Craigton Cemetery is a cemetery in south-west

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

dating from the mid-19th century. It stands on Berryknowes Road. The cemetery has a Jewish section containing 230 graves. The cemetery also contains 251 commonwealth war graves from the First and Second World Wars. Partly due to the proximity to

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

, the cemetery has strong links to

Rangers Football Club Rangers Football Club is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers, though this has never been it ...

. The original entrance is to the south-east. A new entrance to the north was created to serve the crematorium. The north half of the cemetery is relatively flat and open. The south half slopes fairly steeply south to north and is more densely filled with monuments. Vandalism in the cemetery is widespread.

History

The cemetery was established in 1871 by the Craigton Cemetery Company to serve south-west Glasgow,

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

and

Partick Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...

. The original cemetery extended to 30 acres on lands of Wester Craigton and Merrylands, previously owned by Robert Urquhart. The main shareholder was Thomas Reid (1831–1900) of the Govan Dye Works. Fellow directors included Morris Pollok (1831–1899) and William McOnie (1813–1894) (later

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

of Glasgow). The first burial took place on 9 June 1873, being that of seven-year-old Isabella Guthrie. From 1876 to 1877, various reburials took place moving earlier graves from Blackfriars Churchyard, which was removed for railway improvements. From 1881, the cemetery also permitted Jewish burials in their own section known as the "Bet Chaim" (House of Life). This section was closed in 1908. Craigton Crematorium lies close to the northern boundary and was added in 1957 to a design by James Maitland Steel. It is currently run by the

Co-op Funeralcare Funeral Services Limited, trading as Co-op Funeralcare, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group, based in Manchester, which operates over 1,000 funeral homes and is the largest funeral director in the United Kingdom, accounting for ...

. The cemetery contains over 150,000 persons.

Notable Interments

* Sir John Anthony (1862–1935) – Provost of

1904 to 1908 * Andrew Brown (1825–1907) – ship designer and Provost of

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

* Joseph Buchanan (1864–1932) – Director and Chairman of

* Dr

Robert Cleghorn Robert Cleghorn MD Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, FFPSG PRMS (1755 – 18 June 1821) was a Scottish physician and pharmacologist. Life Little is known of his early life. He i ...

(1755–1821) – memorial by

Greek Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was ...

reinterred here in 1875 *

Robert Hunter Craig Robert Hunter Craig (1839 – 12 August 1913) was a Liberal Party politician in Scotland. He was elected to the House of Commons as member of parliament (MP) for Glasgow Govan at the 1900 general election, but did not stand again at the 19 ...

(1839–1913) MP for Govan and industrialist * John Simpson Crowther (1845–1914) – Arctic explorer with

Benjamin Leigh Smith Benjamin Leigh Smith (12 March 1828 – 4 January 1913) was an English Arctic explorer and yachtsman. He was the grandson of the abolitionist William Smith. Early life He was born in Whatlington, Sussex, the extramarital child of Ann ...

's expeditions of 1880 and 1881 * Memorial to the 124 victims of the SS Daphne which sank in 1883 – around 50 victims are buried here * Robert Wallace Forsyth (1843–1937) – founder of R. W. Forsyth's department store chain across Scotland * Tom Gracie (1889–1915) – soldier with the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

and footballer with Heart of Midlothian Football Club * Rev John Harper (1872–1912) – the minister who famously preached to the doomed as the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

sank (memorial only) * Victims of the 1902 Ibrox disaster * James Kirkwood (1848–1922) – Provost of

* Robert Murray Laird (1938–1972) – killed in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

* Frank Lilley (1883–1939) – founder of Lilley Construction Company * George Lindsay (1828–1890) – Provost of

Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...

* Lt Robert McBryde (1883–1918)- recipient of the Albert Medal * Charles Mackay (1850–1919) – whisky distiller, joint founder of

Whyte & Mackay Whyte & Mackay Ltd is a company producing alcoholic beverages based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of Alliance Global, Alliance Global Group, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia. History Charle ...

* Peter McNeil (1857–1901) and his older brother William Bain McNeil (1855–1908) – co-founders of

* William McOnie (1813–1894) –

from 1883 to 1886 *

John McPherson John Abel McPherson (28 January 1860 – 13 December 1897) was the first leader of the South Australian United Labor Party from 1892 to 1897. Though he never led a government himself, he helped lay the groundwork which ensured that at the 19 ...

(1868–1926) – footballer with

* John Marr (1835–1916) – Provost of

1901 to 1904 * Sir Thomas Mason (1844–1924) – builder * Daniel Miller (1825–1888) – civil engineer * Alexander Mitchell (1857–1883) – footballer * James Nicholson (1822–1897) – poet and amateur botanist * Ella Osbourne (1884–1915) – memorial to a victim of the doomed

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' was a United Kingdom, British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906. The Royal Mail Ship, the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister three months later, in 1907 regained for Britain the ...

Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet (8 January 1833 – 18 December 1888) was a British shipbuilder, under whose management the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan on the River Clyde became the leading shipbuilding company i ...

(1833–1888) – businessman and politician – monument designed by

Honeyman and Keppie Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman (architect), John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most no ...

Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Honeyman and Keppie *

John Ure Primrose Sir John Ure Primrose, 1st Baronet Deputy Lieutenant, DL LLD (1847–1924) was a Scottish merchant who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1902 to 1905 and as Chairman of Rangers Football Club from 1912 to 1923. He was also Chairman of t ...

(1847–1924) –

from 1902 to 1903 and Chairman of

and his wife Lady Joanna Primrose (1869–1913) philanthropist * Thomas Reid (1831–1900) – Chairman of Nobel Explosives and Provost of

1869 to 1872 * William Reith (1832–1898) – renowned soldier * Rev Sergious (1816–1881) – this unusual monument is modelled on a lectern from the Russian orthodox church- Sergous died during an outbreak of fever on board the ship "Peter the Great" whilst docked in

* Colin Sinclair (1879–1957) – architect * Very Rev John Smith DD FEIS (1854–1927)

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1922/3 * Rev William Sprott (1827–1875) – monument by

Bill Struth William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other posit ...

(1876–1956) – Manager of

under

as Director *

James Whitton James Whitton was an architect and surveyor who worked in Lincoln, Lincolnshire from about 1846 to 1886. His most notable project was the design and layout of Skegness as a holiday resort for Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough. Career Ja ...

(1850–1925) – park designer

References

External links

Craigton Cemetery
Find A Grave {{coord, 55, 50, 58, N, 4, 20, 14, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Cemeteries in Scotland Buildings and structures in Glasgow 1871 establishments in Scotland