Events from the year 1754 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Incumbents

Law officers

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

– William Grant of Prestongrange; then Robert Dundas the younger *

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

– Patrick Haldane of Gleneagles, jointly with Alexander Hume

Judiciary

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

– ''vacant'' until 22 January; then Lord Glendoick *

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

– Lord Ilay *

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

– Lord Tinwald

Events

* 25 March – Lord Harwicke's

Marriage Act 1753 The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753, also called the Marriage Act 1753, long title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act (citation 26 Geo. II. c. 33), was the first statutory ...

"for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage" comes into force in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, giving increased incentive for couples to contract Border marriages in Scotland. * 14 May –

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

is founded as the Society of St Andrews Golfers, a group of players on

St Andrews Links St Andrews Links in the town of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, is regarded as the "Home of Golf.” It has one of the oldest courses in the world, where the game has been played since the 15th century. Today there are seven public golf courses; the ...

. * 22 May – In fiction, the village of

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

disappears into the Highland mist (alternate sources say 1747). * 11 July – William Burnett establishes the Aberdeen law firm that will continue in business as Burnett and Reid into the 21st century. *

The Select Society The Select Society, established in 1754 as The St. Giles Society but soon renamed, was an intellectual society in 18th century Edinburgh.Emerson, Roger L. ''The Social Composition of Enlightened Scotland: The Select Society of Edinburgh, 1754–17 ...

is established as The St Giles' Society by a group of 15 Edinburgh intellectuals, part of the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

. * Old Spey Bridge at

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairng ...

is completed by the military. * Chemist

Joseph Black Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glas ...

discovers "carbonic acid gas", i.e.

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

Births

* 9 June –

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie, as which he raised the renowned 78th (Highla ...

, soldier and clan chief (died

1815 Events January * January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. * January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussi ...

) * 2 August –

Lady Charlotte Murray Lady Charlotte Murray (2 August 1754 – 4 April 1808) was a Scottish botanist and author. She was the eldest child of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, and Charlotte Murray, Duchess of Atholl. Her paternal grandfather was the Jacobite genera ...

, botanist (died 1808 in Bath) * 21 August –

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten yea ...

, inventor (died 1839 in Birmingham) *

Grace Elliott Grace Dalrymple Elliott (c. 1754 – 16 May 1823) was a Scottish courtesan, writer and spy resident in Paris during the French Revolution. She was an eyewitness to events detailed in her memoirs, ''Journal of my life during the French Revo ...

, née Dalrymple, courtesan and socialite (died

1823 in France Events from the year 1823 in France. Incumbents * Monarch – Louis XVIII * Prime Minister – Joseph de Villèle Events *22 January - By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to inv ...

) * John Graham, painter (died

1817 Events January–March * January 1 – Sailing through the Sandwich Islands, Otto von Kotzebue discovers New Year Island. * January 19 – An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, starts crossing the ...

) *

William John Gray, 13th Lord Gray William John Gray, 13th Lord Gray (1754–1807), was a Scotland, Scottish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of John Gray, 11th Lord Gray, and Margaret Blair. He served as a Cornet (rank), cornet in the Royal Scots Greys, 2nd Dragoons (Royal ...

, soldier (suicide

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

)

Deaths

* 25 March – William Hamilton, exiled Jacobite poet (born

1704 In the Swedish calendar it was a leap year starting on Friday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–June * January 7 – Partial solar eclipse, Solar Saros 146, is visible in ...

) * 2 June –

Ebenezer Erskine Ebenezer Erskine (22 June 1680 – 2 June 1754) was a Scotland, Scottish minister whose actions led to the establishment of the First Secession, Secession Church (formed by dissenters from the Church of Scotland). Early life Ebenezer's father, ...

, Secessionist minister (born

1680 Events January–March * January 2 – King Amangkurat II of Mataram (located on the island of Java, part of modern-day Indonesia), invites Trunajaya, who had led a failed rebellion against him until his surrender on December ...

) * 17 June –

George Ross, 13th Lord Ross George Ross, 13th Lord Ross of Halkhead (8 April 1681 – 17 June 1754), was a Scottish nobleman. Origins Ross was the eldest son and heir of William Ross, 12th Lord Ross, who died in 1738, by Agnes, daughter and heiress of Sir John Wilkie of Fou ...

(born

1681 Events January–March * January 1 – Prince Muhammad Akbar, son of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, initiates a civil war in India. With the support of troops from the Rajput states, Akbar declares himself the new Mughal Emperor ...

) * 27 July –

Patrick Grant, Lord Elchies Patrick Grant, Lord Elchies, Sixth of Easter Elchies (1691–1754) was a Scottish judge, rising to the level of Lord of Session and Senator of the College of Justice. Life Grant was the son of Captain Grant of Easter Elchies. He studied law a ...

, judge (born

1691 Events January–March * January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands. * January 14 – A ...

) * 19 August **

John Pringle, Lord Haining John Pringle, Lord Haining ( – 19 August 1754) was a Scottish lawyer, politician, and judge. His ownership of a large estate near Selkirk secured him a seat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 until the Act of Union in 1707, and then in ...

, lawyer, politician, judge and landowner (born c. 1674) **

William Ross, 14th Lord Ross William Ross, 14th Lord Ross of Halkhead (c.1720-19 August 1754), was a Scottish nobleman. Origins Ross was the eldest son and heir of George Ross, 13th Lord Ross, who died on 17 June 1754, by Elizabeth, third daughter of William Kerr, 2nd Marqu ...

(born c. 1720) * 23 August – William Cleghorn, philosopher (born

1718 Events January – March * January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discus ...

) * 2 September –

Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven Alexander Melville (also Alexander Leslie), 5th Earl of Leven (28 May 1695 – 2 September 1754) was a Scottish aristocrat. Early life He was the son of David Melville, 3rd Earl of Leven (1660–1728) and Lady Anne Wemyss (1675–1702). His mo ...

(born

1695 It was also a particularly cold and wet year. Contemporary records claim that wine froze in the glasses in the Palace of Versailles. Events January–March * January 7 (December 28, 1694 O.S.) – The United Kingdom's last joint monarch ...

)

References

{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed Years of the 18th century in Scotland

1750s in Scotland