Edinburgh Timeline

10th century	A church may have existed on the site of the present St. Cuthbert’s Church.
1128	Holyrood Abbey founded by David I.
1404	Old Corstorphine Parish Church built by Sir Adam Forrester
1466	St Giles elevated to Collegiate Church by James III. The churchyard runs from the High Street southward to the Cowgate.
15th century	South Leith Church in existence.
1561	Mary, Queen of Scots gives the vacated Greyfriars’ yard to the city.
1585	St Giles churchyard closed due to overcrowding.
1632	A new Parliament House and Court of Session built on a large part of St Giles’ churchyard, tenements built on the remainder of the churchyard. The churchyard ceases to exist.
1645	Outbreak of bubonic plague (last in a number of outbreaks during the 16th and 17th centuries)
1664	North Leith Cemetery opened.
1679	Covenanters defeated at Bothwell Bridge, more than 1,000 survivors imprisoned in Greyfriars.
1691	Canongate Church built and open for burial.
1718	Old Calton Cemetery opened.
1763	Buccleuch Cemetery opened , Deacon Brodie buried there in 1788.
1816	Braid Place Cemetery, first Jewish cemetery in Scotland.
1817	New Calton Cemetery opened.
1818	St John’s (beside St Cuthbert’s at the West End of Princes Street) opened.
1819	Buccleuch Cemetery declared full.
1820	East Preston Street Cemetery opened.
1832	Outbreak of cholera.
1843	Warriston Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh Cemetery Company.
1845	The Dean Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh Western Cemetery Company.
1846	Newington and Dalry Cemeteries opened by the Metropolitan Cemetery Association.
1846	Rosebank Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh and Leith Cemetery Company.
1847	Grange Cemetery opened by the Southern Cemetery Company.
1848	Outbreak of cholera.
1878	Morningside Cemetery opened by the Metropolitan Cemetery Company.
1881	North Merchiston opened by the Edinburgh Cemetery Company.
1883	Eastern Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh Eastern Cemetery Company.
1887	Piershill Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh and Portobello Cemetery Company.
1887	Seafield Cemetery opened by the Leith Cemetery Company.
1895	Mount Vernon RC Cemetery opened.
1898	Comely Bank Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh Cemetery Company.
1919	Saughton Cemetery opened by the Edinburgh Cemetery Company.
1928	Corstorphine Hill Cemetery opened by The Edinburgh Cemetery Company.
1929	Cremation began at Warriston Crematorium.
1939	Crematorium opened at Seafield Cemetery.
1959	Mortonhall opened by Edinburgh Corporation.
1987	Dalry purchased by Edinburgh District Council
1994	North Merchiston, Comely Bank, Newington, Warriston, Saughton and Corstorphine Hill cemeteries purchased by Edinburgh District Council
Over time, churches and cemeteries may change name, here are a few such changes I stumbled across in the Post Office Directory, Map of Edinburgh Leith & Suburbs, 1860.    Now Referred to in the Post Office Directory of 1860 St Cuthbert's Church West Church Warriston Cemetery Edinburgh Cemetery Rosebank Cemetery Edinburgh & Leith Cemetery Dean Cemetery Edinburgh Western Cemetery Dalry Cemetery Western Metroploitan Cemetery Newington Cemetery Southern Metroploitan If there are any discrepencies, errors or important dates I've missed - then please email me with the details.