1762 in Scotland

Events from the year 1762 in Scotland.

Incumbents

10 March – William Robertson is elected Principal of the University of Edinburgh, an office which he will hold until his death in 1793, contributing to the Scottish Enlightenment.{{cite journal|first=Jeffrey R.|last=Smitten|title=Robertson, William (1721–1793)|journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004|edition=Online|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23817|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/23817|url-access=subscription}} {{ODNBsub}}
c. April – new building for Perth Academy occupied.
5 November – John Watson's Institution established in Edinburgh (school closed 1975).
Admiral John Ross of Balnagowan Castle initiates land tenure reform in the Highlands which will evolve into the Highland Clearances.{{cite book|first=Eric|last=Richards|title=A History of the Highland Clearances|location=London|publisher=Croom Helm|year=1982|volume=1|page=249|isbn=978-0-7099-2249-0}}
Economic crisis.{{cite journal|first=H.|last=Hamilton|year=1953|title=Scotland's Balance of Payments Problem in 1762|journal=The Economic History Review|volume=5|issue=3|pages=344–357|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.1953.tb01474.x}}
Joseph Black first makes known his discoveries on latent heat, in Glasgow.{{cite journal|first=R. G. W.|last=Anderson|title=Black, Joseph (1728–1799)|journal=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004|edition=Online|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2495|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/2495|url-access=subscription}}

31 January – Lachlan Macquarie, British Army officer and Governor of New South Wales (died 1824 in London)
2 February – William Balmain, naval surgeon and civil administrator in New South Wales (died 1803 in London)
4 February – James Millar, physician and encyclopædist (died 1827)
30 April – George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore, politician (died 1836)
17 July – Alexander Crombie, Presbyterian minister, schoolmaster and philosopher (died 1840 in London)
11 September – Joanna Baillie, poet and dramatist (died 1851 in London)
28 September – James Horsburgh, hydrographer of the East Indies (died 1836 in Kent)
Approximate date – James Bisset, artist, manufacturer, writer, collector, art dealer and poet (died 1832 in the English midlands)