1981 in Scotland

Centuries:	18th ; 19th ; 20th ; 21st ;
Decades:	1960s ; 1970s ; 1980s ; 1990s ; 2000s ;
See also:	List of years in Scotland ; Timeline of Scottish history ; 1981 in: The UK • England • Wales • Elsewhere ; Scottish football: 1980–81 • 1981–82 ; 1981 in Scottish television

Last updated December 30, 2024

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – George Younger

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

1 February – Decriminalisation of homosexual acts between men over 21 years of age through the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, Section 80, which enters into force on this day.
5 March – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer manufactured by Timex in Dundee, is launched by Sinclair Research, going on to sell over 1.5 million units worldwide.
May
- Peugeot closes the Talbot car plant at Linwood, Renfrewshire, which was opened by the Rootes Group eighteen years earlier as Scotland's only car factory.
- Buchan Oil Field production begins in the North Sea.
23 May – Scotland beat England 1-0 at Wembley.
11 December – Closure of Bedlay Colliery, Glenboig.
21 December – George Wood (Aberdeen) Ltd cease trawler operations.
Undated
- Last manufacture of coal gas in the UK, at Millport, Isle of Cumbrae.^[1]
- Invergordon aluminium smelter closes.
- Livingston Skatepark opens, the first in Scotland.^[2]

Births

15 January – Sean Lamont, rugby player
16 February – Alison Rowatt, field hockey midfielder
19 February – Mark Boyle, snooker player
28 February – Mark Brown, footballer
25 March – Emily Smith, folk singer
11 June – Alistair McGregor, field hockey goalkeeper
14 June – Alastair Kellock, rugby union player
11 August – Sandi Thom, pop singer-songwriter
28 August – Kezia Dugdale, leader of the Scottish Labour Party
7 September – Natalie McGarry, MP convicted of embezzlement^[3]
16 September – David Mitchell, field hockey defender
20 November – Scott Hutchison, indie rock singer-songwriter and visual artist (suicide 2018)
9 December – Gemma Fay, international football goalkeeper
Catriona Shearer, television news presenter

Deaths

6 January – A. J. Cronin, novelist (born 1896)
23 February – Nan Shepherd, novelist and poet (born 1893)
June – Wendy Wood, nationalist campaigner (born 1892 in England)
22 August – Mairi Chisholm, nurse and ambulance driver in World War I, one of "The Madonnas of Pervyse" (born 1896)
8 September – Bill Shankly, football manager (born 1913)
19 October – Johnny Doyle, footballer (born 1951)
1 December – James Monteith Grant, herald and Lord Lyon King of Arms (born 1903)

The arts

30 March – release of historical drama film Chariots of Fire that tells the story of devout Christian Eric Liddell competing in the 1924 Olympics.
23 April – release of romantic comedy film Gregory's Girl .
Alasdair Gray's first novel Lanark: A Life in Four Books is published in Edinburgh.
Perrier Comedy Awards first presented to the best shows on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Bluebells formed.
First Fèis Bharraigh.

Related Research Articles

Livingston is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated into the new town, it was originally developed in the then-counties of Midlothian and West Lothian along the banks of the River Almond. It is situated approximately fifteen miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and thirty miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is close to the towns of Broxburn to the north-east and Bathgate to the north-west.

Alistair is a male given name. It is an anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic Alasdair. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the same form as Alexander. The deepest etymology is the Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (man-repeller): ἀλέξω (repel) + ἀνήρ (man), "the one who repels men", a warrior name. Another, not nearly so common, Anglicization of Alasdair is Allaster.

Adam is a common masculine given name in the English language, of Hebrew origin.

James, Jim, Jimmy, or Jamie Collins may refer to:

Events from the year 1981 in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph</span> Name list

Ralph is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English Rædwulf and Old High German Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse Raðulfr.

Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of Diederik, the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler" or "lead the people".

Robertson is a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Robert". It originated in Scotland and northern England. Notable people and companies with the surname include:

Events from the year 1986 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1985 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1984 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1983 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1975 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1972 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1970 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1967 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1964 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1962 in Scotland.

Events from the year 1896 in Scotland.

References

↑ "Great Cumbrae". Secret Scotland. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
↑ Scott, Katy (29 February 2024). "Livingston skatepark is first to be listed in Scotland". BBC News. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
↑ Publishing, Bloomsbury (19 November 2015). Whitaker's Shorts 2016: Governance. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472921987 – via Google Books.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[1] "Great Cumbrae". Secret Scotland. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

[2] Scott, Katy (29 February 2024). "Livingston skatepark is first to be listed in Scotland". BBC News. Retrieved 29 February 2024.

[3] Publishing, Bloomsbury (19 November 2015). Whitaker's Shorts 2016: Governance. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472921987 – via Google Books.

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[2]

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v t e Years in Scotland (843–present)
11th century	1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100
12th century	1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200
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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
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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 2024 2025