1950 in Scotland

Events from the year 1950 in Scotland.

← 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1950 in Scotland → 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 1950 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere Scottish football: 1949–50 • 1950–51

Incumbents

Further information: Politics of Scotland and Order of precedence in Scotland

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Arthur Woodburn until 28 February; then Hector McNeil

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – John Thomas Wheatley
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Douglas Johnston

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Cooper
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Thomson
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson

Events

• 14 February – First shipment of coal from Argyll Colliery (drift mining) in the reopened Machrihanish Coalfield to Belfast.^[1]
• 21 February – Clydebank-built Cunard liner RMS Aquitania arrives at the scrapyard in Faslane at the end of a 36-year career.
• August – first official Edinburgh Military Tattoo staged at Edinburgh Castle as part of the Edinburgh Festival.
• 22 August – 54-year-old William "Ned" Barnie becomes the first Scot to swim the English Channel, going on to complete 3 crossings.^[2]
• 8 September – 116 miners trapped underground in a landslide at Knockshinnoch Castle colliery at New Cumnock in Ayrshire.^[3]
• 9 September – first miners are rescued from Knockshinnoch Castle colliery.^[3]
• 11 September – rescue operation from Knockshinnoch Castle colliery is completed, with all 116 miners saved.^[3]
• 18 October – the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Scheme is inaugurated.^[4]
• 25 December – the Stone of Scone, the traditional coronation stone of Scottish monarchs, English monarchs and more recently British monarchs, is removed from London's Westminster Abbey by a group of four Scottish students.
• St. Margaret's Hospice in Clydebank, the first modern hospice in Scotland, is begun by the Sisters of Charity.^[5]

Births

• 21 January – Seona Reid, arts administrator
• 10 March – Ted McKenna, rock drummer (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band) (died 2019)
• 22 March – Jocky Wilson, darts player (died 2012)
• 30 March – Robbie Coltrane, actor and comedian (died 2022)^[6]
• 31 March – William Blair, judge and financial lawyer
• 1 May – Malcolm James Mackenzie, footballer
• 6 May – Robbie McIntosh, funk drummer (Average White Band) (died 1974)
• 9 May – Murray Elder, politician (died 2023)
• 12 May – Helena Kennedy, lawyer
• 27 May – Alex Gray, crime novelist
• 18 September – Jock McFadyen, painter
• 29 October – James Dillon, composer
• 7 November – Lindsay Duncan, actress
• 3 December – Angus Glennie, Lord Glennie, judge

Deaths

• 15 January – George Livingstone, footballer (born 1876)
• 26 February – Harry Lauder, entertainer (born 1870)
• 17 March – Adam McKinlay, Labour politician (born 1887)
• 30 March – Joe Yule, comedian and actor (born 1892)
• 9 May – Charles Alexander Stevenson, lighthouse engineer (born 1855)
• 10 August – James Drever, psychologist (born 1873)^[7]
• 14 September – Alexander Livingstone, Liberal politician (born 1880)

See also

• 1950 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Cambeltown Courier 1950-02-16.
2. . The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
3. "Miners trapped underground by landslide". BBC News. 8 September 1950. from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
4. Newsreel footage of opening ceremony.
5. "History". St Margaret of Scotland Hospice. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
6. "Robbie Coltrane obituary". the Guardian. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
7. The Scottish Educational Journal. Educational Institute of Scotland. 1950. p. 536.