 | 'The Scots deserve no pity, if they voluntarily surrender their united and separate interests to the mercy of a united parliament, where the English shall have so vast a majority. Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, MP for East Lothian, 23 rd October 1706. |  |
| 'The Scots deserve no pity, if they voluntarily surrender their united and separate interests to the mercy of a united parliament, where the English shall have so vast a majority. Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, MP for East Lothian, 23 rd October 1706. | |
Union of the Parliaments. Scotland's unicameral Estates of Parliament with 159 members is abolished and Scotland sends representatives to the two Houses of Parliament (Commons and Lords) in London. Scotland will have 45 MPs in the House of Commons (30 from the counties and 15 from the burghs) compared to 513 members from England & Wales. Scotland also elects 16 representative peers to the House of Lords where 190 English and Welsh peers sit.
The Scottish legal system is to remain independent and no legal cause i Scotland to be tried in an English court.
England grants Scotland an 'Equivalent' of £398,085 10s to offset the English national debt. In practice, most of the money goes to nobles, civil servants and judges. Robert Burns later writes 'We're bought and sold for English gold - Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!'
In a battle between 36 Scottish and 53 English fishermen, several of the latter are severely wounded.
The new Parliament of Great Britain meets for the first time. However as it meets at Westminster with an enormous English majority, this is de facto if not de juremerely a continuation of the English parliament of 513 members from England and Wales with 45 additional members from Scotland.
The Westminster Parliament abolishes Scotland's Privy Council and the Scottish Treasury, in breach of the Acts of Union. Masters, or eldest sons of peers, are barred from becoming MPs and from voting at elections.
Treason Act abolishes torture. The Draconian English Treason laws are applied in Scotland.
The Westminster Parliament is prorogued by Queen Anne.
General election. Tory government under Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In breach of the Acts of Union, the House of Lords overturns a ruling by the Scotish Court of session condemning Scottish Episcopal minister James Greeshields for using Anglican liturgy.
The Yule Vacance Act reinstates the Christmas holiday in the law courts that the Scottish Parliament abolished in 1690 as a 'popish festival'.
Toleration Act permits Episcopal worship in Scotland. It also requires all Scots clergy to swear allegiance to the monarch, who is head of the Church of England.
Patronage Act gives Scottish nobles the right to appoint ministers to vacant parishes in breach of the Act for the Security of the Scottish Church.
James Douglas, Duke of Hamilton, is refused permission to sit in the House of Lords despite holding the English title of Duke of Brandon.
Dissatisfaction with the union increases after an attempt is made to extend th English malt tax to Scotland. A motion by the previously pro-Union Earl of Findlater to dissolve the Acts of Union is defeated by only four votes in the House of Lords.
General election. Tory government under Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. Pro-government swing in England but anti-government swing in Scotland.
Sophia, the Electress of Hanover, and Whig choice for the next monarch, dies aged 84.
Anne Stuart, the last de facto Stewart monarch dies.
The closest Stewart heir is the titular James VIII, the son of James VII, but he is excluded under the act as he is a Catholic. He is proclaimed as King in many parts of Great Britain.
Next in line of succession are the royal family of Savoy, descended from Princess Henrietta Anne, the daughter of Charles II, but they are also Catholics; their direct descendant Francis II, Duke of Bavaria would be the present King of Scots by the laws of primogenture. The descendants of Prince Charles Louis of the Palatine and his brother Prince Edward are also passed over as they are Catholics. An alternative, and superior clim could come from the Scotts of Buccleuch, who descend from the first marriage of Charles II, with Lucy Walter.
By the English Act of Settlement of 1701, Westminster proclaims a 'wee German lairdie' Prince George of Brunswick-Luneburg, Elector of Hanover as King of Great Britain.
General election. The Hanovarian Whigs take over government from the Tories, many of whom avoured a Sturat restoration.
The Earl of Mar raises the Royal Standard and leads an uprising against the Elector of Hanover (titular George I).
James VIII is proclamed King by the Earl Marishal in Aberdeen.
The chances of a Stuart restoration suffer a setback after the Earl of Mar with 12,000 Royalist troops fails to defeat 4,000 government troops under the Duke of Argyll at the Battle of Sherrifmuir.
The titular James VIII of Scots, lands at Peterhead.
James Stuart is enthroned as James VIII, King of Scots, at Scone.
