1857 in Scotland

Centuries:	17th; 18th; 19th; 20th; 21st;
Decades:	1830s; 1840s; 1850s; 1860s; 1870s;
See also:	List of years in Scotland; Timeline of Scottish history; 1857 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere

Events from the year 1857 in Scotland.

Incumbents

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.^[1]
9 November – The Western Bank of Scotland (Glasgow) collapses.^[2]
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.^[3]
First whaler to be fitted with a steam engine, the Tay at Dundee.^[4]
W. C. Stewart publishes The Practical Angler.

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)