1778
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
January
- 16th
The vessel Elizabeth (1778), with a mixed cargo of flax, staves and linseed, of and for Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, from Memel, Prussia (now Klaipėda, Lithuania), wrecked at 'Meal'. It has not known whether 'Meal' refers to Meal Beach or the Sands of Mail.
July
- 2nd
The manse of Lerwick was to be rebuilt. The Nesting heritors Arthur Nicholson and Mr. Hunter objected to their assessments based on their number of merks and brought a case against Sir Laurence Dundas to share in the expenses. The Court of Sessions ruled that parochial duties were to fall solely on the proprietors and that Sir Laurence would be exempt for any land of which he was only the superior.
August
- 24th
An unidentified sailing sloop, laden with a cargo of lime, caught fire and was beached at an unspecified location at Lerwick. It is understood she became a total loss.
September
- 8th
George Heneage Laurence Dundas, MP for Orkney and Shetland, was born.
November
- 12th
The Jufron Ingester, a sail brig laden with a cargo of hides, tallow, oil and cloth, of and for Copenhagen, Denmark, from Iceland, wrecked on Isbister Holm, Whalsay. One soul was lost, as was the cargo.