1883

Zetland County got its own police force.
Shetland had 81,103 sheep, among them many Cheviots and hardy Blackfaced from Scotland.
Herring boats numbered 792 (up 420 from the previous year) and the catch was 256,487 barrels

January

22nd
The Ann (1883), a wooden hulled sail lugger, of Aithsting, foundered between Papa Little and Vementry while the loss of both souls aboard.

3rd
Two fishermen drowned in a boat accident at Olna Firth.
9th/10th
The Bonafide, a barque, laden with a cargo of coal and coal tar, of and for Arendal, Norway from Bruntisland, Fife, Scotland presumed wrecked on Sumburgh Head with the loss of all hands, after lights observed in the vicinity and wreckage, including ships papers, strewn along the coast.

19th
Sir William Harcourt, Home Secretary in Gladstone's Liberal government, announced in the House of Commons he was setting up a Royal Commission "to inquire into the conditions of the crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland"

5th
Channel fleet visits Lerwick harbour.
13th
The Napier Commission, chaired by Lord Napier, arrived in Shetland to take evidence for "The Royal Commission of inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cotters in the Highlands and Islands". The evidence that Napier collected is an important source of information about rural communities in Scotland in the 1880s and previous decades. However, the government didn't accept Napier's recommendations. Instead it promoted the Crofters Act of 1886, based on similar legislation in Ireland, which gave crofters fair rents and security of tenure.
Findings in PDF format

An unidentified vessel, of either British or American origin, suspected wrecked on the Ve Skerries, after wreckage washed ashore along the west coast of Shetland.

18th/19th
The Labrador, a brigantine or schooner, of Paimpol, France from Antwerp, Belgium and for Sunderland, England laden with a cargo of foundry sand/loam drove from anchor and wrecked in the West Voe of Sumburgh. All of the crew were saved.

1882<->1884