1847 in Scotland

Centuries:	17th ; 18th ; 19th ; 20th ; 21st ;
Decades:	1820s ; 1830s ; 1840s ; 1850s ; 1860s ;
See also:	List of years in Scotland ; Timeline of Scottish history ; 1847 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere

Last updated October 14, 2023

Incumbents

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

28 April – the brig Exmouth carrying emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec is wrecked off Islay with only three survivors from more than 250 on board.^[1]^[2]
May – The congregations of the United Secession Church unite with most of those of the Relief Church to form the United Presbyterian Church.^[3]
4 May – Glenalmond College opens its doors.
17 May – Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway extends through Scotland Street Tunnel to a new southern terminus in Princes Street, Edinburgh.
17 August – Queen Victoria arrives in HMY Victoria and Albert off Greenock at the start of a visit to Scotland.
18 September – Educational Institute of Scotland formally constituted as a teachers' union "for the purpose of promoting sound learning and of advancing the interests of education in Scotland".^[4]
4–8 November – James Young Simpson discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and first uses it, successfully, on a patient, in an obstetric case in Edinburgh.^[5]^[6]
23 November – the Otago Association ship Philip Laing sets sail from Greenock carrying settlers, mostly from the Free Church of Scotland, bound for Port Chalmers in New Zealand.
The Ordnance Survey confirms Ben Nevis as the highest mountain in the British Isles, ahead of Ben Macdui.
Michael Nairn begins manufacture of floorcloth at Kirkcaldy.
Thomas Guthrie publishes A Plea for Ragged Schools in Edinburgh.

Births

29 January – John Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie, KT, Liberal politician, former Secretary for Scotland (died 1887)
8 February – Lord Francis Douglas, mountaineer (killed 1865 on the Matterhorn)
13 February – Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st Baronet, "Concrete Bob", founder of construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine (died 1934)
3 March – Alexander Graham Bell, scientist and inventor (died 1922 in Nova Scotia)
28 March – Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson, art critic (died 1900)
27 April – Archibald Orr-Ewing, MP (died 1893)
2 July – Andrew Gray, physicist and mathematician (died 1925)
28 July – James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, politician, astronomer and bibliophile (died 1913)
3 August – John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC, former Governor General of Canada (died 1934)
22 August – Alexander Mackenzie, composer (died 1935)
12 September – John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, KT, landowner and Rector of the University of St Andrews (died 1900)

Deaths

23 March – Archibald Simpson, architect (born 1790)
31 May – Thomas Chalmers, mathematician and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland (born 1780)
7 June – David Mushet, metallurgist (born 1772; died in Monmouth)
9 August – Andrew Combe, physician and phrenologist (born 1797)
29 August – William Simson, painter best known as a landscapist (born 1798 or 1799; died in London)
20 November – Henry Francis Lyte, Anglican divine and hymn-writer (born 1793; died in Nice)
7 December – Robert Liston, pioneering surgeon (born 1794; died in London)

The arts

R. M. Ballantyne returns to Edinburgh from Canada.
Charles Lees paints The Golfers.
The Sobieski Stuarts' fictional Tales of the Century: or Sketches of the romance of history between the years 1746 and 1846 is published.

Related Research Articles

1847 (MDCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1847th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 847th year of the 2nd millennium, the 47th year of the 19th century, and the 8th year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1847, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Sir James Young Simpson, 1st Baronet,, was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He was the first physician to demonstrate the anaesthetic properties of chloroform on humans and helped to popularise its use in medicine.

The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, poetry, or general literature. The club was established in 1823 and printed 116 volumes before being dissolved in 1861.

Clan Primrose is a Lowland Scottish clan.

Events from the year 1847 in the United Kingdom.

Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land on a slightly sloping site. It contains many tens of thousands of graves, including notable Victorian and Edwardian figures, the most eminent being the physician Sir James Young Simpson.

Eve Blantyre Simpson, sometimes credited as Evelyn Blanytre Simpson, Eva Blantyre Simpson, or E. Blantyre Simpson, was a Scottish writer, author of biographies, short stories, a book about dogs, and a book on the folklore of lowland Scotland.

Events from the year 1814 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1815 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1840 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1835 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1828 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1823 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1809 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1780 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1685 in the Kingdom of Scotland.

Robert Halliday Gunning FRSE PRPSE FSA LLD was a Scottish surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He did much to improve social conditions in Brazil and also became rich there. He endowed numerous prizes and awards including the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prizes. The University of Edinburgh provides scholarships under the title of Gunning Victoria Jubilee Bursaries. He was a close friend of both Thomas Chalmers and Robert Christison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Traill of Greyfriars</span> Minister of the Church of Scotland

Robert Traill of Greyfriars was born at Denino, in 1603. He was son of Colonel James Traill, of Killcleary, Ireland, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Henry, Prince of Wales, and grandson of the Laird of Blebo, and Matilda Melvill of Carnbee. He graduated with an M.A. from St Andrews on 21 July 1621. he went over to Paris, and subsequently joined his brother in Orleans. He later studied at the Protestant College of Saumur. He was an English tutor in France to the sister of the Duke of Rohan in 1628. He was afterwards teacher in a school established by a Protestant minister at Montague, in Bus Poitou. He became chaplain to Archibald, Marquess of Argyll. In 1630 he returned to Scotland.

William Flockhart, L.R.C.S.E. was a Scottish chemist, a pharmacist who provided chloroform to Doctor James Young Simpson for his anaesthesia experiment at 52 Queen Street, Edinburgh on 4 November 1847. This was the first use of this chemical on humans when Simpson tried it on himself and a few friends, and then used it for pain relief in obstetrics, and surgery. This changed medical practice for over a century, according to the British Medical Journal.

References

↑ "The Exmouth – a terrible tragedy on Islay". Isle of Islay. 2011.
↑ "The Exmouth shipwreck off the Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland". My Secret Northern Ireland.
↑ Cates, William L. R. (1863). The Pocket Date Book. Chapman and Hall.
↑ "Our history". Educational Institute of Scotland. 21 March 2007. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
↑ First communicated to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, 10 November, and published in a pamphlet, Notice of a New Anæsthetic Agent, in Edinburgh, 12 November.
↑ Gordon, H. Laing (2002). Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811–1870). Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4102-0291-8 . Retrieved 11 November 2011.

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[1] "The Exmouth – a terrible tragedy on Islay". Isle of Islay. 2011.

[2] "The Exmouth shipwreck off the Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland". My Secret Northern Ireland.

[3] Cates, William L. R. (1863). The Pocket Date Book. Chapman and Hall.

[eis-4] "Our history". Educational Institute of Scotland. 21 March 2007. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

[5] First communicated to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, 10 November, and published in a pamphlet, Notice of a New Anæsthetic Agent, in Edinburgh, 12 November.

[6] Gordon, H. Laing (2002). Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811–1870). Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4102-0291-8 . Retrieved 11 November 2011.

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v t e Years in Scotland (843–present)
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13th century	1200s 1210s 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s 1280s 1290s
14th century	1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400
15th century	1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
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17th century	1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700
18th century	1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023