Wheech Scottish Ancestral Services

The following is a chronological list of key events in Scottish history. Have a look to see what was happening when your Scottish ancestors were alive? If your favourite event in Scottish history is missing let me know and I will add it to the list.

• 1501 - James IV begins the construction of Holyrood Palace and two years later he marries the English princess Margaret of Tudor
• 1513 - John Knox is born a Catholic but later becomes a great Presbyterian reformer. Scots suffer a terrible defeat by the English on 9 September at the battle of Flodden Field; an estimated 10,000 soldiers are killed, including James IV. James V succeeds to the throne.
• 1534 - James V signs a Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England, however, in 1541 he fails to meet Henry VIII at York and the following year the English fleet starts to harry Scottish merchant shipping
• 1542 - James V dies and Mary Queen of Scots accedes the Scottish throne at the age of 1 week, having been born in Linlithgow Palace. the Regency is held by the Earl of Arran. The following year the Treaty of Greenwich agrees for the marriage of Mary to Prince Edward of England.
• 1544 - Due to Scots lukewarm approach to the marriage the English sack and occupy Edinburgh in what was termed Henry VIII's 'rough wooing'. The following year the Earl of Arran defeats the English at the battle of Ancrum Moor
• 1554 - Mary of Guise becomes Regent while young Mary I is safe in France. The following year John Knox prompts Lord James Stewart to form the 'Lords of the Congregation' and Catholics and Protestants fight the battle of the 'Bloody Vespers' in Elgin Cathedral. In 1557 on 3 December the first Protestant Covenant is signed.
• 1561 - Mary Queen of Scots returns on 19 August to claim her throne of Scotland and the same year the Protestant Confession of Faith is published. In 1565 Mary marries Lord Darnley.
• 1566 - Mary's aide David Riccio is murdered by Darnley in Holyrood Palace in March, and Mary has the future James VI in June. The following year Darnley is murdered and Mary marries the Earl of Bothwell. She is deposed by Parliament and is acceded by James VI under the regency of the Earl of Moray. In 1568 Mary's forces are defeated at the battle of Langside and she flees to England.
• 1578 - James VI takes the sScottish throne and confirms through parliament the privileges laid down to the Convention of Royal Burghs
• 1587 - Mary Queen of Scots, who had been imprisoned by her cousin Elizabeth I at Fotheringay Castle was executed on 8 February. The following year the Spanish Armada attacks Elizabeth, but are driven north by violent storms, many of the ships sinking in Scottish waters.
• 1603 - James VI of Scotland also becomes James I of England in the Union of the Crowns, following the death of Elizabeth who dies heirless. James moves his court from Edinburgh to London although each country retains its own parliament and legal system.
• 1608 - The Plantation of Ulster with mainly Protestant Scots begins
• 1615 - A rebellion by Sir James MacDonald promotes unrest in Kintyre and Islay. John Ogilvie was hanged this year for refusing to deny the supremacy of the Pope; he was canonised in 1976.
• 1620 - The first tall tenement building which were to become a feature of Scottish cities was erected in Edinburgh.
• 1625 - James VI dies and is acceded by Charles I
• 1638 - The National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh and later that year the General Assembly abolishes bishops, leading to the Bishops' Wars of 1639 and 1640, with catholic clans being harried.
• 1644 - The Scots army invades England and siege Newcastle and fight at the battle of Marston Moor. In 1646 Charles I surrenders himself to the Scots and he is handed over to the English parliament.
• 1648 - Following defeat at the battle of Preston by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, Cromwell occupies Scotland. The following year on 30 January 1649, Charles I is executed and Charles II is proclaimed king in Edinburgh.
• 1650 - Charles II lands in Scotland and is defeated by Cromwell at the battle of Dumbar and the following year again defeated at Worcester.
• 1653 - Cromwell unifies Scotland and Ireland with England under the Commonwealth of Great Britain
• 1666 - The Pentland Rising finds the Galloway Covenanters being defeated at the battle of Rullion Green
• 1685 - Charles II dies and is acceded by James VII, who in 1688 has to flee to France. In 1689 the Scots parliament deposed James VII and confirms William and Mary of Orange as joint sovereigns. The Jacobite Rising led by John Graham of Claverhouse wins a victory at the battle of Killiecrankie.
