1856 in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1856 in Scotland.
See also:List of years in Scotland
Timeline of Scottish history
1856 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Timeline of Scottish history
1856 in: The UK ⢠Wales ⢠Elsewhere
Incumbents
Law officers
Judiciary
Events
- 4 January â Faculty of Actuaries established.
- February â an oak[1] and a yew[2] tree associated with William Wallace at his reputed birthplace of Elderslie are blown down in a storm.
- 1 April â Aberdeen Waterloo railway station opens to serve the Great North of Scotland Railway main line to Keith.
- November â James Clerk Maxwell takes up an appointment as Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen.
- 31 December â Lord Brougham's Act requires at least one party to a marriage contracted after this date to have been resident in Scotland for 21 days, putting a curb on Gretna Green marriage.[3]
- Trinity College, Glasgow, established as a Church College of the Free Church of Scotland.
- Dunfermline claims city status in the United Kingdom by historical usage; the status is never officially recognised.[4]
- William McEwan opens McEwan's Fountain Brewery at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh.
- The iron steamboat Thomas is built for service on the Forth and Clyde Canal, origin of the Clyde puffer.
- The Clyde Model Yacht Club, a predecessor of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club, is established.
Births
- 30 May â James Pittendrigh Macgillivray, sculptor and poet (died 1938)
- 5 July â Ion Keith-Falconer, road racing cyclist, Arabic scholar and missionary (died 1887 in Aden)
- 15 August â Keir Hardie, socialist and labour leader (died 1915)[5]
- 13 September â Henry Halcro Johnston, botanist, army physician and rugby union international (died 1939)
- 27 November â Matthew Stirling, locomotive engineer (died 1931 in Hull)
- 1 December â Malcolm Smith, Liberal politician (died 1935)
- William W. Naismith, mountaineer (died 1935)
- William Robertson, industrialist (died 1923)
Deaths
- August â James Bremner, shipbuilder and salvor (born 1784)
- 30 August â John Ross, naval officer and Arctic explorer (born 1777)
- 20 September â Samuel Morison Brown, chemist, poet and essayist (born 1817)
- 23/24 December â Hugh Miller, geologist, by suicide (born 1802)
- 25 February â George Don, botanist (born 1798)
The arts
- McLellan Galleries opened in Glasgow.