Events from the year 1812 in Scotland.
Incumbents
Law officers Lord Advocate – Archibald Colquhoun Solicitor General for Scotland – David Monypenny
Judiciary Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Granton Lord Justice General – The Duke of Montrose Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Boyle
Events 1 January – Tron riot in Edinburgh concludes. March – meeting in Edinburgh to discuss formation of the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society. 6 July – the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway becomes the first public railway line to open in Scotland. It begins life as a 9.5-mile (16-kilometre), horse-drawn waggonway to carry coal from Kilmarnock to Troon harbour. On 27 June the horse-drawn passenger coach Caledonia began running over the line between Troon and Gargieston, near Kilmarnock.Air Advertiser [sic.] advertisement dated 25 June 1812. 12 July (The Twelfth) – first Protestant Orange march in Scotland held in Glasgow, attracting hostile Catholic crowds. August – Henry Bell's begins a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock, the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe. November – first bridge at Bonar Bridge completed in cast iron to the design of Thomas Telford. Ongoing – Highland Clearances. Nelson's Tower completed in Forres as a monument to Lord Nelson. Brackla distillery built by Captain William Fraser of Brackla House on the estate of Cawdor Castle. Glasgow Bible Society established. Gaelic chapel opens in London.
Births 3 February – William Fraser Tolmie, scientist and politician in Canada (died 1886 in Canada) 29 February – James Milne Wilson, Premier of Tasmania (died 29 February 1880 in Tasmania) 26 March (probable date) – Charles Mackay, writer (died 1889) 4 April – George Grub, church historian (died 1892) 27 May – Robert Stirling Newall, engineer and astronomer (died 1889) 3 June – Norman Macleod, Church of Scotland minister (died 1872) 2 September – Kirkpatrick Macmillan, inventor of the bicycle (died 1878) 16 September – Robert Fortune, botanist, pioneer of the Indian tea industry (died 1880) 23 December – Samuel Smiles, author and reformer (died 1904)
Deaths 23 January – Robert Craufurd, general (mortally wounded during Peninsular War) (born 1764) 14 May – Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Gaelic poet (born 1724)
The arts William Tennant's ottava rima mock-heroic poem Anster Fair is published, the first use of this Italian style in Britain.
See also Timeline of Scottish history 1812 in Ireland
References