2002 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 2002 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• • First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal – Jack McConnell Secretary of State for Scotland – Helen Liddell

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Lord Boyd of Duncansby
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Elish Angiolini
• Advocate General for Scotland – Lynda Clark

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Cullen of Whitekirk
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Gill
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord McGhie

Events

• February – 2002 Winter Olympics: the gold medal in women's curling is won by an all-Scottish team representing Great Britain in Salt Lake City skipped by Rhona Martin.^[1]
• 14 March – Stirling is granted city status in the United Kingdom by the Queen to mark her Golden Jubilee.^[2]
• 10 February – the preschool television series Balamory made by BBC Scotland is first broadcast, nationally.
• 14 March – appeal of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi against a conviction for murder in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie is rejected and the Scottish Court in the Netherlands is decommissioned.
• 19 March – a lesbian couple are granted parental rights over their children by an Edinburgh court.^[3]
• 29 March – coal mining in Scotland, which has a history stretching back more than 800 years,^[4] comes to an end with the closure of Longannet coal mine in Fife after its owners go into liquidation following flooding, putting more than 500 people out of work.^[5]
• 1 May – Airdrieonians, of the Scottish Football League Division One, go into liquidation with debts of £3million.^[6]
• 7 May – Prime Minister Tony Blair unveils a statue of Donald Dewar on Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre.^[7]
• May – the Scottish Parliament meets during this month in the University of Aberdeen.^[8]
• 24 May – Falkirk Wheel boat lift opens in Scotland, also marking reopening of the Union Canal for leisure traffic.
• 28 May – the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 receives royal assent.
• 9 July – Clydebank F.C. of the Scottish Football League Second Division become defunct after a takeover by the owners of the new Airdrie United club, who take their place in the Scottish league.^[9]
• 24 July – Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park created, Scotland's first national park.^[10]
• 30 July – 2002 Glasgow floods result from heavy rain overnight.
• 1 August – the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, that bans traditional fox hunting and hare coursing, comes into effect.
• Millennium Bridge, Glasgow, opens to pedestrians.

Deaths

• 8 March – Hamish Henderson, folk song collector (born 1919)
• 30 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother dies aged 101 at Royal Lodge, Windsor.^[11]
• 27 May – Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, historian and palaeographer (born 1909)^[12]
• 5 July – Jannette Anderson, academic (born 1927)
• 19 September – Rosalind Mitchison, historian (born 1919)
• October – William Dysart, actor (born 1929)
• 9 November – Neil MacCallum, political activist and poet (born 1954)
• 10 December – Ian MacNaughton, Scottish actor, director, and producer (born 1925)

The arts

• 24 September – soap opera River City is first broadcast on BBC One Scotland.
• The office of Edinburgh Makar is instituted, with poet Stewart Conn as first incumbent.^[13]
• The indie rock band Franz Ferdinand is formed in Glasgow.
• David Greig's play Outlying Islands is premiered at the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
• Peter Maxwell Davies composes his Piano Trio: A Voyage to Fair Isle.

See also

• 2002 in England
• 2002 in Northern Ireland
• 2002 in Wales

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sweeping praise for curling team. BBC News. 11 January 2018. 22 February 2002.
2. News: Stirling elevated to city status. BBC News. 14 March 2002.
3. Web site: Family victory for lesbian couple: Mixed response to landmark ruling on parental rights. Valerie. Hannah. 2002-04-08. The Herald. Scotland. 2014-08-26.
4. Web site: Coal Mining in Scotland 1840-1920. Scan Education. 2014-04-02.
5. News: Grim future for deep coal mine. BBC. 29 March 2002.
6. News: End for Airdrie. BBC News. 1 May 2002.
7. News: Blair unveils Dewar memorial. 7 May 2002. BBC News. 12 February 2022.
8. Web site: Aberdeen successful in bid to host Scottish Parliament in May 2002. 2001-09-11. University of Aberdeen. 2014-05-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20050123021300/http://www.aberdeen.ac.uk/mediareleases/archive/2001/pr886.hti. 2005-01-23.
9. News: Airdrie buy Bankies. BBC News. 9 July 2002.
10. News: Scotland's first national park opens. The Guardian. London. 2002-07-24. 2014-04-21.
11. News: 2002: Queen Mother dies . 2009-03-18. 2002-03-30. BBC News.
12. Book: Ewan . Elizabeth L. . Innes . Sue . Reynolds . Sian . Pipes . Rose . Biographical Dictionary of ScottishWomen . 27 June 2007 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-0-7486-2660-1 . 13 . en.
13. Web site: Edinburgh's Makars. Edinburgh, UNESCO City of Literature. City of Literature Trust. 2006. 2013-02-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20081228030939/http://www.cityofliterature.com/ecol.aspx?sec=3&pid=11. 28 December 2008. dead.