1846 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1846 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Duncan McNeill until July; then Andrew Rutherfurd
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Adam Anderson; then Thomas Maitland

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Boyle
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Hope

Events

• January – African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass arrives in Scotland from Ireland to continue his speaking tour of the United Kingdom.
• 22 June – the North British Railway is opened to public traffic between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the first line to cross the border between Scotland and England. Edinburgh Waverley railway station is opened.^[1]
• 15 August – inauguration of Scott Monument in Edinburgh.^[2]
• 21 December – Scottish-born surgeon Robert Liston carries out the first operation under anesthesia in Europe, at University College Hospital in London.^[3]
• Start of Highland Potato Famine.
• English tourism pioneer Thomas Cook brings 350 people from Leicester on a tour of Scotland.^[4]
• Lighthouses at Covesea Skerries, Chanonry Point and Cromarty (all designed by Alan Stevenson) first illuminated.
• New College, Edinburgh, opens its doors as a theological training college for the Free Church of Scotland.
• Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore, commissions "the Paisley Sisters" of Strond on Harris to weave tweed in the Clan Murray tartan, origin of the commercial Harris Tweed industry.
• Engineer Robert William Thomson is granted his first patent for a pneumatic tyre, in France.
• 14-year-old James Clerk Maxwell's first scientific paper is presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.^{[5] [6] [7]}
• The Dewar's Scotch whisky brand is created by John Dewar, Sr.
• Charles William George St John's Short Sketches of the Wild Sports and Natural History of the Highlands is published.

Births

• 1 January – Edward Pinnington, art historian, biographer and journalist (died 1921)
• 10 February – James Burns, shipowner (died 1923 in Australia)
• 28 February – John F. McIntosh, steam locomotive engineer (died 1918)
• 21 June – Marion Adams-Acton ("Jeanie Hering"), born Marion Jean Hamilton, novelist (died 1928 in London)

Deaths

• 12 February – Henry Duncan, minister, geologist and social reformer (born 1774)
• 23 May – Charles Ewart, soldier (born 1769)
• Andrew Innes, last survivor of the Buchanites

The arts

• William Motherwell's Poetical Works are published posthumously.
• Carolina, Lady Nairne's Lays from Strathern are published posthumously, revealing her authorship. This includes the Jacobite song "The Hundred Pipers".

See also

• Timeline of Scottish history
• 1846 in Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Thomas, John. John Thomas (author). The North British Railway, vol. 1. 1969. David & Charles. Newton Abbot. 0-7153-4697-0.
2. Web site: Scott Monument. AboutBritain. 2010-11-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20101031080348/http://www.aboutbritain.com/ScottMonument.htm. 31 October 2010. live.
3. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
4. Web site: Nineteenth Century Scottish History Timeline. Nineteenth Century Scotland History. Travel Scotland. 2014-04-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407144648/http://www.scotland.org.uk/history/nineteenth-century. 7 April 2014. dead. dmy-all.
5. On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2.
6. Book: Harman, Peter M.. The Natural Philosophy of James Clerk Maxwell. 1998. Cambridge University Press. 0-521-00585-X. 506.
7. Web site: Key dates in the life of James Clerk Maxwell. James Clerk Maxwell Foundation. 2023-12-08. 2020-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20200305045153/http://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/key_facts_about_maxwell.html. live.