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See also: | List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 1803 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere |
Events from the year 1803 in Scotland.
Incumbents
Law officers
Judiciary
- Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Succoth
- Lord Justice General – The Duke of Montrose
- Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Eskgrove
Events
- 4 January – William Symington demonstrates his Charlotte Dundas, the "first practical steamboat".
- 27 July – Caledonian Canal authorized by Act of Parliament and construction begins;[1] Thomas Telford also this year begins work on improving roads in Scotland under the auspices of the Commissioners of Highland Roads and Bridges.[2] and on his recommendation the British Fisheries Society acquires the site of Pulteneytown at Wick for development.
- Kelso Bridge, designed by John Rennie, completed.
- First Boulton and Watt steam engine in Scotland installed at an Aberdeen paper mill.[3]
- Lismore Seminary is opened by the Catholic Church.
- Most of the 'Luckenbooths' in High Street, Edinburgh are demolished, opening up the prospect of St Giles' Cathedral.[4]
Births
- 15 January – Marjorie Fleming, child writer (died 1811)
- 3 April – David Bryce, architect (died 1876)
- 16 April – Edward Maitland, Lord Barcaple, judge (died 1870)
- 12 July – Thomas Guthrie, Free Church preacher and philanthropist (died 1873)[5]
- 10 September – Robert Wilson, mechanical engineer, inventor of the screw propeller (died 1882 in England)
- 16 October – James Edward Alexander, soldier, author and traveller (died 1885)
- 25 December – Donald Gregory, antiquarian (died 1836) and his twin brother William Gregory, chemist and psychic investigator (died 1858)[6]
- George Patton, Lord Glenalmond, judge (suicide 1869)
Deaths
- 2 April – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, politician and judge (born 1721)
- 6 April – William Hamilton, diplomat (born 1730)
- 3 June – Lord George Murray, Bishop of St David's and developer of the UK's first optical telegraph (born 1761)
- 18 August – James Beattie, poet and philosopher (born 1735)
- Approximate date – Johnnie Notions (John Williamson), self-taught physician, pioneer of inoculation (born c. 1730)
The arts
- Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland, A. D. 1803 written by Dorothy Wordsworth (published 1874)
See also
References
- ^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 239–240. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ Hills, Richard L. (2015). Papermaking in Britain 1488-1988: A Short History (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 162. ISBN 9781474241274. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
- ^ "History of Edinburgh". Visions of Scotland. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ^ "Rev. Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873, Preacher and philanthropist". National Galleries Scotland. 1862. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ Brock, W. H. (2004). "Gregory, William (1803–1858)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11475. Retrieved 8 July 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)