1953 in Scotland

Centuries:	18th; 19th; 20th; 21st; ;
Decades:	1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s;
See also:	List of years in Scotland; Timeline of Scottish history; 1953 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere; Scottish football: 1952–53 • 1953–54; 1953 in Scottish television

Events from the year 1953 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – James Stuart

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

30 January – The cargo vessel Clan MacQuarrie runs aground near Borve, Lewis in a storm; all 66 crew are rescued by breeches buoy the following morning.^[1]
31 January – The car ferry MV Princess Victoria, sailing from Stranraer to Larne in Northern Ireland, sinks in the Irish Sea in a storm killing 133 people on board.^[2] Fleetwood trawler Michael Griffiths sinks seven miles south of Barra Head with the loss of 13 crew.^[1]
9 February – Fraserburgh life-boat John and Charles Kennedy capsizes on service: six crew killed.
5 March – PS Maid of the Loch, the last full-size paddle steamer built in the UK, is launched on the River Clyde at A. & J. Inglis's Pointhouse Shipyard. On 25 May, she enters excursion service on Loch Lomond.
c. March – New Bridge Street Bridge across Peterhead harbour completed, the last Scherzer rolling lift bridge erected by Sir William Arrol & Co. of Glasgow.
16 April – The Queen launches the Royal Yacht Britannia at John Brown & Company shipbuilders at Clydebank.^[3]
20 May – Celtic F.C. beat Hibernian 2-0 in the final of the Coronation Cup (football) at Hampden Park.^[4]
20 June – Most of the population of the island of Soay, Skye, moves to the Isle of Mull.
24 June – First state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Scotland since her accession; the Honours of Scotland are carried before the monarch for the first time since 1822^[5] and presented to her at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
22 July – Great Bernera is connected to Lewis by Scotland's first prestressed concrete girder bridge.^[6]
8 August – The northbound Royal Scot train derails near Abington descending from Beattock Summit due to buckling of track caused by high temperature; 37 are injured.^[7]
27 October – Arbroath life-boat Robert Lindsay capsizes on service: six crew killed.
Scottish law case of MacCormick v Lord Advocate decides that the right of Elizabeth II to so style herself in Scotland is a matter of royal prerogative.
IBM establishes a manufacturing facility in Greenock.

Births

1 January – Maureen Beattie, Irish-born actress
6 January – Malcolm Young, rock guitarist (died 2017 in Australia)
11 January – John Sessions, born John Gibb Marshall, actor and comedian (died 2020)
20 January – John Robertson, international footballer
27 February – Gavin Esler, television journalist
6 April – Patrick Doyle, film composer
6 May
- Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1997-2007
- Graeme Souness, international footballer and manager
19 May – Patrick Hodge, lawyer, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
21 May – Jim Devine, Labour politician^[8]
22 May – Andy Nisbet, mountaineer (died 2019)
23 May – Ronald Frame, fiction writer
7 June
- Colin Boyd, Baron Boyd of Duncansby, lawyer and judge
- Dougie Donnelly, television presenter
23 June – John Stahl, actor (died 2022)^[9]
24 August – Sam Torrance, golfer
31 August – Jimmy McKenna, actor
8 September – John McGlynn, actor
10 September – John Thurso, born John Sinclair, businessman and Liberal Democrat politician
28 September – Jim Diamond, pop singer-songwriter (died 2015)
21 October – Eric Faulkner, pop musician
4 November – Derek Johnstone, international footballer
12 November – Calum MacDonald, Celtic rock songwriter and percussionist
22 December – Gregor Fisher, actor and comedian
Steven Campbell, figurative painter (died 2007)
Ian Read, businessman

Deaths

19 March – Thomas Hunter, Unionist Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Perth (born 1872)
1 June – Alex James, international footballer (born 1901)
23 July – Sir Thomas Jaffrey, actuary (born 1861)
30 September – Lewis Fry Richardson, mathematical physicist (born 1881 in England)

The arts

April – Comedy film Laxdale Hall is released.
Lewis Spence's Collected Poems are published in Edinburgh.

References

^ ^a ^b "Clan Macquarrie – historic rescue at Borve". Stornoway Gazette. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^ "130 die in ferry disaster". On This Day. BBC. 31 January 1953. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
^ "Queen launches Royal Yacht Britannia". On This Day. BBC. 16 April 1953. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
^ "The green shoots of recovery with Hibs". Scotland On Sunday. 10 September 2005.
^ "Notable Dates in History". The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^ "Great Bernera Bridge". Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
^ "Accident at Abington on 8th August 1953". Railways Archive. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
^ "WPR - Jim Devine (Ex-MP)". 15 July 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
^ "John Stahl obituary". the Guardian. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

[SG-1] "Clan Macquarrie – historic rescue at Borve". Stornoway Gazette. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

[2] "130 die in ferry disaster". On This Day. BBC. 31 January 1953. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.

[3] "Queen launches Royal Yacht Britannia". On This Day. BBC. 16 April 1953. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2008.

[4] "The green shoots of recovery with Hibs". Scotland On Sunday. 10 September 2005.

[Notable_Dates-5] "Notable Dates in History". The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

[6] "Great Bernera Bridge". Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2014.

[7] "Accident at Abington on 8th August 1953". Railways Archive. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

[8] "WPR - Jim Devine (Ex-MP)". 15 July 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.

[9] "John Stahl obituary". the Guardian. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

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v t e Years in Scotland (843–present)
11th century	1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100
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15th century	1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
16th century	1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600
17th century	1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700
18th century	1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
19th century	1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

1953 in Scotland

Incumbents

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

Births

Deaths

The arts

See also

References