1650s in Scotland explained

Events from the 1650s in the Kingdom of Scotland.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles II (until his disposition in 1651)^[1]
• Commonwealth of England from 1651 until the Restoration in 1660 which reinstates Charles II.

Events

• 1650:
  • 21 May – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose executed in Edinburgh after his defeat at the Battle of Carbisdale.^[2]
  • 29 June – "the Lord General Cromwell went out of London towards the North: and the news of him marching Northward much startled the Scots".^[3] Oliver Cromwell leads the New Model Army to Edinburgh.^[4]
  • 3 September – Battle of Dunbar takes place between Cromwell's Army and the Scottish Covenanters. Cromwell's army wins and the battle results in southern Scotland surrendering to England; it is administered from Dalkeith.
• 1651:
  • 1 January – Charles II crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace.^[5]
  • 20 July – Battle of Inverkeithing: The English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.
  • 1 September – Siege of Dundee ends with the English Parliamentarian army, under General Monck, decisively defeating Covenanters in the last battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland.^[6]
  • 3 September – Battle of Worcester takes place after Charles II has raised an army (largely from Scotland) and invaded England. It results in his defeat by Cromwell and the king escaping abroad.
• 1652: 17 June – A large fire breaks out in Glasgow, which destroys around a third of the city and leaves approximately 1,000 families homeless.^[7]
• 1653: 16 December – Cromwell is made Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.^[8]
• 1654:
  • 12 April – Cromwell creates a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.^[9]
  • 5 May – Cromwell's Act of Grace, which pardons the people of Scotland for any crimes they may have committed during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, is proclaimed in Edinburgh.
• 1658: 3 September – Cromwell dies and the title of Lord Protector passes to his son, Richard Cromwell.
• 1659:
  • 25 May – Richard Cromwell forced to resign as Lord Protector.
  • Heriot's Hospital opens in Edinburgh.^[10]

Publications

• 1655 – History of the Church and State of Scotland by John Spottiswoode.^[11]

Births

• 1650:
  • Sir James Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, writer and Principal Clerk of Session (d. 1719)^[12]
  • George Brown, inventor and arithmetician (d. 1730)^[13]
  • Henry Erskine, 3rd Lord Cardross, Covenanter (d. 1693)^[14]
• 1654: 23 November – George Watson, accountant (d. 1733)^[15]
• 1658: 11 April – James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, nobleman (d. 1712)^[16]
• 1659
  • 1 January – Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss, noble (d. 1705)^[17]
  • 3 June – David Gregory, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1708 in England)^[18]
  • 13 September – Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn, Scottish and Irish peer (d. 1691)^[19]

Deaths

• 1650:
  • 21 May – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (b. 1612)
  • 29 October – David Calderwood, divine and historian (b. 1575)^[20]
• 1654: Alexander Ross, writer (b. c.1590)^[21]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Charles II - king of Great Britain and Ireland. Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 March 2018. en . 8 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240408204456/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-II-king-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland . live.
2. Web site: James Graham, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Montrose. Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 July 2017 . 20 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240620074743/https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Graham-5th-earl-and-1st-marquess-of-Montrose . live.
3. [Thomas Carlyle]
4. Web site: Battle of Dunbar. Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 July 2017. en . 4 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240304084106/https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Dunbar . live.
5. Web site: British History Timeline. BBC History. 3 July 2017 . 4 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240704192453/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/civilwars_timeline_noflash.shtml . live.
6. Web site: Siege and Sacking of Dundee from The Gazetteer for Scotland . www.scottish-places.info . 11 September 2021 . en-gb . 3 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231203235130/https://www.scottish-places.info/events/eventfirst172.html . live.
7. Web site: The Great Fire of Glasgow – tragic blaze which destroyed the city 368 years ago . Glasgow Live . 24 July 2024 . en . 22 June 2019 . 16 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220516050505/https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/great-fire-glasgow-368-years-14795473 . live.
8. Web site: What kind of ruler was Oliver Cromwell. The National Archives. 3 July 2017 . 30 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240630095235/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/civil-war/ . live.
9. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. registration.
10. Web site: Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh . National Galleries of Scotland . 11 August 2020 . en . 7 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201107164707/https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/19057/heriots-hospital-edinburgh . live.
11. Book: Taylor. Alan. Glagow:The Autobiography. 2016. Birlinn Limited. Edinburgh. 9781780273532. 13.
12. Book: Whitley. Laurence A. B.. A Great Grievance: Ecclesiastical Lay Patronage in Scotland until 1750. 2013. Wipf and Stock Publishers. 9781621896449. en.
13. Web site: George Brown. National Portrait Gallery. 4 July 2017 . 27 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127002026/https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw143829/George-Brown . live.
14. Web site: The Discovery Service. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 4 July 2017 . 18 June 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240618081014/https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F35484 . live.
15. Web site: History of George Watson's College. George Watson College. 4 July 2017 . 18 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718033815/https://www.gwc.org.uk/about-us/heritage . live.
16. Web site: A Young Man in Blue, called Lord Arran (probably Lieutenant-General James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, later 4th Duke of Hamilton KT [1658-1712]) 266921 National Trust Collections]. www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. 4 July 2017. en . 3 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210603195145/http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/266921 . live.
17. Book: Fraser . Sir William . Memorials of the Family of Wemyss of Wemyss . 1888 . 411 . en.
18. Book: Petkovi_ . Miodrag . Famous Puzzles of Great Mathematicians . 2 September 2009 . American Mathematical Soc. . 978-0-8218-4814-2 . 304 . en.
19. Book: Cokayne . George Edward . Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant . 1892 . G. Bell & sons . 153 . en.
20. Web site: David Calderwood - Scottish clergyman. Encyclopedia Britannica. 4 July 2017. en . 28 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221128062358/https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Calderwood . live.
21. Book: Delisle. Jean. Woodsworth. Judith. Translators through History: Revised edition. 2012. John Benjamins Publishing. 978-9027273819. 174. en.