1968 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1968 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Willie Ross

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Henry Wilson
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Ewan Stewart

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Grant
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay

Events

• 15 January – 1968 Scotland storm ("Great Glasgow storm") leaves 20 dead across central Scotland including 9 in Glasgow.^[1]
• February – Upper Clyde Shipbuilders formed with 48.4% government holding by amalgamation of Fairfields, Govan; Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse; John Brown & Company, Clydebank; Charles Connell and Company, Scotstoun; and Yarrow Shipbuilders.
• 1 April – Reporting Scotland, BBC Scotland's national television news programme, is broadcast for the first time.
• 14 May – Murder of Maxwell Garvie: Mariticide in Kincardineshire.^[2]
• 18 May – Declaration of Perth: Conservative Party leader, Edward Heath proposes a directly elected Scottish Assembly.^[3]
• 22 May – The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland permits the ordination of women as ministers.^[4]
• 4 June – General Post Office introduces the first postbus in Scotland, Dunbar–Innerwick–Spott, East Lothian.
• 18 November – James Watt Street fire: A warehouse fire in Glasgow kills 22.^[5]
• Bluevale and Whitevale Towers, 298 ft (90.8 m) blocks of flats, completed in Glasgow.

Births

• 31 January – John Collins, international footballer
• 16 March – David MacMillan, Scottish-born organic chemist, recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 26 April – Daniela Nardini, actress
• 4 July – Ronni Ancona, comic actress
• 5 August – Colin McRae, rally driver (killed in helicopter accident 2007)^[6]
• 2 September – David Dinsmore, journalist^[7]
• 6 September – Christopher Brookmyre, detective novelist
• 25 October – Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government
• 22 November – Sarah Smith, television and radio news reporter
• 23 November – Kirsty Young, television and radio presenter
• 28 December – Pauline Robertson, field hockey player
• Andrew O'Hagan, writer
• Frank Quitely (Vincent Deighan), comic book artist

Deaths

• 17 February – Alexander Gray, economist, poet and translator (born 1882)
• 7 April – Jim Clark, racing car driver (born 1936; killed in motor racing accident)
• 12 September – Tommy Armour, golfer (born 1894)
• 13 November – Joe Corrie, miner, poet and playwright (born 1894)

See also

• 1968 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Monday 15 January 1968 . . 2013-03-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140227072049/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/pdf/o/5/Great_Glasgow_Storm_-_15_January_1968.pdf . 27 February 2014 .
2. News: The sins of my mother. The Scotsman. 2002-02-01. 2014-03-17.
3. News: Four decades on, Declaration of Perth is still fuelling debate. The Scotsman. 2014-02-26. 2013-03-24.
4. News: Ordination of women is approved. The Times. London. 1968-05-23. 3. 57258.
5. Web site: James Watt Street Fire . SunnyGovan . 2010-07-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100603202611/http://www.sunnygovan.com/PLACES/Places/JamesWattStreetFire.html . 3 June 2010 . dead .
6. Web site: Colin McRae. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/colin-mcrae-402610.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. 12 January 2018. 17 September 2007.
7. News: Birthdays today: Salma Hayek. 21 February 2014. The Times. 2 September 2013. David Dinsmore, editor, The Sun, 45.