James VIII sails for France.
The Royalist army is disbanded at Aberdeen. First 'Jacobite Rebellion' ends.
Viscount Kenmure and the Earl of Derwentwater are beheaded in the Tower of London. Many other nobles have gone into exile with James VIII and their estates are forfeited by the victorious Hanovarians.
Septennial Act. The duration of parliaments is extended to seven years. Until now, elections have been held every three years.
John Carnegie, MP for Forfarshire, and Solicitor General for Scotland is expelled from the House of Commons for supporting the Jacobites.
Andrew Fletcher 'The Patriot' dies in London. His last words are 'Lord have mercy on my poor country that is so barbarously oppressed.'
Battle of Glenshiel. Royalist troops under George Keith the 10 th Earl Marischal are defeated by Government forces under General Wightman.
Birth of Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Rome.
Robert Wapole becomes the first British Prime Minister. He gives the second Duke of Argyll responsibility for governing Scotland. The Duke delegates responsibility to his younger brother Archibald, Earl of Islay, later third Duke of Argyll.
General Wade is appointed Commander in Chief in Scotland.
Malt Riots in Glasgow after higher taxes are imposed on Scottish malt contrary to the Acts of Union. Malt had been taxed at 3 d a barrel since 1713 but the government raises this to 9 d a barrel and applies the tax to ale and beer as well.
Eight people are killed and 18 badly wounded after troops open fire on malt protestors. The troops then retreated to Dumbarton. The house of Daniel Campbell of Shawfield, the Whig MP for Glasgow, is burnt down.
General Wade, military commander of Scotland, occupies Glasgow with government troops.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is founded.
Death of the Elector of Hanover at Onasbruck. Known to his supporters as King George I, he is succeeded by his son, George II of Hanover.
Sir Archibald Grant, Bt., (MP for Aberdeenshire) is expelled from the House of Commons for misuse of Charitable Corporation money.
General election. Whigs remain in government.
Westminster Parliament repeals legislation against witchcraft.
Porteous riots in Edinburgh. Six people are killed when Captain John Porteous orders troops to fire at the crowd during the hanging of a smuggler.
Captain John Porteous is lynched.
Pains and Penalties Bill. Edinburgh is fined for the Porteous riots and the Lord Provost is barred from holding any public office.
The Scots Magazine is first published.
General election. Sir Robert Wapole the Whig Prime Minister is opposed by another Whig, John Campbell, the Duke of Argyll and Frederick, Prince of Wales.
Britain declares war on France.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart lands at Eriskay with seven companions.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart raises the Royal standard at Glenfinnan.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart proclaims his father as King James VIII of Scots at Perth.
All Catholics are ordered to leave London.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart enters Edinburgh.
The Royalist army routs the government forces under General Sir John Cope at Prestonpans.
The Royalist army turns back at Derby.
Resignation of the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Marquis of Tweeddale.
Government troops under Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (aka Butcher Cumberland) defeat the Royalist army under Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Culloden. The battle is for long assumed to be a route, but recent research has shown that the Jacobites came closer to victory than originally believed.
Colonel Francis Townley of the Jacobite Manchester Regiment is executed in London after the execution of many of his regiment and John Hamilton's Highlanders in Carlisle by the Butcher Cumberland.
The Westminster parliament passes the Proscription Act which bans the wearing of tartan and the carrying of weapons by all but serving Scots soldiers.
The Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmarino are executed in London. Many others share the same fate.
The Duke of Cumberland is recalled as Commander in Chief of the government troops in Scotland after several months of atrocities.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart sails back to France. The third attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne ends.
Captain Patrick Lindsey, who proclaimed King James VIII at St Andrews is executed at Brampton in England.
Vesting Act gives George II of Hanover the income from forfeited Jacobite estates.
Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, is executed.
The wearing of tartan is prohibited.
Heritable Jurisdictions Act abolishes the hereditary right of Scots nobles to judge legal disputes.
Death of Prince Frederick of Wales, the Hanoverian heir.
Annexing Act allows rents from 14 forfieted estates to be used to promote 'the Protestant faith, good government, industry and loyalty to King George II.'
Colin Campbell of Glenmure is shot. He was one of 28 commissioners in charge of confiscating the forfeited estates of supporters of James VIII. The event is the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped.