• 1690 - Presbyterianism is fully established as the formal church in Scotland with royal supremacy over the church abolished. Jacobites defeated at the battle of Cromdale and Scottish divisions are taken to Ireland to support both King James and William of Orange leading up to the seige of Londonderry and the battle of the Boyne.
• 1692 - On 13 February Campbell led troops attack their MacDonald hosts in the infamous Massacre of Glencoe
• 1698 - The fateful Darien venture to establish Scottish colonialism is launched and only 2 years later in 1700 news comes of its collapse through disease and destitution, causing a major rift in the Scottish economy. In 1702 Queen Anne accedes to the throne after the death of William and with the Scottish economy in turmoil talks begin to draft a Treaty of Union.
• 1707 - The Act of Union is formally passed in January, followed by the Scots parliament being dissolved in April and the opening of the United Kingdom parliament on 1 May 1707.
• 1715 - George I acceded to the throne the previous year after the death of Queen Anne and faces a Jacobite rising this year led by the Earl of Mar. The Jacobites take Perth and in November they fight at the battle of Sheriffmuir. In January 1716 the Old Pretender lands at Peterhead and sails back out from Montrose in February, bring the Rising to an end.
• 1725 - Daniel Campbell of Shawfield's house is sacked in the Shawfield Riots due to his support for the introduction of the Malt Tax and he flees to Islay. General Wade begins his military road construction in the Highlands.
• 1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stewart lands in Scotland and raises the Muster of Jacobites at Glenfinnan on 19 August. The Young Pretender captures Edinburgh, followed by a victory against George II's forces at Prestonpans, then invades England but is forced back into retreat.
• 1746 - Prince Charlie has a further victory at Falkirk, but the Jacobite forces are pressed back into the Highlands and suffer a climactic defeat at the battle of Culloden. Prince Charlie goes into hiding in the Western Isles and after evading close capture sails off to France, effectively ending the Stewart supremacy in Scotland.
• 1759 - Robert Burns, who goes on to become Scotland's National Bard, is born and the Carron Iron Company is formed, becoming the largest in Europe.
• 1773 - James Watt moves down to England to work on the development of his improved steam engines.
• 1776 - The Glasgow tobacco trade is disastrously affected by the American War of Independence.
• 1786 - The famous Kilmarnock edition of Robert Burns poems is published and stage coaches are introduced between Edinburgh and London. David Dale builds the model village cotton mills at New Lanark. By 1790 the Forth and Clyde canal is opened.
• 1796 - Robert Burns dies on 21 July and three years later in 1799 his Love and Liberty poems are published as The Jolly Beggars, the same year that Britain is at war with Napoleon.
• 1806 - The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan canal is begun to a design of Thomas Telford, however, due to financial difficulties it only makes it as far as Johnstone.
• 1814 - Highland clearances take place in Sutherland and Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley, is published. The following year, 1815, sees the Corn Laws push up food prices creating hunger, unemployment and civil unrest.
• 1817 - The first steam railway in Scotland is opened as a goods line between Kilmarnock and Troon and the Union Canal from Edinburgh to Falkirk to join the Forth and Clyde is begun.
• 1820 - Following 20 arrests of the Glasgow Radical Committee there is a skirmish at Bonnymuir between Radicals and the Kilsyth Yeomanry, with 50 men tried for treason, 3 hanged and 19 transported to the colonies. In 1821, the census for Scotland is over 2 million for the first time. In 1822, King George IV becomes the first monarch to visit Scotland since Charles II.
• 1826 - The first public railways in Scotland are incorporated at Monkland and Kirkintilloch (steam and horse power), Edinburgh and Dalkeith (horse power) and Dundee and Newtyle (horse and cable power). However, it is not until 1831 until the first effective passenger steam railway in Scotland runs from Glasgow to Garnkirk.
• 1829 - The trial of the infamous body-snatchers Burke and Hare is heard in Edinburgh - Burke is hanged after Hare turned King's Evidence. The Catholic Emancipation Act is passed in parliament.
