1751 in Scotland

List of events

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1751
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Incumbents

24 April – John Wesley arrives at Musselburgh, his destination on his first mission to Scotland.^[1]
21 June – Alexander Geddes from Kinnermony, Banffshire, is executed at Aberdeen for bestiality, becoming the last felon in Scotland to be burnt following execution.^[2]
1 July – The Cameronians, at this time serving in Ireland, are formally ranked as the 26th Regiment of Foot.
David Hume settles in Edinburgh and publishes An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.^[3]
In the University of Glasgow:
- Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic.
- The Medical School is founded.
John Smith & Son bookshop in Glasgow established, claiming to be the oldest surviving bookseller in the English-speaking world.^[4]
Culter paper mill established.^[5]
First turnpike act for Scotland, for improvement of the road from Edinburgh to South Queensferry.^[6]
Approximate date – bridge built at Bridge of Orchy.^[7]

23 April – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, colonial administrator (died 1814 in England)
3 or 29 June – William Roxburgh, surgeon and botanist, "father of Indian botany" (died 1815)
2 August – William Adam of Blair Adam, judge and politician (died 1839)
8 August – William Leslie, British Army officer (killed 1777 at Battle of Princeton)
10 December – James Donaldson, printer, newspaper publisher and philanthropist (died 1830)
Donald Campbell, traveler in India and the Middle East (died 1804 in England)
Approximate date – Helen Craik, novelist and poet (died 1825 in England)

16 February – Charles Maitland, politician (born c. 1704)
18 February – Patrick Campbell, politician (born 1684)^[8]
24 May – William Hamilton, comic poet (born c. 1665)
22 August (2 September NS) – Andrew Gordon, Benedictine and inventor (born 1712; died in Saxony)
September – David Fordyce, philosopher (born 1711; lost at sea)

Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair publishes his anti-Hanoverian volume of poems Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich ("The Resurrection of the Ancient Scottish Language") in Edinburgh, including his satire on the aisling form An Airce ("The Ark").
Tobias Smollett's novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle is published.^[3]
Robert Louis Stevenson's book "Kidnapped" is based in 1751.

^ Cheetham, Keith (2003). On the Trail of John Wesley. Edinburgh: Luath Press. p. 163. ISBN 9781842820230.
^ "Notable Dates in History". The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 314–315. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ "JS Group is a forward looking business that can trace its roots back to 1751 when the bookseller John Smith and Son was founded in Glasgow". JS Group. 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
^ "Curtis Fine Papers". Business Archives Council Scotland. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
^ Chalmers, George (1810). Caledonia. Vol. 2. p. 865.
^ "Bridge of Orchy". Canmore. Edinburgh: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 1996. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
^ "CAMPBELL, Patrick (1684-1751), of South Hall, Argyll. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 1 July 2017.