The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Cæsar is replaced by the Gregorian callendar which was devised by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Eleven days are removed and the 2 nd September 1752 is followed by the 14 th September 1752. England also adopts 1 st January as the date of the New Year rather than 25 th March - changes which had been introduced in Scotland in 1600.
James Stewart of the Glens is executed. The event is the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped.
Execution, without trail of Jacobite, Dr Archie Cameron, brother of Cameron of Locheil, by the Hanovarians.
George II of Hanover dies and is succeeded by his grandson Prince George, the first of the Hanovarian monarchs to be born in Britain.
Death of Archibald Campbell, third Duke of Argyll, who has virtually ruled Scotland since 1721 when he was Earl of Islay.
John Stewart, 3 rd Earl of Bute, becomes Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.
Death of James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, known to his supporters as James VIII.
General election.
Bread riots in Dumfries. Government troops are dispatched from Edinburgh.
Royal Marriages Act. Members of the house of Hanover aged under 25 must obtain the King's permission before marrying.
The Seaforth Highlanders mutiny and take up a fortified position on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.
Catholic Relief Act passed by Parliament. This allows Roman Catholics to say Mass, to buy land and to take an oath of allegiance. There are riots in Glasgow and the government legislation is not applied in Scotland.
General election. The government wins 41 of the Scottish seats. 12 seats are held personally by the Lord Advocate, Henry Dundas, who is nickmaned 'King Henry'.
The Proscription Act, which banned the wearing of tartan and the carrying of weapons, is repealed.
Thomas McGrugar publishes Letters of Zeno. He denounces the corrupt system whereby the city of Edinburgh numbers just 25 electors.
The Glasgow Advertiser, which later became the The Glasgow Herald, is first published.
The Lord Advocate, Henry Dundas, is replaced by Henry Erskine.
Reformers meet in Edinburgh to discuss the corrupt electoral system. Half of Scotland's 66 burghs send representatives.
Forfeited estates are returned to Jacobites or their heirs.
A bill for parliamentary reform is defeated by 284 votes to 174.
Troops kill six weavers in Glasgow during riots provoked by wage cuts.
Death of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, known to his supporters as Charles III, in Rome. He is succeeded by his brother Henry Benedict, known to his supporters as Henry I of Scots & IX of England.
Westminster rejects a proposal to reform the Scottish burghs, claiming that there is no need.
Friends of the People for Parliamentary Society are constituted in Edinburgh with Captain William Johnston as President.
Thomas Paine publishes The Rights of Man. 160 delegates from Reform societies meet in Edinburgh as the Friends of the People Society and demand parliamentary reform.
The leader of the reform movement, Thomas Muir of Huntershill, is arrested in Edinburgh.
A convention of reformers from all parts of Great Britain meets in Edinburgh.
The reformers' leader and advocate, Thomas Muir of Hunterhill, is arrested for sedition. He is rescued by American supporters while en route to Australia and seeks sanctuary in France.
The reformers' leader and advocate, Thomas Muir of Hunterhill, is found guilty of sedition after his return to Scotland and is sentenced to be deported to Botany Bay in Australia for 14 years.
Habeas Corpus is suspended.
Westminster passes laws prohibiting mass meetings and increases the severity of the Treason laws.
General election. Henry Dundas and his supporters control 44 of the 45 Scottish seats.
Death of Robert Burns in Dumfries.
Parliament rejects a proposal to allow Roman Catholics to become government ministers.
'Battle of Tranent'. Eleven people, including a 13 year old, are killed while engaged in a peaceful demonstration against conscription. They are the victims of an unprovoked attack by the Cinque Ports Dragoons and the East Lothian Yeomanry.
Rioting in Glasgow is provoked by the high price of bread.
Emancipation Act frees Scottish coal miners and their families from their obligation to work for mine owners which ammounted to virtual slavery.
Westminster approves proposals for a Parliamentary Union with Ireland by 158 votes to 115.
The Act of Union with Ireland is given Royal Assent.
United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland formed.
The Edinburgh Review, a radical journal, is first published.
Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville is forced to resign as First Lord of the Admiralty following a vote in the Commons. He is cleared of corruption charges a year later.
General election. Thomas Cochrane, heir to the Earl of Dundonald, becomes Radical MP for the city of Westminster.
Death of Henry I & IX, Cardinal of Ostia and brother of Charles Edward Stuart, the last direct heir of James VII.
