Ramshorn Cemetery
The Ramshorn Cemetery is a cemetery in Scotland and one of Glasgow's older burial grounds. It has had various names, both official and unofficial: North West Parish Kirkyard; St David's Kirkyard; and Ramshorn and Blackfriars. The latter name tells of its link to Blackfriars Church, linking in turn to the pre-Reformation connection to the Blackfriars Monastery in Glasgow.[1]
The burial ground was used from 1719 to 1915.[2] In the 20th century it was remodelled along the lines of the London Improvements Act, moving most stones to the perimeter to create a usable park area. Apart from some flat stones still remaining in-situ this has largely disconnected the stones to the actual spot of interment.
In 1813 the body of Janet McAlister was stolen from the graveyard, being found with 4 others in College Street Medical School.[3]
In 1824 the church of St David was built on its southern side, designed in a fine Gothic style by the English architect Thomas Rickman, with modifications by local architect James Cleland.[4]
The cemetery is effectively in three sections: the original cemetery; an enclosed central walled area where the old church stood; and two small walled sections flanking the new church. Unusually monuments adopt only two forms: wall monuments and flat slabs, other than a small row of small 18th-century stones upright but partly sunk into the ground, standing in a line to the north-east.
Despite its great simplicity, the majority of graves are to rich Glasgow merchants. The austere style is a hangover from Scottish Calvinist views.
Notable interments
- John Anderson (theologian and controversialist) (1668-1721)
- John Anderson (natural philosopher) (1726-1796)
- James Brash (d.1844) and his father James Brash, booksellers
- Andrew Buchanan of Drumpellier (1690-1759), tobacco merchant, Lord Provost of Glasgow 1740-42
- Robert Carrick (1737-1821) banker and millionaire (unmarked grave) a notedly unloved man
- Rev Prof James Couper (1752-1836), astronomer
- David Dale (1739-1806) merchant and social reformer
- Prof John Alexander Easton (1807-1865)
- Rev Prof Robert Findlay (minister) (1721-1814) and his son Robert (1745-1862)
- Rev James Fisher, maternal grandfather of Rev Ralph Wardlaw
- Andrew Foulis (printer) (1716-1775)
- Robert Foulis (printer) (1707-1776)
- John Glassford (1719-1783), tobacco merchant
- Pierre Emile L'Angelier (1823-1857), the victim in the famous Madeleine Smith murder case
- William Logan and Jane Johnston, founders of Logan and Johnston's Orphan Hospital
- Henry Monteith (1764-1848) Lord Provost of Glasgow 1814-1816
- Andrew Dryburgh Provand (1838-1915) MP
- Simon Ross (d.1818)
- Moses Stevens of Bellahouston (1806-1871)
- Hugh Wylie (d.1782), Lord Provost of Glasgow 1780-82
Other monuments
A memorial to the Canadian politician, John A. Macdonald born in Ramshorn Parish in 1815
References
- ^ "Blackfriar's Church - East End Glasgow History". glasgowhistory.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "FREE Scottish family tree inscriptions and links from HappyHaggis". happyhaggis.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA03637
- ^ "Discover Glasgow - Religious - Ramshorn Kirk and Graveyard". discoverglasgow.org. Retrieved 7 May 2016.