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Scotland |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  |
Information related to all of Fife |
"FIFE, a maritime county of the east side of Scotland, lying nearly in the middle
of the lowland region, which is bounded by the Lammermoors on the south, and the Grampians
on the north. It is a peninsula, enclosed by the frith of Tay on the north, the German
ocean on the east, and the frith of Forth on the south; and it marches on the west with
Perthshire, Kinross-shire, and Clackmannanshire ...The southern coast is, for the most
part, indented by small rocky bays with corresponding projecting headlands; but along the
banks of the Tay, the grounds slope gently toward the beach, and are generally cultivated
to the river's edge. Along the north-eastern shore, towards St Andrews, it presents one
large plain, terminating in a flat beach of sand." |
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The parish index page leads to greater detail about all the parishes in the Kingdom of Fife. Towns and villages are also included in this gazeteer.
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National collections, all with a lot of material concerning Fife:
Local collections:
An excellent guide to the location of pre-1900 archive material of genealogical and local historical importance is "The Archives of Fife" by Andrew Campbell, published 1997, which is available from the Fife Family History Society or the Tay Valley Family History Society
There are also several excellent museums in the county.
The cemeteries page has a list of all Council-maintained burial places, and a few private ones. Records for cemeteries currently in use are held by various Fife Council offices. There are also a few older records held by Fife Council Archives. Details of all cemeteries and their records are given on the parish pages.
The Scottish Genealogy Society has published three volumes of pre-1855 monumental inscription listings for Fife.
Fife Family History Society have produced the Pre-1855 Fife Deaths CD which contains the details of over 250,000 deaths in Fife extracted from burial registers, kirk session records, monumental inscriptions, newspapers, wills and testamants, etc.
The Fife Family History Society, the Tay Valley Family History Society and the main local libraries have copies of many monumental inscriptions and burial registers.
There has been a census every ten years since 1801, excluding 1941, but only those returns from 1841 onwards carry details of named residents. (Earlier listings for the parishes of Abdie and Carnbee have survived.) The latest that is currently available for inspection is for 1901. All census returns are held at the General Register Office, Edinburgh and can be consulted there.
The 1841 and 1851 censuses were organised on a parish basis. The census reference number will be the same as the Old Parish Register (OPR) reference number. From 1861, censuses were organised on a registration district basis. There were some differences between the 2 different administrative areas. Some addresses will therefore appear in a different area, under a different reference number, from one census to another. Differences are noted on the relevant parish pages. There is a list of the census parish / district reference numbers here.
The original copies of many Fife 1841 census records were lost in transit to Edinburgh and are therefore unavailable. The parishes are: Abdie, Auchtermuchty, Balmerino, Ceres, Collessie, Creich, Cults, Cupar, Dairsie, Dunbog, Kinghorn, Kinglassie, Kirkcaldy and Leslie. Some other parishes (e.g. Arngask, Burntisland and Kennoway) are known to have missing books.
The 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses are indexed and online at Scotland's People - the online database of Scottish Birth, Marriage, Death & Census records at the General Register Office. They can be searched and copies of the census pages can be purchased. For 1881 only, copies of the pages are not available but transcripts can be purchased.
The 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses are available on ancestry.co.uk (indexed transcripts, no images of the pages).
Many returns for 1841 are now available on the FreeCEN website (the parish pages will indicate if they are available).
The census returns for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 have been microfilmed by the LDS church and may be consulted in their Family History Centres around the world. The LDS library catalogue numbers for the films are given here.
Microfilms of the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census are held by both the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society; and are in some local libraries.
The 1881 census has been transcribed and indexed and is available at LDS Family History Centres, some libraries and some family history societies. It may also be purchased (on CD) from the LDS.
The 1851 census for Fife is being indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society. Their Bookshop List gives details of those parishes completed.
An index to the 1891 census is available on microfiche at some local libraries and family history societies.
A Vision of Britain provides census statistics and graphs from the 1801 census onwards.
Histpop, the online historical population reports website, in its census section provides access to all the published population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 - 1937. The site has a huge amount of statistical information both at a county level and at a parish or district level. There is no personal information on the site.
