1954 in Scotland

Events from the year 1954 in Scotland.

Incumbents

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

Law officers

 * Lord Advocate – James Latham Clyde
 * Solicitor General for Scotland – William Rankine Milligan

Judiciary

 * Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Cooper until 23 December; then Lord Clyde
 * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Thomson
 * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson

Events

 * 28 January – John Thomas Wheatley appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice.
 * 12 February – United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority founded; the body in this same year will decide on Dounreay as a 'safe' site for its fast breeder reactor tests.
 * 17 February – RMS Saxonia is launched at John Brown & Company's shipyard on Clydebank for the Cunard Line's Canadian service.
 * March – Scottish Journal of Political Economy first published.
 * 16 March – major fire damages Skerryvore lighthouse.
 * 27 April – Clyde F.C. beat Celtic 1 – 0 in the replayed final of the Scottish Cup.
 * 12 May – work on construction of Seafield Colliery at Kirkcaldy begins.
 * 4 July – fourteen years of rationing during and following World War II comes to an end when meat officially comes off ration.
 * July – work on construction of Ravenscraig steelworks is authorized.
 * 19 July – United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority established by the Atomic Energy Act "to produce, use and dispose of atomic energy and carry out research into any matters therewith".
 * 3 September – the National Trust for Scotland acquires Fair Isle from George Waterston.
 * 23 October – Heart of Midlothian F.C. beats Motherwell 4–2 to win the Scottish League Cup.
 * 23 November – opening of Walsh trial, to determine whether Douglas Walsh of Dumbarton, a Jehovah's Witness pioneer, has the same right as an ordained religious minister in Scotland to be exempted from conscripted military service.
 * 25 December – 1954 Prestwick air disaster: BOAC Boeing 377 Stratocruiser G-ALSA crashes on landing at Prestwick Airport from London in poor visibility, killing 28.
 * Asymmetric footbridge over Gala Water in Galashiels opened.
 * Osprey recolonize Scotland.

Births

 * 5 January – Myra Nimmo, long jumper
 * 15 February – John McAslan, architect
 * 16 February – Iain Banks, novelist (died 2013)
 * 8 March – David Wilkie, swimmer (born in Colombo; died 2024)
 * 9 March – Jim Stewart, footballer
 * 14 March – David Taylor, football administrator, joint General Secretary of UEFA
 * 23 March – Mary Fee, Labour Party politician
 * 9 April – Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative Party leader, MP and government minister
 * 28 April – Tom McCabe, Labour Party politician, MSP (1999–2011) and government minister (died 2015)
 * 5 May – Brian Souter, businessman and founder of Stagecoach Group
 * 28 June – A. A. Gill, newspaper critic (died 2016 in London)
 * 2 August – Ken MacLeod, science fiction writer
 * 5 August – Allan Wilson, Labour Party politician, MSP (1999–2007)
 * 16 August – George Galloway, politician, former MP and founder of the Respect Party
 * 26 August – David Martin, Labour Party politician, Member of the European Parliament for Scotland
 * 11 September – Ian Anderson, footballer (died 2008)
 * 28 September – Mike McCartney, footballer
 * 16 October – Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean, Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland
 * 19 October – Ken Stott, actor
 * 16 November – Donald Runnicles, orchestral conductor
 * 25 December – Annie Lennox, singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist
 * 27 December – Joanna Strathdee, Scottish National Party politician (died 2015)
 * 31 December – Alex Salmond, Scottish National Party First Minister of Scotland (2007–14)
 * George McGavin, entomologist

Deaths

 * 11 February – Alexander Anderson, Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament 1947–54 (born 1888)
 * 18 April – Helen Crawfurd, suffragette and communist activist (born 1877)
 * 6 May – B. C. Forbes, financial journalist and author who founded Forbes Magazine in the United States (born 1880)
 * 18 July – Thomas S. Tait, architect (born 1882)
 * 12 November – Alex Smith, international footballer (born 1876)
 * 22 November – Jimmy Gordon, footballer (born 1888)

The arts

 * George Mackay Brown's first book of poetry, The Storm, is published.
 * Sorley MacLean's Scottish Gaelic poetry Hallaig is published in Gairm.
 * Roddy McMillan's play All in Good Faith is presented at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow.
 * American photographer Paul Strand works in the Outer Hebrides.
 * Alexander Trocchi's novel Young Adam is published.