The nineteenth century was a time of great political and industrial change for Scotland. The industrial revolution was in full swing, and various labour movements were beginning to form. Laws were passed to reform and improve such things as poor laws, sanitation, and education, and Scotland's major towns and cities saw many changes. The highlands, too, were not immune from change, as the Clearances took hold, evicting crofters from their land. Sport, science and the arts also flourished during this period.
Industrial change
The industrial revolution brought railways and canals to Scotland as elsewhere during the 1800s. This was the time when the Caledonian was built, as was the Forth Rail Bridge. The Tay Bridge disaster would be commemorated by the famous (or infamous!) poet William McGonagall. Iron and coal were very important to the Scottish economy, and the dangers of coal-mining could be seen in the Blantyre mine explosion in 1837. Scottish engineers and inventors like Telford, Macintosh, and Mcadam became famous.
Politics
In politics, Scotland was to see a rise in various labour movements. Weavers held a strike in Glasgow and the west of Scotland in 1812. Radicals called for a Scottish government but were crushed by troops at Falkirk in 1820. The Scottish Reform Act of 1832 led to 64,000 Scots having the right to vote. Five cotton spinners were transported in 1838 for belonging to a worker's association. Chartist support was also strong in Scotland around this time. 1853 saw the formation of the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, and in 1859 work began on the Wallace monument. The Scottish Office in Whitehall opened in 1887. One of the most important political events was the founding of the Scottish Labour Party by Keir Hardie, a forerunner of the modern Labour Party. He became the first Labour MP in 1892, and in 1893, the Independent Labour Party was formed. 1894 saw the formation of the Scottish Grand Committee to debate Scottish issues, and in 1897 the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Congress) was founded.
Reform and improvement
Throughout the century, many reforms and improvements were made which would have a major impact on Scottish life. As well as the reforms to voting rights mentioned above, there were Royal Commissions on sanitation, the Poor Law, and coal mines, with resulting legislation. Education, local government, policing, public houses, and universities were also covered by new laws.
Glasgow and Edinburgh
Links between Scotland's major cities were developed during the period, with both canal and rail links being established. The completion of Edinburgh's Charlotte Square in 1800 marked the birth of its New Town, although many buildings in the old town were damaged by fire in 1824. Playfair's National Gallery was completed in 1859, and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery opened in 1882.
Glasgow saw the building of a reservoir for drinking water, Loch Katrine, in 1859, and in 1866 the Glasgow Improvement Act was passed, aimed at removing slum properties, and the city was already known for its efforts to improve health and sanitation.
The Highlands
In the Highlands, the highland clearances were to lead to many crofters being placed on boats to America and Canada in conditions worse than those for slaves. Potato famines worsened the plight for those who stayed, and in 1882 the Crofters' War broke out in Skye.
Science
Scotland was at the leading edge of scientific advances in the 1800s. William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, studied at the University of Glasgow when making his important studies of heat, electricity, and magnetism. Botanist Robert Brown discovered that the cell nucleus was present in plant life. Joseph Lister pioneered antiseptic surgery in Edinburgh in 1867 using carbolic acid to prevent infection. Female students first appeared in Scottish universities, and James Young Simpson demonstrated the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic. Another Scot, Alexander Graham Bell, invented the telephone in 1876.
The arts
In literature, Scotland produced writers like Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, and James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd", as well as poets like Thomas Campbell. The Royal Scottish Academy was established, and the first National Mod, a Gaelic music festival, took place. The artist Henry Raeburn was knighted for his contributions to painting.
Sport
Scotland's sporting traditions were also shaped by the events of the nineteenth century. Football clubs like Queen's Park, Rangers, and Celtic were founded, and the first "international" match between Scotland and England was played in Glasgow. The SFA (Scottish Football Association) and SRU (Scottish Rugby Union) were established. Golf, too, saw its first Open competition, played at Prestwick.