• 1837 - The death of William IV ushers in the Victorian era as Queen Victoria acceds to the throne.
• 1847 - As in Ireland failure of the potato blighted by disease causes serious famine in the Highlands and Islands between 1847 and 1850. Sir James Young Simpson experiments with the use of ether for pain relief at childbirth.
• 1852 - The Highland Emigration Society is formed as clearances and migration from the Highlands and Islands peaks.
• 1854 - The War in the Crimea breaks out with many Scottish regiments being sent out. The 93rd Highlanders hold the 'thin red line' at the battle of Balaclava. In 1857 Scottish regiments are again in action during the Indian Mutiny, including the relief of Lucknow.
• 1859 - Queen Victoria opens the new pipeline from Loch Katrine waterworks to Glasgow.
• 1861 - The American Civil War causes a depression in the cotton industry but creates huge growth in the Dundee jute industry.
• 1867 - The American Singer Sewing Machine Company builds a huge factory in Clydebank to become the largest in Europe.
• 1872 - The Steel Company of Scotland is founded at Hallside in Lanarkshire. Voting in elections by secret ballot is established and the Education Act ensures education is provided for all 5-13 year olds.
• 1873 - The Swede, Alfred Nobel, opens a dynamite factory at Ardeer in Ayrshire. David Livingstone, the Blantyre born missionary, dies in East Africa. The Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Football Union for Rugby and Glasgow Rangers FC are all formed this year.
• 1879 - The original Tay Bridge collapses with the loss of 90 passengers and traincrew on a wild, stormy night. Glasgow Central and St. Enoch Stations are constructed.
• 1883 - SS Daphne capsizes during a side-on launch on the Clyde and 124 men and boys are drowned. A review leads to the cessation of side-on launches. Crofters Wars which began in Skye in 1882 rumble for 5 years.
• 1886 - The Scottish Home Rule Association is set up.
• 1888 - The Scottish Labour Party is formed. Brother Walfrid founds the Glasgow Celtic FC in the east end of Glasgow.
• 1890 - The Forth Railway Bridge is completed, however, a railway strike in December paralyses the country's transport system.
• 1896 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs the Glasgow School of Art and the Glasgow District Subway opens with electric trains.
• 1899 - Outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa with Scottish regiments being sent out. Production of the Arrol-Johnson motor cars begin at Paisley and also the formation of the Albion Motor Company to produce lorries.
• 1900 - Clyde shipbuilding and steam locomotive building in Scotland are now some of the largest industries in the world.
• 1901 - Queen Victoria dies after nearly 64 years on the throne and is succeeded by Edward VII.
• 1911 - Census of this year sees the population of Scotland exceed 4.7 million and Glasgow exceeds 1 million.
• 1914 - In August Britain declares war on Germany and Scottish volunteers queue up to join the armed forces. The following year sees the worst disaster in British railway history as wooden troop trains collide  and catch fire at Quintinshill with around 200 deaths.
• 1916 - HMS Hampshire is sunk by the Germans off of Orkney and Lord Kitchener is drowned at sea. In May the British Grand Fleet leaves Scapa Flow to fight the battle of Jutland. Many Scottish regiments suffer horrendous losses in the battle of the Somme in Flanders.
• 1918 - Germany signs the surrender on 11 November bringing the First World War to an end. Parliamentary votes are extended to all men over 21 and all women over 30, and women can now stand for parliament.
• 1919 - The Germans scuttle their High Seas Fleet being held at Scapa Flow. Tanks are sent into George Square in Glasgow to put down riots. In 1920 prohibition causes a slump in the Scottish whisky industry until 1933.
• 1923 - Scottish railway companies are merged into the London, Midland & Scottish (LMS) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER).
• 1926 - After a seven month strike by the miners a General Strike breaks out in May. John Logie Baird gives the first practical demonstration of television, although his system is not favoured for production. In 1927 Scottish unemployment is almost at 11%. In 1928 Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
• 1939 - The Second World War begins and the Government introduce conscription. HMS Royal Oak sunk by a U-boat in Scapa Flow, Rosyth Naval Dockyard suffers the first air raid and the first German pilot is shot down over the Forth Rail Bridge.
