1995 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1995 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Ian Lang until 5 July; then Michael Forsyth

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Lord Rodger of Earlsferry; then Donald Mackay
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Thomas Dawson; then Donald Mackay; then Paul Cullen

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

• Early – The Deep-fried Mars bar originates at Haven Chip Bar in Stonehaven.^[1]
• 6 April – 1995 Scottish local elections are held for the 29 new mainland unitary authorities that will replace the Regional and District Councils next year.
• 7 April – Rob Roy, starring Liam Neeson as Robert Roy MacGregor, is released.
• 18 April – Caledonian MacBrayne Ullapool-Stornoway ferry is launched at Ferguson Shipbuilders' Port Glasgow yard.
• 24 May – Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace, is released; it goes on to win five Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards.
• 25 May – Perth and Kinross by-election: Roseanna Cunningham wins for the Scottish National Party with a swing of 11.6%.
• 16 June – FirstBus is formed by merger of Badgerline with GRT Group of Aberdeen.
• 17 June - Pride March The first Pride march in Scotland gathers on Barony Street in Edinburgh on 17 June.
• 19 July – The Children (Scotland) Act, which seeks to put into legislation the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, receives the Royal Assent.
• 17 August – Arran distillery opens.
• 11 October – Duncan Ferguson, the 23-year-old Everton F.C. striker, receives a three-month prison sentence for assaulting an opponent while playing for Rangers F.C eighteen months earlier. Ferguson is the first British footballer to be jailed for an on-field offence.^[2]
• 12 October – Boxer James Murray suffers serious head injuries in a fight at a Glasgow hotel, leading to a declaration of brain death on 15 October, sparking calls for boxing to be banned.
• 16 October – Skye bridge opened.
• November – The first onshore wind farm in Scotland, Hagshaw Hill in South Lanarkshire, is commissioned.^[3]
• 8 November – Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 passed.
• 24 November – Duncan Ferguson is released from prison after serving half of his three-month sentence.^[4]
• 30 November – Scottish Constitutional Convention publishes its blueprint for devolution, Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right.
• 30 December – Altnaharra matches the lowest temperature UK Weather Record at -27.2 °C.

The arts

• Dunedin Consort formed.
• Andrew O'Hagan's first novel, The Missing, is published.
• Alan Warner's first novel, Morvern Callar is published; it is a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1996.

Births

• 21 January
  • Chloe Arthur, footballer^[5]
  • David McNeil, footballer^[6]
• 31 March – Fiona Brown, footballer^[7]
• 11 April – Thomas Muirhead, curler
• 21 April – Thomas Doherty, actor and singer
• 20 June – Caroline Weir, footballer^[8]
• 14 July – Megan Cunningham, footballer^[9]
• 6 October – Ross Muir, snooker player
• 1 December – Jenna Fife, footballer^[10]
• 11 December – Abbi Grant, footballer^[11]
• 19 December – Lewis Vaughan, footballer

Deaths

• 14 January – Alexander Gibson, conductor and opera intendant (born 1926)
• February – Robert Stewart, textile designer (born 1924)
• 19 February – Nicholas Fairbairn, lawyer and Conservative politician (born 1933)
• 19 April – Neil Paterson, writer and footballer (born 1915)
• 9 October – Alec Douglas-Home, Lord Home of the Hirsel, Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1903)
• 15 October – James Murray, boxer (born 1969)
• 24 October – Ronnie Selby Wright, Church of Scotland minister (born 1908)

See also

• 1995 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. News: Daily Record. Glasgow. Mars supper, please. 2005-08-24.
2. News: Soccer player jailed for foul play. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/soccer-player-jailed-for-foul-play-1577101.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . live. London. The Independent. Richard. Brennan. 1995-10-12.
3. Web site: Hagshaw Hill Wind Farm. Wind Power Case Studies. University of Strathclyde. 2014-07-22. 3 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141103072415/http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/01-02/RE_info/wind1.htm. dead.
4. News: Tinning . William . Ferguson in hiding after release . 16 June 2024 . The Herald . 25 November 1995 . en.
5. Web site: Chloe Arthur - Player Profile - Football . Eurosport UK . 27 April 2020.
6. Web site: David McNeil Stats, News, Bio . ESPN . 26 April 2020 . en.
7. Web site: Fiona Brown Scotland Scottish FA . www.scottishfa.co.uk . 27 April 2020.
8. Web site: Caroline Weir Scotland Scottish FA . www.scottishfa.co.uk . 26 April 2020.
9. Web site: Megan Cunningham - Player Profile - Football . Eurosport UK . 27 April 2020.
10. Web site: Jenna Fife Scotland Scottish FA . www.scottishfa.co.uk . 28 April 2020.
11. Web site: Abbi Grant . Birmingham City Football Club . 28 April 2020 . en . 22 May 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200522071228/https://www.bcfc.com/birmingham-city-women/players/abbi-grant/ . dead .