[1] The Nottingham General Cemetery Company received Royal Assent for their Act of Parliament on 19 May 1836.

In 1837–40, the cemetery gatehouse with almshouses was constructed to the designs of the architect Samuel Sutton Rawlinson at the top of Sion Hill, now Canning Circus.

The wrought iron gates were made by Falconer and Company of Derby.

In 1923 the Medical Officer of Health expressed concern about the future of the cemetery and a bill was taken to Parliament to prevent new burials except in existing family plots.

After the Second World War, the cemetery company went into liquidation, and after a period of ownership by the Crown, the freehold passed to Nottingham City Council in 1956.