1803 in Scotland

Centuries:	17th; 18th; 19th; 20th; 21st;
Decades:	1780s; 1790s; 1800s; 1810s; 1820s;
See also:	List of years in Scotland; Timeline of Scottish history; 1803 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere

Events from the year 1803 in Scotland.

Incumbents

4 January – William Symington demonstrates his Charlotte Dundas, the "first practical steamboat".
27 July – Caledonian Canal authorized by Act of Parliament and construction begins;^[1] Thomas Telford also this year begins work on improving roads in Scotland under the auspices of the Commissioners of Highland Roads and Bridges.^[2] and on his recommendation the British Fisheries Society acquires the site of Pulteneytown at Wick for development.
Kelso Bridge, designed by John Rennie, completed.
First Boulton and Watt steam engine in Scotland installed at an Aberdeen paper mill.^[3]
Lismore Seminary is opened by the Catholic Church.
Most of the 'Luckenbooths' in High Street, Edinburgh are demolished, opening up the prospect of St Giles' Cathedral.^[4]

15 January – Marjorie Fleming, child writer (died 1811)
3 April – David Bryce, architect (died 1876)
16 April – Edward Maitland, Lord Barcaple, judge (died 1870)
12 July – Thomas Guthrie, Free Church preacher and philanthropist (died 1873)^[5]
10 September – Robert Wilson, mechanical engineer, inventor of the screw propeller (died 1882 in England)
16 October – James Edward Alexander, soldier, author and traveller (died 1885)
25 December – Donald Gregory, antiquarian (died 1836) and his twin brother William Gregory, chemist and psychic investigator (died 1858)^[6]
George Patton, Lord Glenalmond, judge (suicide 1869)

2 April – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, politician and judge (born 1721)
6 April – William Hamilton, diplomat (born 1730)
3 June – Lord George Murray, Bishop of St David's and developer of the UK's first optical telegraph (born 1761)
18 August – James Beattie, poet and philosopher (born 1735)
Approximate date – Johnnie Notions (John Williamson), self-taught physician, pioneer of inoculation (born c. 1730)

^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 239–240. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ Hills, Richard L. (2015). Papermaking in Britain 1488-1988: A Short History (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 162. ISBN 9781474241274. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
^ "History of Edinburgh". Visions of Scotland. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
^ "Rev. Thomas Guthrie, 1803-1873, Preacher and philanthropist". National Galleries Scotland. 1862. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
^ Brock, W. H. (2004). "Gregory, William (1803–1858)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11475. Retrieved 8 July 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)