A census of Religious Worship and Education was taken in 1851 at the same time as the census of population. A table of statistics about the churches in Fife at this time is available here.
Tommy Manson has a useful page listing the churches in Fife in 1893.
Information about the church records for each parish will be found on the parish pages.
The original Old Parish Registers, sometimes called the Old Parochial Registers, abbreviated to OPRs, are held in the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh, and can all be consulted there. They comprise the registers of baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages, and burials / deaths of the parish Church of Scotland for the years up to 1854. There is a list of the OPR parish reference numbers here.
The births / baptisms and proclamations / marriages (but not burials / deaths) indexes can be searched at Scotland's People - the online database of Scottish Birth, Marriage, Death & Census records at the General Register Office. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.
Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family History Centres around the world. The birth / baptism & proclamation / marriage records are indexed on the IGI (International Genealogical Index) on microfiche and online at the LDS website (see below). Copies of the films (not necessarily of all parishes) are also held by both the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society; and in some local libraries. There is a list of the LDS library reference numbers for the OPR films here.
The Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland, published 1872, gives details of the coverage of the OPR volumes including the gaps within them. These pages list the information about the Fife parishes.
Deaths and burials are listed on Fife Family History Society's Pre-1855 Fife Deaths CD.
The searchable LDS website - IGI and Family search:Note on using IGI Batch Numbers:
It is not always easy to locate your ancestors in the IGI using the search mechanisms provided at the above LDS site. Manually typing the batch numbers into the IGI search screen can be tedious. Hugh Wallis has made an exhaustive search of the likely ranges of batch numbers and created a database of those numbers and the source records that they apply to. A very powerful feature included is a hotlink from each batch number to the actual search engine provided at the Family Search site, including the ability to enter the surname you are looking for. This makes it very easy to search all the batches for a particular geographic location using just the last name you are searching for - something that is not possible directly from the LDS site without doing a lot of typing. This is Hugh Wallis's site.The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general wellbeing of the congregation and, particularly in centuries past, parochial discipline. Kirk Session records for the Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Presbyteries are held in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. Those for the Cupar and St Andrews Presbyteries are held in the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. Some Kirk Session material is often to be found amongst the Old Parish Registers. The Kirk Session records are currently being scanned with a view to making them more widely available.
The Heritors were the landowners in each parish who were responsible (until 1925) for the maintenance of the church and manse and (before 1878) for the parochial school. They were also responsible, with the Kirk Session, for the Poor of the parish until 1845. Their records are also to be found in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Records of the Synods and Presbyteries are to be found in either the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library.
Records of many other churches, particularly Free Churches and United Presbyterian Churches, are also to be found in either the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. Some of these records include baptism and marriage registers. Many of these have been transcribed and published by the Fife Family History Society. Some of these records are also available on microfilm in LDS Family History Centres and there is a list of them and their library reference numbers here.
Photocopies of pre-1855 Roman Catholic registers of baptisms and marriages at Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy are held by the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. Roman Catholic marriages which took place in Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh (St Mary's, Broughton Street) prior to 1855 have been transcribed and published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 22 - Fife Roman Catholic Marriage Registers 1793 - 1854.
Records of the Synods and Presbyteries are to be found in either the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library.
Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st January 1855. The original registers are held by the General Register Office in Edinburgh and they can all be consulted there.
Many of these records can be searched and copies of certificates can be ordered at Scotland's People - the online database of Scottish Birth, Marriage, Death & Census records at the General Register Office. Records currently available online are Births (1855-1906), Marriages (1855-1931) and Deaths (1855-1956).
Copies of some of the records on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family History Centres around the world. The records available on film are for 1855 - 1875, 1881 and 1891. The LDS library catalogue numbers for the films are given for births, marriages and deaths. The births and marriages for 1855 - 1875 are included in the IGI (see Church Records above).
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts. Unfortunately there are no published maps which show registration district boundaries. The parish pages indicate which registration districts covered each parish.
There is a list of Registration Offices in Fife, together with their opening hours and telephone numbers. Unlike their English counterparts, local registrars in Fife may not necessarily hold all the historic registers for their district. These older registers are now held by the larger area registration offices (e.g. at Cupar and Dunfermline). Because of this, searches and applications for copies are better conducted at the General Register Office in Edinburgh.
