1994 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1994 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Ian Lang

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Thomas Dawson

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Hope
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Ross
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Philip

Events

• March – Strathclyde water referendum indicates overwhelming opposition to the privatisation of water.
• 5 May – elections are held for Scotland's Regional Councils.
• 19 May – Robert Black, jailed for life four years ago for abducting a seven-year-old girl in the Scottish Borders, is found guilty of murdering three girls in the 1980s and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 35 years. Black dies in HMP Maghaberry in Northern Ireland of a heart attack in January 2016.
• 25 April – Dundee Institute of Technology elevated to the status of Abertay University.
• 2 June – Chinook crash on Mull of Kintyre: An RAF Chinook helicopter carrying more than twenty leading intelligence experts crashes on the Mull of Kintyre, killing everyone on board.^[1]
• 9 June – European elections result in Labour winning six of Scotland's eight MEPs, with the SNP winning the other two.
• 25 June – The Greenock rail accident, caused by vandals placing concrete blocks on the rails, kills two people.
• 30 June – Monklands East by-election results in the Labour Party retaining the seat despite a swing of 19.2% to the SNP.
• 3 November – The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, that will reorganise local government by creating 32 unitary authorities, receives royal assent.
• Dounreay nuclear power plant comes offline.
• Highland Theological Institute established in Dingwall.

Births

• 1 January – Craig Murray, footballer
• 14 January – Ross Murdoch, swimmer
• 8 March – Claire Emslie, footballer^[2]
• 11 March - Andrew Robertson, footballer
• 12 March – Katie Archibald, cyclist^[3]
• 23 March – Jack Hamilton, goalkeeper
• 10 April – Siobhan Hunter, footballer^[4]
• 29 April – Stephen Milne, swimmer
• 24 May – Emily Nicholl, netball player^[5]
• 11 July – Jake Wightman, middle-distance runner
• 30 August – Jo Muir, modern pentathlete^[6]
• 12 September – Mhairi Black, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South

Deaths

• 3 January – Marion Ross, physicist (born 1903)^[7]
• 12 May – John Smith, leader of the Labour Party (UK) (born 1938)
• 6 June – Mark McManus, film and television actor (born 1935)^[8]
• 14 June – Denys Hay, historian (born 1915 in England)
• Rhoda Bulter, poet (born 1929)

Arts and literature

• 9 May – release of Scottish group Wet Wet Wet's cover of the song Love Is All Around (1967), as featured in the recently released film Four Weddings and a Funeral. From 29 May it will spend 15 consecutive weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart, the longest spell ever attained by a British act.^[9]
• June – the old Empire Palace Theatre in Edinburgh reopens permanently as the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.
• 23 August – K Foundation enact K Foundation Burn a Million Quid on the Ardfin Estate on Jura.
• August – Theresa Breslin's young adult novel Whispers in the Graveyard is published.
• James Kelman's stream of consciousness novel How Late It Was, How Late, written in Glasgow patter, is published.
• Alternative rock band Snow Patrol is formed by students from Northern Ireland at the University of Dundee.^[10]

See also

• 1994 in England
• 1994 in Northern Ireland
• 1994 in Wales

Notes and References

1. News: MI5 officers killed in helicopter crash. 2008-01-28. 1994-06-02. BBC News.
2. Web site: Orlando Pride Sign Scotland Women’s National Team Forward Claire Emslie . Orlando City . 28 April 2020.
3. Web site: Cycling Track Athlete Profile: Katie ARCHIBALD - Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games . results.gc2018.com . 9 February 2020.
4. Web site: Siobhan Hunter - Player Profile - Football . Eurosport UK . 28 April 2020.
5. Web site: Emily Nicholl . Team Scotland . 14 February 2020 . en.
6. Web site: Modern Pentathlon MUIR Joanna - Tokyo 2020 Olympics . olympics.com . 23 September 2021 . en-us . 10 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211010043804/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/modern-pentathlon/athlete-profile-n1444332-muir-joanna.htm . dead .
7. Web site: Marion Ross (1903-1994) . National Records of Scotland . 15 November 2021.
8. Web site: Obituary: Mark McManus . The Independent . 27 November 2022 . en . 6 June 1994.
9. Web site: The UK's longest-running chart toppers. Dadds. Kimberley. 2007-07-19. Digital Spy. 2010-11-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20101110231128/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a66589/the-uks-longest-running-chart-toppers.html. 2010-11-10. live.
10. Web site: Ice cool band warms hearts. BBC. Northern Ireland. 2004-03-29. 2012-05-01.