A 19th-century Scottish timeline
The timeline below lists some of the major events in Scotland during the century:
1800:
Edinburgh's
Charlotte Square is completed;
Robert Owen becomes manager of the
New Lanark mills
1801: Scottish
population 1,625,000
1802:
Edinburgh Review published
1803:
Thomas Telford begins work on the
Caledonian Canal
1804:
Episcopalian Church of Scotland re-unites after a hundred years;
Henry Dundas,
Viscount Melville appointed
First Lord of Admiralty
1805: Impeachment and resignation of Melville
1807: The
Sutherland clearances begin
1809: A
General Association of Operative Weavers is formed to campaign for better wages
1810: First
railway in Scotland opens between
Kilmarnock and
Troon;
Walter Scott publishes
Lady of the Lake
1811: The Scottish population is 1,804,000
1812:
Weaver's strike in
Glasgow and
West of Scotland;
Henry Bell launches
steam-propelled
Comet on
River Clyde
1813:
Tron riot in
Edinburgh;
Robert Owen of
New Lanark publishes his
New View of Society;
Kildonan clearance
1814: Publication of
Sir Walter Scott's
Waverley; public meeting in
Edinburgh protests
West Indian slavery
1815: English
radical Major Cartwright visits Edinburgh to encourage
Hampden Clubs for political reform
1816:
Robert Owen opens an
infant school for his employees at
New Lanark
1817: The
Scotsman newspaper is established;
William Blackwood publishes the
Tory Magazine in opposition to the
Whig Edinburgh Review;
sedition trials in Edinburgh
1818:
Rob Roy makes first crossing between
Belfast and
Glasgow
1819:
Charles Macintosh and
Thomas Hancock perfect a manufacturing process for a waterproof fabric;
John Loudon Macadam publishes a
A Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Public Roads;
steam pioneer
James Watt dies
1820:
Radical posters in
Glasgow call for support for a provisional Scottish government; troops crush abortive radical insurrection at
Bonnymuir near
Falkirk; Edinburgh crowds protest
George IV's treatment of Queen
Caroline
1822:
George IV makes a state visit to Edinburgh;
Caledonian Canal opens to traffic; first
Highland and Agricultural Show is held; the artist
Henry Raeburn is knighted
1823: Sir Henry Raeburn dies;
Sir Walter Scott is president of the new
Bannatyne Club which publishes
Scottish history and
literature sources; the
Excise Act reforms
whisky production
1824: A major fire in
Edinburgh destroys many buildings including the
steeple of the
Tron church, and the east side of
Parliament Square; the "
Ettrick Shepherd"
James Hogg publishes
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
1825: The
Clydesdale Bank is established
1926: The
Royal Scottish Academy is founded;
Robert Owensees the failure of
Orbiston co-operative village;
Colliers' Association lose strike battle in
Glasgow
1827:
Sir Walter Scott admits he wrote
Waverley novels
1828:
James Beaumont Neilson invents
hot blast iron-smelting; highlanders face
slave conditions on
Atlantic ships; trial of
William Burke begins;
John Dunlop founds
Total Abstinence Society
1829:
Burke is convicted of trading in corpses, and hanged, following evidence from
William and Margaret Hare
1830:
Francis Jeffrey, a founder of the
Edinburgh Review, is appointed
Lord Advocate;
botanist Robert Brown discovers
cell nucleus in plant life
1832: Sir Walter Scott dies;
Reform Act(Scotland) is passed, 64,000 (1 in 8) can vote;
cholera epidemic
1833: Passing of
Burgh Reform Acts
1834:
Engineer Thomas Telford dies;
James Chalmers invents an
adhesive postage stamp; The
Church of Scotland passes a
Veto Act giving
congregations the right to reject
ministers
1835:
James Hogg, the "
Ettrick Shepherd" poet, dies
1836: Failure of
Highland potato crop;
John Loudon Macadam dies;
Forth-Clyde canal flourishes;
cotton spinners' strike
1837-39: Outbreaks of
typhus and
typhoid
1837:
Accession of
Queen Victoria; an underground explosion at
Blantyre colliery kills 297 miners
1838: Five cotton spinners sentenced to
transportation;
Court of Session rules Church of Scotland is subject to the state;
Thomas Carlyle publishes book on
philosophy
1839: The
Chartist newspaper
Scottish Patriot is published; the first
Aberdeen clipper ship is launched
1840: The Chartist
Fergus O'Connor speaks at a demo on
Glasgow Green; Irish-born
immigrants are 5 per cent of Scottish population