• 1940 - The Scottish Highland divisions suffer heavy losses and capture as they hold the rearguard at the battle of Dunkirk. The liner Queen Elizabeth is launched on the Clyde and used initially as a troopship.
• 1941 - Clydeside is bombed in March and May with heavy civilian casualties. Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, lands in Scotland supposedly to broker a peace but is imprisoned.
• 1945 - Allied victories in Europe and Japan bring the Second World War to an end. Labour Party sweep to victory in the General Election.
• 1952 - George VI dies and is succeeded by Elizabeth II. The Stone of Destiny, which was removed by nationalists from Westminster Abbey in 1950, turns up in Arbroath Abbey and is returned to London. Scottish television begins broadcasting from Kirk O'Shotts.
• 1960 - An American nuclear submarine base to be built in the Holy Loch. Queen Elizabeth makes a visit to Shetland as the first reigning monarch since Haakon IV in 1263. In 1961, the Scottish census tops 5 million for the first time. Demonstrations take place against the Polaris base at Faslane as the USS Proteus arrives to set up base. The 'Cod Wars' break out with Iceland over North Atlantic fishing rights.
• 1964 - The Beeching Cuts close substantial parts of the Scottish rail network over the next 5 years, including Stranraer-Dumfries and Edinburgh-Carlisle lines. Closure of Buchanan Street and St. Enoch Stations follow suit.
• 1967 - Scottish National Party wins its first seat in Westminster after victory in the Hamilton by-election. Glasgow Celtic FC become the first British team to win the European Cup, beating Inter 2-1 in Lisbon.
• 1972 - A new 'cod war' with Iceland begins. Rockall is formally annexed to the UK as part of Scotland. Glasgow Rangers FC win the European Cup Winners Cup in Barcelona, but battles on the pitch with the Spanish police earns a 2-year suspension from Europe.
• 1975 - Scotland vote in favour of European Union membership with only Shetland and Western Isles voting against. The ancient Convention of Royal Burghs becomes the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA). 'Tartan Army' claims responsibility for bombing pipelines and 6 members are jailed.
• 1983 - The Burrell Collection is opened in Pollok Park in Glasgow. Aberdeen FC managed by Alex Ferguson win the European Cup Winners Cup beating Real Madrid.
• 1988 - A fire breaks out on Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea with 166 men killed. A terrorist bomb brings down Pan Am 103 jumbo jet in Lockerbie with 259 passengers and 11 inhabitants killed. Glasgow hosts the Garden Festival followed by the European City of Culture 2 years later. In 1989 Margaret Thatcher's government introduce the Poll Tax in Scotland as a trial and massive protests ensue. Two of the last three colleries in Scotland are closed.
• 1996 - The Stone of Destiny is ceremonially returned to Scotland to take its place in Edinburgh Castle. 16 children and their teacher are gunned down by Thomas Hamilton in Dunblane Primary. In the 1997 General Election no Conservative MPs are returned to parliament.
• 1999 - The devolved Scottish Parliament is opened by Queen Elizabeth on 1 July with Donald Dewar as First Minister of a Labour / Liberal coalition and Sir David Steel is Presiding Officer.
• 2000 - Trial of 2 accused Libyans begins at Camp Zeist in Holland for the Lockerbie bombing under Scots Law court; Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi is found guilty the following year. Donald Dewar dies suddenly and Henry McLeish becomes First Minister. Michael Martin MP becomes the first Catholic Speaker at Westminster since the Reformation.
• 2004 - Queen Elizabeth inaugurates the controversial new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood with Jack McConnell as First Minister. An explosion at the Stockline plastics factory in Maryhill kills nine workers.
• 2006 - The Scottish Parliament enacts a nationwide smoking ban in public places. The Royal Regiment of Scotland is formed as an amalgamation of the remaining Scottish Regiments.
• 2007 - The SNP win the Scottish elections and form their first government in Scotland.
• 2009 - The Scottish Government instigate 2009 as the year of 'Homecoming Scotland' inviting ex-patriate Scots and their descendants to come back and visit their roots, including a Gathering of the Clans in Edinburgh. Homecoming Scotland has been an overwhelming success for the Scottish tourist industry.
• More to follow - history is a work in progress!