1913 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1913 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Thomas McKinnon Wood

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Alexander Ure; then Robert Munro
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Andrew Anderson; then Thomas Brash Morison

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Dunedin until 14 October; then Lord Strathclyde
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Kingsburgh
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Kennedy

Events

• 26 February – the Royal Flying Corps establishes the first operational military airfield for fixed-wing aircraft in the United Kingdom at Montrose.^[1]
• 21 April – the Cunard ocean liner, built by John Brown & Company, is launched on the River Clyde.
• 27 May – Lieutenant Desmond Arthur dies when his Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 biplane, 205, collapses without warning while flying over Montrose, Scotland's first fatal aircraft accident.
• 6 June – Stoneyetts Hospital is opened at East Muckcroft (later part of Moodiesburn, North Lanarkshire), originally for the treatment of people with epilepsy.^[2]
• 22 July – Edinburgh Zoo opens.
• 3 August – 22 men are killed by fire at Cadder colliery near Bishopbriggs.^[3]
• Dollar, Clackmannanshire, becomes the first Scottish town to appoint a Lady Provost, Lavinia Malcolm.
• Arrol-Johnston have a purpose-built car factory erected near Dumfries.
• Alexanders' Motor Services, predecessor of W. Alexander & Sons, begins running 'omnibus' services in the Falkirk area from a base in Camelon.^[4]
• The Highlands and Islands Medical Service is established in the crofting counties on a non-contributory basis.^[5]
• Temperance (Scotland) Act 1913 permits local communities to hold polls (from 1920) on whether prohibition should apply in their districts.
• William Crawford bakes biscuits at Leith.
• The Neolithic site at Skara Brae on Mainland, Orkney, is plundered.
• Coal mining production in Scotland peaks at 43.2 million tonnes, employing over 140,000 men and women, who, with their families, make up 10% of the Scottish population.^[6]

Births

• 17 February – Alastair Borthwick, broadcaster and mountaineer (died 2003)
• 6 March – Ella Logan, born Georgina Allan, musical theatre performer (died 1969 in the United States)
• 18 March – W. H. Murray, mountaineer and writer (died 1996)
• 2 April
  • Ronald Center, composer (died 1973)
  • Benny Lynch, flyweight boxer (died 1946)
• 11 April – Winifred Drinkwater, aviator, first woman to hold a commercial pilot's license (died 1996 in New Zealand)
• 13 April – Gordon Donaldson, historian (died 1993)
• 10 May – Alan Gemmell, plant biologist (died 1986)
• 5 June
  • Sam Black, war artist and teacher (died 1997 in Canada)
  • Douglas Young, classicist, poet and Scottish National Party leader (died 1973 in the United States)
• 25 July – John Cairncross, public servant, spy for the Soviet Union, academic and writer (died 1995 in England)
• 29 July – William George Nicholson Geddes, civil engineer (died 1993)
• 29 July – Jo Grimond, Liberal Party (UK) party leader (died 1993)
• 11 August – Andy Beattie, footballer and manager, first manager of the Scotland men's national football team (died 1983)
• 2 September – Bill Shankly, international footballer and manager (died 1981)
• 5 December – Robert MacBryde, still-life and figure painter, and theatre set designer (died 1966 in Dublin)
• 15 December – Robert McIntyre, Scottish National Party leader (died 1998)

Deaths

• 18 January – George Alexander Gibson, physician and geologist (born 1854)
• 9 February – Sir George Reid, artist (born 1841)
• 20 February – Sir William Arrol, civil engineering contractor (born 1839)
• 12 May – William McEwan, Liberal Party MP (1886-1900) and brewer (born 1827)
• 6 September – James Orr, Presbyterian minister, and professor of church history and of theology (born 1844)
• 23 September – James Campbell Noble, painter (born 1832)
• 21 November – James Howden, mechanical engineer (born 1846)

Arts and literature

• 26 May – Campbeltown Picture House (cinema) opens.^[7]

See also

• Timeline of Scottish history
• 1913 in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: Montrose air station, the UK's first airfield, marks centenary. BBC News. 2013-02-23. 2013-02-23.
2. Web site: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Archives: Stoneyetts Hospital – History. Dow. Derek A.. August 1985. University of Glasgow. 18 October 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161005193706/https://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/10/05/stoneyetts-history/stoneyetts-history.pdf. 5 October 2016.
3. Web site: Cadder 3 August 1913. Scottish Mining Website. 2014-09-09.
4. Web site: Walter Alexander. https://web.archive.org/web/20110710221743/http://www.falkirk-wheel.com/features/people-of-the-falkirk-area/48-walter-alexander . 10 July 2011. dead. Falkirk Wheel.
5. Book: McCrae, Morrice. The National Health Service in Scotland: Origins and ideals, 1900-1950. 2003. East Linton. Tuckwell Press. 1-86232-216-3.
6. Web site: Scottish Coal Collections. STICK. 2014-09-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200121/http://www.stickssn.org/site/pages/who-is-involved/scottish-coal-collections.php. 10 September 2014. dead.
7. Web site: The Oldest Running Cinema In Scotland. Terry. MacEwen. Historic UK. 2021-02-11.