1861 in Scotland

Events from the year 1861 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

27 February – ironclad warship HMS Black Prince is launched from Robert Napier's yard at Govan on the River Clyde.
11 March – the Portpatrick Railway opens to Stranraer Town railway station, providing a connection from Dumfries.
June – first modern excavation of the Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave of Maeshowe on Orkney.
26 September – golfer Tom Morris, Sr. wins the second Open Championship.
23 October – foundation stone of the Royal Museum laid by Prince Albert.
25 November – a tenement collapses in the Old Town, Edinburgh killing 35 with 15 survivors.
Edinburgh Co-operative Building Company begin construction of Stockbridge Colonies, pioneering low-cost flats for artisans.
One O'Clock Gun first fired from Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh and Glasgow Bible Societies merged to form the National Bible Society of Scotland.
White Horse whisky first produced by James Logan Mackie of Edinburgh.

Births

11 April – Thomas Jaffrey, actuary
17 June – Robina Nicol, New Zealand photographer and suffragist
19 June – Douglas Haig, soldier and Field Marshal during World War I
9 July – William Burrell, shipowner and art collector
12 October – Agnes Jekyll, née Graham, artist, writer on domestic matters and philanthropist
24 December – John Macdonald, sportsman and physician

Deaths

8 April – John Bartholomew, Sr., cartographer
4 October – Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton
13 November – John Forbes, physician to Queen Victoria