New tours help ‘Tobacco Barons' graveyard give up its secrets

The Herald Scotland

15-06-2025

New a newly-formed group is helping the graveyard where many of the merchants are buried give up its secrets.
Friends of the Ramshorn Graveyard has launched free guided tours of The Ramshorn Graveyard, one of Glasgow's most historic burial sites.
Opened in Ingram Street in 1719, the graveyard predates The Glasgow Necropolis by more than 100 years and is the final resting place of many prominent Glaswegians, including John Anderson, founder of Anderson's Institution - forerunner of the University of Strathclyde, industrialist David Dale and tobacco merchants Andrew Buchanan and John Glassford.
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In 1893's Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society, Colin Dunlop Donald wrote that, for a long time, the graveyard was "the most fashionable in Glasgow".
He added: "To give a list of all the well-known men who owned lairs or were buried in this kirkyard would be endless, and tend but little to edification, while to write a full notice of them would need a volume."
Other names mentioned by Dunlop Donald include: "Alexander or "Picture" Gordon; John Wilson, of Kelvinbank, the well-known town clerk;
Charles Wilsone, Surgeon; William Angus, probably the most successful teacher ever known in Glasgow; James Henderson, of Enoch Bank; Robert Gray, the great silversmith; and Robin Carrick, of the Ship Bank".
In 1814, Glasgow's own grave-robber, anatomist and surgeon Granville Sharp Pattison was tried over the theft of a body from the graveyard.
Meanwhile, the graveyard is also the final resting place of a man whose death was at the centre of one of Glasgow's most sensational murder trials. In 1857, socialite Madeleine Smith, then 22, was accused of murdering her lover, Pierre Emile L'Angelier, by poisoning him with arsenic. Her letters – which contained risqué detail of their relationship – were read out in court and printed in the newspapers of the time.
The tours take place on Wednesdays in June, July and August (Image: MCTCC)
In 2021, fears were raised over the future of the historic greenspace after it was closed off to members of the public during the Covid pandemic. However, it reopened to the public a year later after funds to reopen and maintain it were included in the Glasgow City Council Budget.
Councillor Angus Millar said at the time: "The Ramshorn churchyard is quite an unusual space in the sense that it's a really historic area of the city centre.
"There's so much history in terms of the range of hugely interesting people who've been buried here, and I think the stories that we can tell about the history of Glasgow by welcoming people into the space and perhaps improving the experience so that people can learn more about the history.
"It's a fantastic green space within the heart of the city centre, a quiet space, you can't hear any traffic, anything but the sounds of the birds in the trees and it's a brilliant place for people to come to sit, to enjoy and it's fantastic to see it open again."
Cllr Eva Bolander added: "There are so many people buried in here who have played a huge part in the history of Glasgow, and also history around the world."
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The tours of the graveyard begin outside the adjacent Ramshorn Church on Ingram Street. Originally built as St David's Parish Church in 1826, The Ramshorn replaced a church that had stood on the site since 1720. Now an A-listed building, it was designed by English architect Thomas Rickman in the Gothic Revival style.
The University of Strathclyde bought The Ramshorn in 1983 and it operated as a theatre and performance space from 1992 to 2011. Since 2019 it has been home to Scotland's National Centre for Languages and the Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools.
The guided tours, which take place on Wednesdays in June, July and August, are an initiative of Merchant City and Trongate Community Council - a residents' forum and pressure group for the Merchant City and Trongate area of Glasgow.
According to the community council, the guided tours "recount the graveyard's history in the context of the development of Glasgow and include the darker side of its past such as the activities of grave-robbers".
David Hughes, Chairman of Friends of the Ramshorn Graveyard, commented: 'Reaction to the tours has been overwhelming with visitors coming from far and wide, including overseas guests, to discover more about people who made Glasgow one of the leading cities of the world.'
There is a limit of 16 places on the tours, which start at 11am outside the gates of the Ramshorn Church.
Anyone who wants to discover more about the graveyard and the famous individuals buried there can book a tour by sending an email to [e-mail].
Under 18s must be companied by an adult. Donations are welcome.