In 1937, the Presbyterians of Puslinch petitioned to the Crown Lands Department in Toronto and received Lot 28, Concession 8 to be used forevermore as burial grounds. The first cemetery board was formed in 1886 and included R.B. Morrison, Hugh Cockburn, Charles Calfass, Robert Watson, and Allan Stewart. In 1886, a meeting was held to address the neglect of the cemetery leading to series of improvements in the following years. Trees were planted, roads were grated, and in 1893 a house was built on the grounds for the caretaker. Initiatives to repair neglect in the cemetery were undertaken again in 1929 and 1934.

The oldest grave containing records in this cemetery is dated 1837. The Farnham area of Puslinch was originally designed as an English village by pioneers Thomas and John Arkell. To achieve this vision, they erected a church in 1845, built on the grounds of the cemetery. The village never came to fruition, and the church was dismantled in 1945, but the cemetery remains as a symbol of English history in Puslinch. The original draft drawing for the cemetery is still preserved on a canvas of linen. The current Chapel was constructed in 1977 and the cemetery is maintained by volunteers today.

Thomas Arkell, the Arkell family, the Carter family.

This plot began its operation as a cemetery in 1845 along with a church called “Kirkland Church”. This church was replaced by the Howitt Memorial Church in 1888 with services being held until 1979. Eventually it became the target of heavy vandalism, leading to its demolition in 1983. That same year, the Waterloo Presbytery claimed they could no longer afford to care for the cemetery and requested the Township take over maintenance. The Township agreed and took ownership.

The names Crane, Howitt, Richardson, Evans, and Thompson appear frequently.

In 1831, “Little” John Thomson purchased Lot 10, Concession 1 for his father. Not too long after, his brothers began to die of tuberculosis which they had contracted on their journey from Kintyre, Argyllshire, Scotland, to Puslinch. The first two of the brothers died in 1834 with two more following in 1840, and 1852. Burials continued on this plot until October of 1872, when the property owners, John Thomson and Donald Ferguson, officially deeded the land to three cemetery trustees and a secretary treasurer. Today, the cemetery is maintained by volunteers.

The Thomson boys.

The cemetery was opened in 1838, the same year the original log church was constructed. The cemetery is located behind the church. The first recorded burial was Harriet Thomas on April 11, 1851.

The Chapel was built in 1861 with a small cemetery established on its grounds. The cemetery was rededicated in 1965 when the existing headstones were regrouped onto a memorial cairn.

The Crieff cemetery opened in 1854 when a frame church was built on land originally belonging to Alexander Fraser. The church has been recognized for its ties to Scottish immigration and Gaelic heritage. Rev. Andrew McLean was brought to Puslinch from Scotland by his son to give Gaelic sermons in the church. After his death in 1873, McLean was buried in the Crieff cemetery. In 1916, his widow died and her body was transported back to the cemetery which had fallen to neglect. This was when their son, Col. J. B. McLean, founder of Canadian magazine “Maclean’s”, decided to conduct a complete renovation of the church yard and ensure its permanent maintenance. Today, the Crieff cemetery surrounds the church.

Cross Roads Church has an adjoining cemetery called “Cross Roads Cemetery”. The exact date the cemetery opened is unknown, but the first recorded burial is dated 1867. Over the years, many different religious denominations have used this site as burial grounds. Today, only a few headstones remain to the west of the church.