1809 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1809 in Scotland.

Incumbents

– the General Association of Operative Weavers is formed.^[1]
May – a construction railway at the site of Bell Rock Lighthouse is completed.^[2]
August – Crinan Canal declared "finally complete".^[3]
16 August – Meikle Ferry disaster: An overloaded ferry crossing the Dornoch Firth to Tain market sinks, drowning 99.^[4]
November – Thomas Telford certifies completion of his Dunkeld–Birnam bridge.^[5] His bridges at Ballater and Conon Bridge are also completed this year.
11 November – the North British and Mercantile Insurance company commences business as a fire insurance office in Edinburgh.^[6]
9 December – the Dumfries Courier is established as a weekly newspaper in Annan by Rev. Dr. Henry Duncan as The Dumfries and Galloway Courier.^[7]
Highland Clearances – first commissioner for clearance of the Leveson-Gower family estates in Scotland for sheep farming, William Young, is appointed.
The Tally Toor, a Martello tower, is erected off Leith.^[8]
A bridge over the River Cart is washed away in a flood.^[9]
Blackie and Son, publishers, are established in Glasgow by John Blackie as Blackie, Fullarton and Company.
The Scottish Bible Society is established as the Edinburgh Bible Society, a missionary organization, by Christopher Anderson.
The Caledonian Horticultural Society is established in Edinburgh.
Arthur Edmondston's A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands is published.

16 February – John Laing, bibliographer and Free Church minister (died 1880)
20 April – James David Forbes, physicist, glaciologist and seismologist (died 1868 in Bristol)
7 June – William Forbes Skene, historian (died 1892)
22 August – John Hill Burton, historian (died 1881)
27 August – John West, pioneer of food canning (died 1888 in the United States)
8 September – Robert Reid Kalley, physician and Presbyterian missionary to the lusophone countries (died 1888)
21 October – John Stenhouse, chemist (died 1880 in London)
24 October – John Barr, poet (died 1889 in New Zealand)
29 December – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born in Liverpool; died 1898 in Wales)
Alexander Allan, locomotive engineer (died 1891 in England)
Archibald Campbell, born Douglas, laird (died 1868)

14 January – Robert Anstruther, British Army general (born 1768; died on active service at Corunna)
16 January – John Moore, British Army general (born 1761; killed in Battle of Corunna)
24 January – James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife (born 1729; died in London)
25 February – John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, colonial governor (born 1730; died in Ramsgate)
10 May – Andrew Bell, engraver, co-founder of the Encyclopædia Britannica (born 1726)
3 August – Andrew Mackay, mathematician (born 1760; died in London)
29 August – Robert Melvill, British Army general and antiquary (born 1723)
8 October – James Elphinston, philologist (born 1721; died in London)
18 December – Alexander Adam, classical scholar (born 1741)
Sir William Douglas, 1st Baronet, landowner and industrialist

[Timeline of Glasgow history]
Web site: David. Taylor. Bell Rock Lighthouse. Bellrock.org.uk. 2012-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928012048/http://www.bellrock.org.uk/. April 2007. 2007-09-28.
Book: Lindsay, Jean. The Canals of Scotland. Newton Abbot. David & Charles. 1968. 0-7153-4240-1. 124.
Web site: Disasters. Society. Am Baile. 2014-08-15. 12 August 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140812233822/http://ambaile.org.uk/en/sub_section.jsp?SectionID=7&currentId=196. dead.
Web site: Telford's Bridge. Dunkeld & Birnam Tourist Association. 2014-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819125824/http://www.dunkeldandbirnam.org.uk/history-heritage/1550-Telfords-Bridge. 19 August 2014. dead.
Web site: North British and Mercantile Insurance Co Ltd. Aviva. 2014-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808083549/http://www.aviva.com/about-us/heritage/companies/north-british-and-mercantile-insurance/. 8 August 2014. dead. dmy-all.
Book: Duncan, George John C.. Memoir of the Rev. Henry Duncan, D.D., Minister of Ruthwell, Founder of Savings Banks, Author of Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, &c., &c.. 1848. W. Oliphant Hamilton, Adams. Edinburgh; London. 77.
Web site: The Martello Tower. History of Leith. 2014-08-15. 28 September 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070928210818/http://www.leithhistory.co.uk/2004/05/26/the-martello-tower/. dead.
Web site: White Cart Bridge. Secret Scotland. 2013-03-30. 2014-08-15.