March – meeting in Edinburgh to discuss formation of the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society.
6 July – the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway becomes the first public railway line to open in Scotland. It begins life as a 9.5-mile (16-kilometre), horse-drawn waggonway to carry coal from Kilmarnock to Troon harbour.[1] On 27 June the horse-drawn passenger coach Caledonia began running over the line between Troon and Gargieston, near Kilmarnock.[2]