EXTRACT FROM THE WEB PAGE OF EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL - OWNERS OF THE CEMETERY
The 0.76 hectare Neilston Cemetery opened in 1875 to replace the churchyard surrounding Neilston Parish Church, with an official opening ceremony in 1878. The land used was probably formerly farmland. Many of the fine headstones in the 'new' cemetery were by noted monumental sculptors, William Robin of Paisley and Martin Scott & Co, Glasgow.
The 1897 Second Edition Ordnance Survey map records the cemetery opening off Neilston Road through a carriage gate with side gates, and a gate lodge to the left hand side. Early planting probably included Holly and Yew. The central carriage drive continues north-west up the hill to a central turning circle and footpaths follow the walled perimeter of the grounds. Early family lairs include Cleland, Wilson and Shanks.
The 1913 Ordnance Survey map shows the cemetery more than doubled in size to 1.8 hectares and extending to Lochlibo Road in the north-west, with the addition of another carriage entrance with side gates, and the carriage turning circle relocated centrally between the two entrances.
A drinking fountain was installed adjacent to the turning circle and a glasshouse and cold frames built alongside the gate lodge. Tree planting in this phase included yew, cedar, sycamore and turkey oak. Turner of Parkhouse and a further branch of the Shanks family were amongst the first interments in the extended cemetery.
William Shanks JP, the first Provost of Barrhead, was buried in the family plot in 1929 and in 1934 Kate Cranston, of the Glasgow Willow Tearooms fame, was interred in the Cochrane family lair. By 1939 the cemetery has been extended to the south-west increasing the area to 3.5 hectares.
In 2000 the area of the cemetery was again doubled to around 7 hectares and is now bounded by Neilston Road, Lochlibo Road and Donnies Brae. The first burial in the new extension took place in February 2001.