A bill for parliamentary reform is defeated by 74 votes to 15. The bill recommended annual elections, polling to take place on a single day, equally sized constituencies and enfranchisement of all taxpayers, householders, and freeholders.
The Commercial Bank of Scotland is founded.
Death of Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, the 'uncrowned King of Scotland'.
The UK Prime Minister, Spencer Percival, is shot dead by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons.
The Highland Clearances are instigated by the Marquis of Stafford, who is married to the Duchess of Sutherland.
Westminster introduces a bill to allow juries to judge civil cases in Scottish courts.
Meal Riot in Dundee.
The Scotsman is first published. The newspaper supports the Whigs.
Westminster suspends Habeas Corpus following allegations of a radical conspiracy in Glasgow by the Lord Advocate, Alexander Maconochie.
The conspiracy trials collapse after the revelation that a witness had been offered a bribe by the Lord Advocate, Alexander Maconochie.
Hanovarian succession crisis. Death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte, only child and heiress presumptive of George of Hanover, the Prince Regent. Her son is still-born.
The Honours of Scotland - including the crown, sword of state and sceptre - are rediscovered in Edinburgh Castle by Sir walter Scott.
Death of King George III of Hanover, who is succeeded by his son Prince George, the Prince Regent, who succeeds as George IV of Hanover.
Radicals in Glasgow call for support for a provisional Government that they hope will take control of Scotland.
A troop of Hussars charges and disperses a group of radicals from Glasgow and Stirling at Bonnymuir who are marching to obtain munitions from the Carron ironworks. Four radicals are wounded and many more are arrested. Another group of radicals from Strathnaven is also dispersed by troops.
The Port Glasgow Militia open fire on a crowd of Radical sympathisers and kill eight and wound ten before retiring.
Five revolutionary republicans are executed by beheading in London.
James Wilson, a Radical leader at Strathnaven, is executed by hanging and beheading in Glasgow.
John Baird and Andrew Hardie, the leaders at Bonnymuir, are executed by beheading in Stirling.
The 1820 Radicals are transported to Austraia.
George IV of Hanover visits Scotland - the first reigning monarch to do so since Charles II.
Great Fife of Edinburgh. The High Street is destroyed, including Parliament Square and the Tron Kirk.
Death of Frederick, Duke of York, the heir presumptive to the throne.
Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts allows Protestant dissenters to hold public office.
Catholic Relief Act allows Catholics to become MPs by accepting the Protestant succession.
Death of George IV of Hanover who is succeeded by his 64 year old brother, William III (IV of England) who became heir presumptive in 1827 after the death of his elder brother, the Duke of York.
At the State Opening of Parliament, William III of Hanover calls for parliamentary reform.
The first Reform Bill passes a Second Reading in the House of Commons by one vote. It prosposes a redistribution of seats with whereby 60 burghs with less than 2,000 electors would be disenfranchised, and 47 burghs with less than 4,000 inhabitants are to be given a single member of parliament rather than two.
The first Reform Bill is is passed in the House of Lords by 184 to 175. However an amendment is passed by 151 votes to 116 which wrecks the bill.
Parliament is dissolved by King William III of Hanover in person after the Tory majority in the House of Lords attempt to prevent the dissolution. The King, wearing his crown, supports the right of the Whig Prime Minister, Earl Gray, to call an election.
The second Reform Bill is defeated in the House of Lords by 199 votes to 158. It is similar to the first Reform bill but also proposes that franchise be extended to £50 a year tennants. Those who voted against reform include 21 Church of England bishops. One Bishop's palace is burnt down by protestors later in the month.
A third Reform bill is introduced in the House of Commons. The bill is supported by 509 reformers of all descriptions and opposed by 149 Conservatives.
The third Reform Bill is passed by the House of Lords where the Tories have a majority. The Whig Prime Minister, Earl Gray, had threatened to create at least 50 new peers if the legislation was rejected. The bill is passed by 106 votes to 22.
The third Reform Bill receives Royal Assent and becomes the first Reform Act (2 Will. IV c. 65). The Act takes 143 seats from so called 'Rotten Burghs' and relocates them to Counties and industrialised towns.
The Scottish Reform Act increases the number of Scottish seats from 45 to 53 and the Scottish electorate from 4,500 to 64,500 - one in eight of the population.
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