas Guthrie publishes A Plea for Ragged Schools in Edinburgh.
Births
- 29 January â John Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie, KT, Liberal politician, former Secretary for Scotland (died 1887)
- 8 February â Lord Francis Douglas, mountaineer (killed 1865 on the Matterhorn)
- 13 February â Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st Baronet, "Concrete Bob", founder of construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine (died 1934)
- 3 March â Alexander Graham Bell, scientist and inventor (died 1922 in Nova Scotia)
- 28 March â Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson, art critic (died 1900)
- 27 April â Archibald Orr-Ewing, MP (died 1893)
- 2 July â Andrew Gray, physicist and mathematician (died 1925)
- 28 July â James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, politician, astronomer and bibliophile (died 1913)
- 3 August â John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC, former Governor General of Canada (died 1934)
- 22 August â Alexander Mackenzie, composer (died 1935)
- 12 September â John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, KT, landowner and Rector of the University of St Andrews (died 1900)
Deaths
- 23 March â Archibald Simpson, architect (born 1790)
- 31 May â Thomas Chalmers, mathematician and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland (born 1780)
- 7 June â David Mushet, metallurgist (born 1772; died in Monmouth)
- 9 August â Andrew Combe, physician and phrenologist (born 1797)
- 29 August â William Simson, painter best known as a landscapist (born 1798 or 1799; died in London)
- 20 November â Henry Francis Lyte, Anglican divine and hymn-writer (born 1793; died in Nice)
- 7 December â Robert Liston, pioneering surgeon (born 1794; died in London)
The arts
- R. M. Ballantyne returns to Edinburgh from Canada.
- Charles Lees paints The Golfers.
- The Sobieski Stuarts' fictional Tales of the Century: or Sketches of the romance of history between the years 1746 and 1846 is published.
