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Kingsbarns

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Description of the parish in 1852

"The parish of Kingsbarns lies in the eastern part of the county, with its eastern side to the German Ocean. Originally it formed part of Crail, but was separated from that parish in 1631. The village lies on the public road round the coast, 6.5 miles south-east from St Andrews, and 3.5 miles north from Crail. It is a thriving little place, and carries on a considerable manufacture of linens for the Dundee market. The largest and best flag-stones in the country are obtained near the village, and marble of a fine quality is met with occasionally. A little to the east of the harbour are the fragments of a castle or palace, once the residence of David I, the remains of which consist chiefly of a wall, now partially enclosing a garden. Pitmilly, a very ancient seat, stands in the northern part of the parish. Fairs are held on the first Tuesday in June, and the third Wednesday in October (old style)." from Slater's Directory published 1852.

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Archives & Libraries

The ScotlandsPlaces website lets users search across national databases by geographical location. It includes, amongst other material,

  • catalogue entries for maps and plans held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh; some maps and plans can be viewed
  • photos and details of historical buildings and archaeological sites recorded by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh
  • 17th and 18th century tax rolls
  • Ordnance Survey [place] Name Books
  • an opportunity to transcribe thousands of historic documents
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Bibliography

A very good description is to be found in the relevant chapter in History of the County of Fife: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time by John M Leighton, published 1840, online at Google Books.

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Cemeteries

Kingsbarns parish has a churchyard and a private mausoleum:

1. Kingsbarns Churchyard / Cemetery, The Square, Kingsbarns (grid ref. NO 593122, GPS: 56.299188 -2.659488):

  • The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are listed in "Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 1 South east parishes" by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061948
  • Some stones are recorded in Graveyard Monuments in East, North and Central Fife, John di Folco, published in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1969-70, vol. 102, pages 205-236, which deals largely with stones dated pre-1707. It can be downloaded from ARCHway.
  • Transcripts of many of the older stones were made by an unknown hand in the 1870s. They are recorded in the Minute Book of the Anstruther Mortsafe Society, 1830-1874, held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. They are included in Publication 38, Monumental Notes part 2, published by the Fife Family History Society.
  • Another listing of the stones has been published by the Fife Family History Society in their Journal, New Series, no. 19.
  • The current lair registers (dating from 1848) are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services East, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TA. Tel. 01334 659336. Fax 01334 412896.
  • A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.

2. The Cambo mausoleum on Cambo Estate (grid ref. NO 600110, GPS: 56.290058 -2.647019):

  • Erected 1821 by Thomas, 9th Earl of Kellie. Burial mausoleum of the Erskines of Cambo. RCAHMS site record
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Census

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 441.

The 1841 and 1851 returns can be searched on the FreeCEN website.

The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society.

The 1861 census has been indexed and can be downloaded here

Some census records on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family Search Centres around the world.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

 184118511861187118811891
Kingsbarns10427021042269103830103992203525208759
(Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Further information on the main Fife page.

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Kingsbarns, Church of Scotland
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Church History

The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) does not mention any dissenters from the Established Church.

The New Statistical Account (written in 1836) gives this information:

  • No dissenting meeting house in the parish.
  • 5 families (21 souls) are of the Burgher persuasion and attend upon a place of worship in Crail.
  • "The heads of the family of Cambo are Episcopalians; but their presence is very frequent in the parish church."

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists only the parish church.

Information and pictures of the churches at the Scottish Churches website.

Details of the church history:

  • Kingsbarns Parish Church:

The parish of Kingsbarns was disjoined from that of Crail and erected as a separate parish by the Commissioners of Teinds on the 9th Feb 1631, the erection was confirmed by Act of Parliament on the 28th June 1633. Kingsbarns parish church, which was erected in 1631, was partly rebuilt many years later in 1811 and in 1976 Kingsbarns established a link with Crail. The Kirk Session of Kingsbarns has sat within the Presbytery of St Andrews throughout its existence.

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Church Records

Data provided by the  Scottish Archive Network (SCAN)

The Parish Church (Established Church, Church of Scotland):

The original Old Parish Registers (of baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages, and deaths / burials) of the Church of Scotland, which cover the years up to 1854, are held in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, and they can all be consulted there at the National Records of Scotland. The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths / burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.

Parish reference number: 441

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):

Kingsbarns OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths
441/1 1642-1739 1650-1760 1663-1760
441/2 1740-1819 1760-1819 1760-1819
441/3 1820-1854 1820-1854 1820-1854
(Data supplied by the National Records of Scotland)
 

The Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland, published 1872, provides this information about the content of the OPRs, including the gaps within them:

B.  Duplicate of portion Sept. 1701 - Feb. 1717. After Jan. 1805, B. M. and D. are entered in separate cols. of the same Register. Exc. Aug. 1663 - Nov. 1679, and July 1713 - Feb. 1717 in one Duplicate, Mothers' names not recorded till No. 1760.
M.  Several leaves at commencement much wasted, and entries partially illegible. Blank March 1658 - Oct. 1663. No entries Nov. 1679 - Oct. 1681. Blank Nov. 1760 - Dec. 1788.
D.  (Deaths and Burials.) Blank Nov. 1678 - Jan. 1688, Nov. 1693 - April 1713. Two leaves (1740 - 1748) partially destroyed.

Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in some local libraries and at LDS Family Search Centres around the world. The indexes to baptisms / births and proclamations / marriages can also be searched on the LDS Family Search website or on the IGI on microfiche in local libraries.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

1040196 Items 2 - 3 Baptisms, 1642-1819, 1817-1854; Marriages, 1650- 1788, 1760-1819, 1817-1854; Mortcloth dues (burial records), 1663-1714; Burials, 1688-1693, 1714-1854; Baptisms, Marriages, 1820-1854.
(Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Deaths / burials are listed on Fife Family History Society's  Pre-1855 Fife Deaths CD.

Further information on the main Fife page.

Kirk Session records are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, with digital copies at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Heritors' Records (HR184) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, with digital copies of the earlier volumes at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

  • CH2/819
    Kingsbarns Kirk Session
    Minutes and accounts, 1630-1648; Minutes, 1663-1954; Accounts, 1760-1853; Baptisms, 1855-1861; Communion roll, 1870-1955; Proclamations, 1876-1894; Certificates of transference, 20th cent.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

  • HR/184
    Kingsbarns parish heritors' records
    Minutes, 1765-1930; Cash books, 1765-1834, 1869-1926; Accounts, 1927-1929; Papers relating to transference to Church of Scotland, 1926-1929.

Other Churches:

The Kingsbarns page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.

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Civil Registration

Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st January 1855. Full information on the main Fife page.

Registration districts covering this parish:

Registration districtnumberstart dateend date
Kingsbarns44118551967
St Andrews45319681971
St Andrews41319722002
Fife4132003 

Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.

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Description & Travel

Kingsbarns churchOrdnance Survey Grid ReferenceGPSPost codeLat. 56°17'57"N
NO 59312256.300473
-2.659271
KY16 8SSLon. 2°39'34"W

Surrounding parishes: Crail, St Andrews.

You can see pictures of Kingsbarns which are provided by:

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Directories

The parish entry in Pigot's National Commercial Directory for the whole of Scotland, 1837, is online at Google Books.

Westwood's Parochial Directory for the Counties of Fife and Kinross for 1862 and 1866 are online at Google Books. On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of the 1862 edition.

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Gazetteers

Several old gazetteers are available. They all contain descriptions of the parish and many are also worth searching for entries of places within the parish.

  • David Webster's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1819, online at Google Books.
  • Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1846, online at British History Online.
  • Barbieri's Descriptive and Historical Gazetteer of the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, published 1857, is at Google Books.
  • Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) and John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887), are on A Vision of Britain (click on "Historical places and writing").
  • Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland(1892-6) on Electric Scotland
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Historical Geography

On 15th May 1891, East Newhall and West Newhall were transferred from the parish of Crail to the parish of Kingsbarns; Grassmiston and Lochton were transferred from Kingsbarns parish to Crail parish.

A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.

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Land & Property

Details of historic buildings and archaeological sites in this parish held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, are catalogued at ScotlandsPlaces. In the results, click RCAHMS. Unfortunately, not all entries have digital images.

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Maps

Historic maps:

Present-day maps:

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NO595118 (Lat/Lon: 56.297099, -2.655637), Kingsbarns which are provided by:

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Obituaries

Andrew Campbell has produced Fife Deaths from Newspapers 1822-1854 - a compilation of deaths recorded in local newspapers. Copies of this index are held by the Fife libraries and the Family History Societies.

Fife Deaths Abroad 1855-1900 - a compilation of overseas deaths recorded in Fife newspapers - has been produced by Andrew Campbell of Fife Family History Society. The Society have re-published it in their Publications Series, 28.

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Occupations

The parish is included in Andrew Campbell's compilation of Fife Shopkeepers and Traders 1820-1870 taken from newspapers and directories. It is available in most Fife reference libraries, in the libraries of the family history societies, and at the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. It is also available as Fife Traders and Shopkeepers on CD from Fife Family History Society.

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

The relief of paupers after 1845 was carried out by the Parochial Board and later by the Parish Council. Their records are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. See Public Records below.

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Population

YearPopulation 
1755871 
1801832 
1851893 
1901652 * boundary changed
1951511 

There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1961 here.

See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.

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Probate Records

Probate records are 'Confirmations' in Scotland.

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Kingsbarns may be found in either the St Andrews Commissariot (CC20) or the Edinburgh Commissariot (CC8) records. From 1824, commissary business has been conducted by the Sheriff Court of Fife at Cupar (SC20).

Indexes and finding aids are given on the main Fife page.

Local sources worth searching for deeds include St Andrews Commissary Court and Cupar Sheriff Court.

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Public Records

Parochial Boards and their successors, Parish Councils, administered many local functions including poor relief.

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

  • FCC/6/38
    Kingsbarns Parish Council
    Minute books, 1927-1930.
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Schools

School Board Records and school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Kingsbarns records:

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

  • Kingsbarns School
    School Board Minute books, 1873-1919; Admissions Registers, 1939-1970; School Log Book, 1910-1983

Entries less than 50 years old may contain sensitive personal information and are not on open access. If you are a former pupil you are entitled to see your own entry. Please contact the Archivist for further details.

Education statistics for Fife schools in 1891-2 list the following board schools in the parish:

School BoardSchoolAccommodation for scholarsAverage attendance
KingsbarnsKingsbarns216116
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Statistics

"Statistical accounts" giving fascinating insights into the local topography and history, social and economic conditions, and even the daily lives of people, were written by the parish ministers in the 1790s and the 1840s. For more information see the main Fife pages

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Taxation

The hearth tax, clock & watch tax, male servants tax, female servants tax, and farm horse tax are all on ScotlandsPlaces.

See also the Early Taxation Records page.