Events from the year 1811 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Incumbents

Law officers

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

– Archibald Colquhoun * Solicitor General for Scotland – David Boyle; then David Monypenny

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. ...

– Lord Avontoun until 20 May; then Lord Granton * Lord Justice General – The Duke of Montrose *

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

– Lord Granton, then Lord Boyle

Events

* 9 January – the first women's golf tournament in Scotland takes place at the links of the Musselburgh Golf Club. * 1 February – Bell Rock Lighthouse begins operation. * March –

Prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

established at Penicuik. *

27 May Events Pre-1600 *1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed. * 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. * 1153 &ndas ...

– second national

Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. In Scotland the count is carried out by schoolmasters. * June –

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

buys the farm at Abbotsford near

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

and commences building his future residence,

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

. * August – passengers are being carried on the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway, in horse-drawn vehicles. * November –

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

's bridge at Bridge of Alford is completed. * 31 December – Tron riot breaks out in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. *

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulted from Scottish Agricultural R ...

– the

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

and Marchioness of Stafford begin mass expulsion of crofting tenants from their

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

estates to make way for sheep farming. * Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal completed throughout. * Helmsdale and Torgoyle Bridges completed to the design of Thomas Telford. * Inner harbour at Wick completed to the design of Thomas Telford. * Harbour at

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

(

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

) first built. * Harbour at Dunure built at the expense of Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. Dunrobin pier is also built about this date. * Remodelling of the House of the Binns in Scottish Baronial style by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

for the Dalyell family. * Rebuilding of Stobo Castle completed. * The Edinburgh Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools is established. * Edinburgh Astronomical Institution established. * Sinking of a new colliery on the Brora Coalfield is begun. * Approximate date – John Paton begins his own yarn spinning business in

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...

Births

* January – Robert Dick, natural historian (died

1866 Events January * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...

) * c. May – Thomas Larkins Walker, architect practicing in England (died 1860 in Hong Kong) * 7 June – James Simpson, obstetrician and pioneer of anaesthesia (died

1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...

) * 13 July – James "paraffin" Young, chemist (died 1883) * 14 August – Adam Clark, civil engineer (died 1866 in Budapest) * 12 September – William Bell Scott, artist and poet (died

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

) * 19 December – Marjorie Fleming, child writer (born

1803 Events January–March * January 1 – The first edition of Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière's ''Almanach des gourmands'', the first guide to restaurant cooking, is published in Paris. * January 4 – William Symingt ...

) * 21 December – Archibald Tait,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

(died 1882) * Christian Maclagan, antiquary (died 1901)

Deaths

* 20 May – Robert Blair, Lord Avontoun, lawyer (born

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

) * 28 May – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, politician (born 1742) * 14 September – James Grahame, poet, lawyer and clergyman (born

1765 Events January–March * January 23 – Prince Joseph of Austria marries Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria in Vienna. * January 29 – One week before his death, Mir Jafar, who had been enthroned as the Nawab of Bengal and ...

) * 15 October – George Hay, Roman Catholic bishop (born 1729) * 27 November – Andrew Meikle, mechanical engineer and inventor (born 1719)

References

{{Years in Scotland

Years of the 19th century in Scotland 1810s in Scotland