# 1969 in Scotland

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Events from the year 1969 in Scotland.

## Incumbents

* Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Willie Ross

### Law officers

* Lord Advocate – Henry Wilson
* Solicitor General for Scotland – Ewan Stewart

### Judiciary

* Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
* Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Grant
* Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay

## Events

* 6 January – closure of the Waverley Line (the Edinburgh–Galashiels–Hawick–Carlisle railway) and The St. Andrews Railway (the branch line from Leuchars).
* 8 February – unusual aurora borealis seen over Scotland.
* 17 March – the Longhope life-boat in Orkney is lost; the entire crew of 8 dies.
* 27 March – first ordination of a woman in the Church of Scotland, Catherine McConnachie by the Presbytery of Aberdeen.
* 28 April – Gordon Gray, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, is elevated to cardinal of the Catholic Church; the first resident cardinal in Scotland for almost 400 years.
* 9 May – formation in Glasgow of the Scottish Minorities Group to campaign for the decriminalisation of gay sexual practices in Scotland.
* 17 May – Scotland beats Cyprus 8–0 in a World Cup Qualifier at Hampden Park.
* May – Ross Pit at Brora is closed by a fire.
* 1 July – John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their children are hospitalised at Golspie following a car accident while on holiday.
* September – the Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland (chaired by Lord Wheatley) reports, recommending a major reorganisation of local government in Scotland substantially as carried out in 1975 under terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
* 9 October – Backwater Reservoir opened to supply the Dundee area.
* 30 October – Glasgow Gorbals by-election: Labour retains the seat but the SNP takes second place from the Conservatives.
* 30 December – the Linwood bank robbery occurs in Linwood, Renfrewshire and three police officers are shot in the aftermath, two fatally.
* The policies of Culzean Castle become Scotland's first country park.

## Births

* 1 January
** Paul Lawrie, golfer and journalist
** Tom Urie, actor
* 13 January – Stephen Hendry, snooker player
* 6 March – Neil Findlay, Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament
* 28 March – Laurie Brett, actress
* April – Kenny Alexander, businessman
* 24 April
** Donna Robertson, judoka and wrestler
** Fiona Robertson, judoka and wrestler
** Eilidh Whiteford, Scottish National Party Member of Parliament
* 11 August – Ashley Jensen, actress
* 25 August – Catriona Matthew, golfer
* 28 September – Angus Robertson, Scottish National Party Member of Parliament
* 13 November – Gerard Butler, actor
* 5 December – Lynne Ramsay film director, writer, producer, and cinematographer best known for the films Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk about Kevin
* 7 December – James Murray, boxer (died 1995)
* 18 December – Irvin Duguid, keyboard player (Stiltskin)
* 24 December – Mark Millar, comic book writer
* 31 December – Dominik Diamond, presenter and newspaper columnist

## Deaths

* 8 May – Sir Sydney Smith, forensic pathologist (born 1883 in New Zealand)
* 10 May – John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan, international rugby player and Liberal politician (born 1901)
* 7 September – Gavin Maxwell, naturalist and author (born 1914)
* 6 December – Florence Horsbrugh, Baroness Horsbrugh, Scottish Unionist Party and Conservative Party politician (born 1889)

## The arts

* George Mackay Brown's short stories A Time to Keep and collected writings An Orkney Tapestry are published.
* Jenny Gilbertson's documentary film Shetland Pony is made.
* Tom Leonard's Six Glasgow Poems are published.
* The cultural magazine New Edinburgh Review begins publication.
* Antonia Fraser's biography Mary Queen of Scots is published.