1812 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1812 in Scotland.

Incumbents

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.^[1] On 27 June the horse-drawn passenger coach Caledonia began running over the line between Troon and Gargieston, near Kilmarnock.^[2]
12 July (The Twelfth) – first Protestant Orange march in Scotland held in Glasgow, attracting hostile Catholic crowds.^[3]
August – Henry Bell's begins a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock, the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe.^[4]
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.^[5]
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.

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)
23 December – Samuel Smiles, author and reformer (died 1904)

William Tennant's ottava rima mock-heroic poem Anster Fair is published, the first use of this Italian style in Britain.^[6]

Book: Robertson, C. J. A.. 1983. The Origins of the Scottish Railway System 1722–1844. Edinburgh. John Donald Publishers. 0-85976-088-X.
Air Advertiser [''sic.''] advertisement dated 25 June 1812.
Book: Booker, Ronnie Michael. Orange Alba: The Civil Religion of Loyalism in the Southwestern Lowlands of Scotland since 1798. Knoxville. University of Tennessee. 2010. 2014-08-29. 45–6.
Book: McCrorie, Ian. Clyde Pleasure Steamers. Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd. Greenock. 1-869850-00-9. 1986.
Web site: Forres, Cluny Hills, Nelson's Monument. Canmore. Historic Environment Scotland. 2022-04-02.
Book: The Harmsworth Encyclopedia. 1905.