1650s in Scotland

Events from the 1650s in the Kingdom of Scotland.

← 1649 1648 1647 1646 1645 1650 in Scotland → 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655
Centuries:	15th 16th 17th 18th 19th
Decades:	1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s
See also:	List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 1650 in: England • Elsewhere

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles II (until his disposition in 1651)^[1]
• Commonwealth of England from 1651 until the Restoration in 1660 which reinstates Charles II.^[1]

Events

• 1650:
  • 21 May - James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose executed in Edinburgh after his defeat at the Battle of Carbisdale.^[2]
  • 29 June - "the Lord General Cromwell went out of London towards the North: and the news of him marching Northward much startled the Scots".^[3] Oliver Cromwell leads the New Model Army to Edinburgh.^[4]
  • 3 September - Battle of Dunbar takes place between Cromwell's Army and the Scottish Covenanters. Cromwell's army wins and the battle results in southern Scotland surrendering to England;^[4] it is administered from Dalkeith.
• 1651:
  • 1 January - Charles II crowned King of Scotland at Scone Palace.^[5]
  • 20 July - Battle of Inverkeithing: The English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.
  • 1 September - Siege of Dundee ends with the English Parliamentarian army, under General Monck, decisively defeating Covenanters in the last battle of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland.^[6]
  • 3 September - Battle of Worcester takes place after Charles II has raised an army (largely from Scotland) and invaded England. It results in his defeat by Cromwell and the king escaping abroad.^[5]
• 1652: 17 June - A large fire breaks out in Glasgow, which destroys around a third of the city and leaves approximately 1,000 families homeless.^[7]
• 1653: 16 December - Cromwell is made Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.^[8]
• 1654:
  • 12 April - Cromwell creates a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.^[9]
  • 5 May - Cromwell's Act of Grace, which pardons the people of Scotland for any crimes they may have committed during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, is proclaimed in Edinburgh.
• 1658: 3 September - Cromwell dies and the title of Lord Protector passes to his son, Richard Cromwell.^[8]
• 1659:
  • 25 May - Richard Cromwell forced to resign as Lord Protector.^[8]
  • Heriot's Hospital opens in Edinburgh.^[10]

Publications

• 1655 - History of the Church and State of Scotland by John Spottiswoode.^[11]

Births

• 1650:
  • Sir James Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, writer and Principal Clerk of Session (d. 1719)^[12]
  • George Brown, inventor and arithmetician (d. 1730)^[13]
  • Henry Erskine, 3rd Lord Cardross, Covenanter (d. 1693)^[14]
• 1654: 23 November - George Watson, accountant (d. 1733)^[15]
• 1658: 11 April - James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, nobleman (d. 1712)^[16]
• 1659
  • 1 January - Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss, noble (d. 1705)
  • 3 June - David Gregory, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1708)
  • 13 September - Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn, Scottish and Irish peer (k. in action 1691)

Deaths

• 1650:
  • 21 May – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (b. 1612)^[2]
  • 29 October - David Calderwood, divine and historian (b. 1575)^[17]
• 1654: Alexander Ross, writer (b. c.1590)^[18]

References

1. "Charles II - king of Great Britain and Ireland". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
2. "James Graham, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Montrose". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
3. Thomas Carlyle quoting Bulstrode Whitelocke in "Oliver Cromwells Letters and speeches" Vol 2, J.M.Dent, 1908, page 146.
4. "Battle of Dunbar". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
5. "British History Timeline". BBC History. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
6. "Siege and Sacking of Dundee from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
7. "17 June 1652 - Great Fire of Glasgow". www.glasgowlife.org.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
8. "What kind of ruler was Oliver Cromwell". The National Archives. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
9. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
10. "Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh". National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
11. Taylor, Alan (2016). Glagow:The Autobiography. Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited. p. 13. ISBN 9781780273532.
12. Whitley, Laurence A. B. (2013). A Great Grievance: Ecclesiastical Lay Patronage in Scotland until 1750. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781621896449.
13. "George Brown". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
14. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
15. "History of George Watson's College". George Watson College. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
16. "A Young Man in Blue, called Lord Arran (probably Lieutenant-General James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, later 4th Duke of Hamilton KT [1658-1712]) 266921 | National Trust Collections". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
17. "David Calderwood - Scottish clergyman". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
18. Delisle, Jean; Woodsworth, Judith (2012). Translators through History: Revised edition. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 174. ISBN 978-9027273819.