1842: Typhoid and typhus outbreaks;
Chadwick's
Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain;
Royal Commission on
Coal Mines; opening of Edinburgh-Glasgow
railway line;
Victoria makes her first visit to Scotland
1843: The
Disruption: the Scottish church splits - formation of the
Free Church of Scotland;
Charles Macintosh dies
1844: Royal Commission on
Poor Law (Scotland); the poet
Thomas Campbell dies
1845:
Poor Law (Scotland) Amendment Act; completion of
New Statistical Account of Scotland
1845-50: "Railway mania"
1846:
Potato famine in
Highlands; repeal of
Corn Laws; in
Edinburgh, the
North British Railway Line is opened, but ends its Sunday Glasgow-Edinburgh service after pressure to observe the
Sabbath
1847: The
United Presbyterian Church is formed by the merger of the
Burgher,
Anti-Burgher and
Relief churches;
James Young Simpson demonstrates the use of
chloroform as an
anaesthetic in
Edinburgh;
Thomas Chalmers, leader of the
Free Church of Scotland dies;
Educational Institute of Scotland is founded
1848: The last
Chartist demonstrations take place; a
cholera epidemic breaks out
1850:
Prince Albert lays the foundation stone for
William Playfair's
Scottish National Gallery in
Edinburgh
1852: The
Highland Emigration Society is formed
1853: The
National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights is formed, as is the
Edinburgh Trades Council; the
Public Libraries (Scotland) Act is passed, and the
Public House Act
1854: The
Crimean War begins; the
Scottish Institute of Chartered Accountants is founded
1855: Religious tests for
university entrants are repealed; renovation work on
Balmoral Castle is completed
1856: The Allies win the
Crimean War
1857:
Western Bank collapses in financial scandal
1858:
Universities (Scotland) Act
1859:
National Gallery opens in Edinburgh; Queen
Victoria opens
Loch Katrine,
drinking water reservoir for
Glasgow; work commences on the
Wallace Monument near
Stirling
1860:
Coal Mines Regulation Act; first
Open Golf Championship, at
Prestwick;
Aberdeen University is founded
1862: General
Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act
1865:
Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh;
Alexander "Big Mac" MacDonald leads
National Miners' Union
1866:
Glasgow Improvement Act
1867: Founding of
Queen's Park FC;
Lister pioneers
antiseptic surgery in Edinburgh
1868:
Reform Act (Scotland)
1869:
Cutty Sark built at
Dumbarton;
Sophia Jex-Blake becomes first female medical student in Britain, studying at Edinburgh
1871:
Stanley finds
Livingstone in
Africa
1872:
Education (Scotland) Act; first
international football match is played at Queen's Park between
England and
Scotland
1873: The
Scottish Football Association (
SFA) and
Scottish Rugby Union (
SRU) are formed;
Glasgow Rangers FC is also founded;
David Livingstone dies
1876:
Alexander Graham Bell invents the
telephone
1878:
Restoration of
Roman Catholic hierarchy; collapse of
City of Glasgow Bank
1879:
Gladstone's
Midlothian campaign;
the Tay Bridge disaster
1881: Foundation of
University College,
Dundee; Scottish population reaches 3,736,000
1882: Opening of
Scottish National Portrait Gallery;
Crofter's War
1883:
Napier Commission on Highlands; foundation of
Highland Land League;
SS Daphne launched and sank, 124 killed;
Boys Brigade meets for first time
1884:
Reform Act;
Singer sewing machine factory opens
1885: Re-establishment of a
Scottish Secretary's office
1887:
Scottish Office established in
Whitehall
1888: Founding of
Scottish Labour Party by
Keir Hardie; Glasgow
Celtic FC founded
1888-99: 18
clan societies founded
1889:
Local Government (Scotland) Act;
West Highland Railway opens;
Robert Louis Stevenson retires to
Samoa
1890: Completion of the
Forth Rail Bridge
1891: Founding of
Highland Association
1892: First
National Mod,
Oban; split of
Free Presbyterians from
Free Church; Keir Hardie becomes first
Labour MP;
William Thomson becomes Lord
Kelvin
1893:
Independent Labour Party founded
1894: Establishment of
Scottish Grand Committee
1896: Glasgow
Underground opens
1897: The
Scottish Trades Union Congress (
STUC) is founded
1899-1902: Boer War
Sources:
A Companion to Scottish History, Donnachie and Hewitt, 1989, BT Batsford Ltd
The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, Oxford University Press, 2001