1857 in Scotland

Events from the year 1857 in Scotland.

Law officers

 * Lord Advocate – James Moncreiff
 * Solicitor General for Scotland – Edward Maitland

Judiciary

 * Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Colonsay
 * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Glencorse

Events

 * 18 March – the Greenock Telegraph begins publication.
 * 1 May – Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland inaugurated in Glasgow.
 * 30 June – 9 July: trial of Madeleine Smith, charged with the poisoning of a former lover in Glasgow; a "not proven" verdict is returned.
 * 9 November – The Western Bank of Scotland (Glasgow) collapses.
 * 16 November – the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot wins six Victoria Crosses in the storming of Sikandar Bagh during the second relief of Lucknow in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
 * Police (Scotland) Act 1857 makes the provision of a police force mandatory in the counties of Scotland.
 * Lunga, Treshnish Isles, is depopulated.
 * First whaler to be fitted with a steam engine, the Tay at Dundee.
 * W. C. Stewart publishes The Practical Angler.

Births

 * 31 March – John James Burnet, architect (died 1938)
 * 11 April – John Davidson, poet and playwright (drowned himself 1909 at Penzance)
 * 15 May – Williamina Fleming, née Stevens, astronomer noted for her discovery of the Horsehead Nebula in 1888 (died 1911 in the United States)
 * 15 June – William Fife, yacht designer (died 1944)
 * 4 July – John Campbell, architect (died 1942 in New Zealand)
 * 11 July – David Prain, botanist (died 1944)
 * 19 September – James Bridie, international rugby union player (died 1893 in England)
 * 2 October – John Macintyre, laryngologist and pioneer radiographer (died 1928)
 * Date unknown – John Wilson, Lord Ashmore, Sheriff 1900–20, Senator of the College of Justice 1930–28 (died 1932)

Deaths

 * 9 March – James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, general in Spanish service and landowner (born 1776)
 * 19 March – William Henry Playfair, architect (born 1790 in London)
 * 15 April – William Skinner, bishop and Primus (born 1778)
 * 26 August – Christian Isobel Johnstone, writer and editor (born 1781)
 * 14 October – Alexander Laing, "the Brechin poet" (born 1787)
 * 18 November – John Fleming, minister, naturalist, zoologist and geologist (born 1785)

The arts

 * Britannia Music Hall opened in Glasgow.