1976 in Scotland

Events from the year 1976 in Scotland.

← 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1976 in Scotland → 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 1976 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere Scottish football: 1975–76 • 1976–77 1976 in Scottish television

Incumbents

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

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Willie Ross until 8 April; then Bruce Millan

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Ronald King Murray
• Solicitor General for Scotland – John McCluskey, ennobled as Lord McCluskey

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Emslie
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Wheatley
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay

Events

• 18 January – The Scottish Labour Party is formed as a breakaway from the UK-wide party.^[1]
• 6 February – Hunterston B nuclear power station begins generating electricity.
• 7 July – Scottish MP David Steel is elected as new leader of the Liberal Party.
• 14 October – Post Office Telephones take the UK's last manual public telephone exchange out of service on Portree.
• 11 November – Brent oilfield production begins in the East Shetland Basin.
• 15 November – Licensing (Scotland) Bill receives the Royal Assent, paving the way for licensed premises to open an extra hour, until 11 p.m., from 16 December, and for public houses to open on Sundays for the first time from 1977.^[2]
• 12 November – Disappearance of Renee MacRae and her 3-year-old son Andrew from Inverness; this becomes Britain's longest-running missing persons case.^[3]
• 13 December — An extra hour of drinking allowed in pubs, until 11pm, from today.
• The Signet Office is merged into the Court of Session.
• Inverkip power station is commissioned.
• Whalsay Golf Club, Britain's most northerly, is founded in Shetland.^[4]

Births

• 13 January – Ross McCall, actor
• 20 January – Kirsty Gallacher, television presenter^[5]
• 23 February – Kelly Macdonald, actress
• 23 March – Chris Hoy, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist^[6]
• 3 June – Gregg McClymont, historian and politician
• 5 June – Jack Ross, footballer and manager
• 20 July – Damian Barr, writer
• 24 July – Laura Fraser, actress
• 4 August – Jock Zonfrillo, chef (died 2023 in Australia)
• 8 August – Laura Kuenssberg, Italian-born political journalist
• 10 August – Ian Murray, Labour MP for Edinburgh South
• 25 August – Gail McConnell, physicist
• 16 November – Danny Wallace, comedian and broadcast presenter
• date unknown – Chris Stout, fiddle player

Deaths

• 8 January – Robert Forgan, Scottish-English physician and politician (born 1891)
• 11 February – Charlie Naughton, actor (born 1886)
• 18 February – William Robb, footballer (born 1895)
• 13 March – Ann Henderson, sculptor (born 1921)
• 28 March – Ian Garrow, army officer (born 1908)
• 22 April – Stanley Cursiter, painter and curator (born 1887)
• 28 May – Oliver Brown, nationalist political activist (born 1903)
• 20 October – Jane Duncan (Elizabeth Jane Cameron), novelist (born 1910)

See also

• 1976 in Northern Ireland
• 1976 in Wales

References

1. "January 18 in Scottish History". ScotClans. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
2. 'Licensing Act (Implementation), Commons, 16 November 1976', Hansard.
3. Bindel, Julie (30 April 2008). "The bone detective". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
4. . Whalsay Golf Club. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
5. "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing - Kirsty Gallacher". BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
6. "Chris Hoy | Biography, Medals, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 December 2022.