1955 in Scotland

Centuries:	18th ; 19th ; 20th ; 21st ;
Decades:	1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ; 1970s ;
See also:	List of years in Scotland ; Timeline of Scottish history ; 1955 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere ; Scottish football: 1954–55 • 1955–56 ; 1955 in Scottish television

Last updated January 16, 2022

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – James Stuart

Law officers

Lord Advocate – James Latham Clyde until January; then William Rankine Milligan
Solicitor General for Scotland – William Rankine Milligan until January; then William Grant

Judiciary

Events

1955 – Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment founded with the primary aim to develop Dounreay as the site for testing previously untried fast breeder reactor technology.^[1]^[2]
24 February – a big freeze across the UK results in many roads being blocked with snow; Caithness is practically cut off. The Royal Air Force works to deliver food and medical supplies to the worst affected areas.^[3]
21 March – American evangelist Billy Graham begins a seven-week Scottish crusade at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow.^[4]
1 April – the South of Scotland Electricity Board is formed by merger.
23 April – the Scottish Cup Final is broadcast live on television for the first time. Clyde F.C. draw 1-1 with Celtic, winning the replay 1-0.^[4]
19 May – Greenock Coin Hoard found.
27 May – United Kingdom general election: In Scotland, as throughout the UK as a whole, the Conservatives have a majority of seats.
25 June – the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer STOL transport aircraft, built at Prestwick, first flies.
30 June – two Hawker Sea Hawk jet fighters flying from RNAS Lossiemouth independently crash into the North Sea; one pilot is killed.^[5]
25–27 July – 'Operation Sandcastle': The first load of deteriorating captured Nazi German bombs filled with Tabun (nerve agent) is shipped from Cairnryan on the SS Empire Claire for scuttling in the Atlantic Ocean.
30 September – first electricity supply to the isolated railway community at Riccarton Junction.^[6]
10 November – a major fire in Edinburgh destroys the footwear warehouse of C. W. Carr Aitkman in Jeffrey Street.^[4]
11 November – a second major fire in Edinburgh largely destroys the C&A fashion store in Princes Street.^[4]
9 December – Cumbernauld is designated a New town.^[7]
14 December – RMS Carinthia is launched at John Brown & Company's shipyard on Clydebank for the Cunard Line's Canadian service.
The collection of the world's first Museum of Childhood is established on Edinburgh's Royal Mile (initially at Lady Stair’s House) by optician Patrick Murray.
Archaeological excavations on St Ninian's Isle begin.

Births

18 January – Robin Wales, Labour politician, mayor of the London Borough of Newham
3 February – Kirsty Wark, television presenter
19 March – John Burnside, writer
31 March – Angus Young, rock musician
23 April – Allan Forsyth, footballer
2 May – Willie Miller, footballer
5 May – John Stroyan, Anglican bishop
14 May – Alasdair Fraser, fiddler
4 June – Val McDermid, crime novelist
13 June – Alan Hansen, footballer and television presenter
1 July – Candia McWilliam, fiction writer
8 July – Douglas Flint, banker
12 July – Robin Robertson, poet, novelist and editor
25 August – John McGeoch guitarist (died 2004 in England)
11 October – Sally Magnusson, journalist and broadcast presenter
12 October – Aggie MacKenzie, television presenter
28 October – Jeff Stewart, actor
12 November – Les McKeown, pop-rock singer (died 2021)
22 November – Mary Macmaster, harpist
2 December – Janice Galloway, writer
6 December – Anne Begg, Labour politician
23 December – Carol Ann Duffy, poet

Deaths

21 February – Sir Henry Wade, surgeon (born 1876)
26 February – Agnes Mure Mackenzie, writer and historian (born 1891)
3 March – Lewis Spence, writer and folklorist (born 1874)
11 March – Sir Alexander Fleming, bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1881; died in London)
22 April – Herbert MacNair, artist (born 1868)
11 October – Hector McNeil, politician (born 1907)
Mary Newbery Sturrock, artist and designer (born 1890)
Salvador Ysart, glassblower (born 1878 in Barcelona)

The arts

Robin Jenkins's novel The Cone Gatherers is published.
Sandy MacMillan, Thomas Limond and Ross Taylor's Scots language nursery rhyme collection Bairnsangs is published, as by Sandy Thomas Ross.
Edith Anne Robertson's Scots language poetry collections Voices frae the city o trees; and ither voices frae nearbye and Poems Frae the Suddron O Walter De La Mare Made Ower Intil Scots are published.

Related Research Articles

Her Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate, is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. They are the chief public prosecutor for Scotland and all prosecutions on indictment are conducted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, nominally in the Lord Advocate's name.

Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service which together constitute the Criminal Prosecution Service in Scotland.

William Rankine Milligan, Lord Milligan, was a Scottish judge and Unionist politician. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Advocate.

Events from the year 1971 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1962 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1961 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1960 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1959 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1958 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1957 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1956 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1954 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1953 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1952 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1951 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1943 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1935 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1932 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1922 in Scotland.

The 1955 Edinburgh North by-election was held on 27 January 1955. It was held because the Unionist MP, James Clyde, resigned when he was appointed Lord President of the Court of Session. It was held by the Unionist candidate, William Rankine Milligan. Milligan's vote share was slightly higher than Clyde had achieved at the previous general election, although the victorious candidate was disappointed at the low turnout which he said could not be entirely attributed to bad weather. The defeated Labour candidate, who was chairman of the Burntisland Labour Party, argued the result was not a vote of confidence in the government. Some of the 41 spoiled ballot papers were reported to have had slogans written on them by Scottish nationalists.

References

↑ Munn, Andy. "UKAEA – The First Fifty Years". Caithness.Org. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
↑ Robin McKie, Science Editor, Guardian, 25 May 2008
↑ "Britain's big freeze". On This Day. BBC News. 24 February 1955. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
1 2 3 4 "Notable Dates in History". The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
↑ "Two Sea Hawks Down". The Times (53261). London. 1 July 1955. p. 10.
↑ The Railway Magazine October 1955.
↑ "Cumbernauld Town Centre" . Retrieved 7 April 2013.

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[1] Munn, Andy. "UKAEA – The First Fifty Years". Caithness.Org. Retrieved 5 February 2011.

[2] Robin McKie, Science Editor, Guardian, 25 May 2008

[3] "Britain's big freeze". On This Day. BBC News. 24 February 1955. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[Notable_Dates-4] 1 2 3 4 "Notable Dates in History". The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.

[5] "Two Sea Hawks Down". The Times (53261). London. 1 July 1955. p. 10.

[6] The Railway Magazine October 1955.

[7] "Cumbernauld Town Centre" . Retrieved 7 April 2013.

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