Histpop, the online historical population reports website, in its Registrar General section provides access to all the published registration reports from 1855 - 1920, giving statistical information on numbers of births, marriages and deaths, as well as some medical statistics. There is no personal information on the site.
Fife Family History Society have produced Fife Convicts Transportees 1752-1867 which lists convicts transported to Australia, America and the West Indies.
An Index to Consistorial Processes and Decreets at the Commissariot of Edinburgh, 1658 - 1800, is available online. These are court actions concerning marriage, legitimacy and divorce.
The Sheriff Court Book of Fife, 1515-1522 was published by the Scottish History Society in 1928.
Edinburgh University Geography Department are producing the first new Gazetteer of Scotland since 1885. There are extensive entries for Fife (scroll to the bottom of the Fife page for an index).
Web pages with much interesting Fife material, including some beautiful photographs, are on Tommy Manson's Fife Post.
There are many photographs in the St Andrews University photographic collection and the George Washington Wilson collection at Aberdeen University.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions from various gazetteers.
There are short commercial listings for Cupar, Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy in Holden's Annual Directory 1811 available on CD from S&N Genealogy Supplies.
The County of Fife is included in Pigot's 1825/6 Directory of Scotland, available on CD from Archive CD Books.
Pigot's 1837 Directory of Fife & Forfarshire is available on CD from S&N Genealogy Supplies, and on microfiche by Nick Vine Hall, available from Gould Genealogy in Australia.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.
Fife Family History Society have produced two publications: Fife Emigrants and their Ships - part 1 - Australia and New Zealand and Fife Emigrants and their Ships - part 2 - Australia and New Zealand (Publication 30). Both contain biographies of Fifers who have migrated overseas.
Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1846, online at British History, contains parish descriptions. It is also worth searching for places within the parishes.
Barbieri's Descriptive and Historical Gazetteer of the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, published 1857, is at Google Books.
Descriptive gazetteer entries for the county, each parish and some places within the parishes, from 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 descriptions").
There is an online Kingdom of Fife Surnames List. If you are researching any names in the Fife area, please add your interests to this list.
Details of Fife Mailing Lists - part of a much larger collection of "Genealogy Resources on the Internet" - pages maintained jointly by John Fuller and Chris Gaunt.
Both the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society have mailing lists for their members.
Ideas for messages to the Lists may include:The Fife pages of the World GenWeb project contain links to other pages of Fife material.
On 15th May 1891, there were changes to the boundaries of several parishes and to the boundaries between Fife, Perthshire and Kinross. Details are given on the individual parish pages. However, the most important changes were that the complete parishes of Culross and Tulliallan were transferred from Perthshire to Fife; and Arngask and Abernethy were transferred to Perthshire.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.
Fife Family History Society have transcribed the Prospectus of the East of Fife Railway 1845.
Valuation Rolls for various dates from 1855-1975 are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh (ref. VR101 - Fife, VR113 - Culross & Tulliallan), the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library, and the Fife Council Archive Service.
Robin Alston has created The Country House Database, a very useful reference source, "listing country houses in the British Isles from the late medieval period to ca. 1850, together with an index to all the families so far traced as having occupied them". It includes a section on Fife.
Information about many Fife buildings can be found by searching the Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1840-1940.
Fife is included in the 1873 Return of Owners of Land (Scotland), published as Scottish Landowners and Heritages 1872/3 on CD from S&N Genealogy Supplies. This includes all those who owned more than1 acre of land.
2 books deal comprehensively with the architecture of Fife:
Historic maps:
Present-day maps:
The published census reports, available online at histpop, give information on the birthplaces of those who were resident in Scotland. This allows a picture of the internal migration (population movement within Britain) to be built up. The population reports give information about
The figures for 1841 (not as comprehensive as for other years), and 1911 are analysed here.
Fife FHS have provided a list of Fife men who enlisted 1794 - 1801 in the Loyal Tay Fencibles.
Regiments.org describes all regiments (including militia and volunteers), and their amalgamations and name changes, with bibliographies. It includes The Fife & Forfar Yeomanry, The Fife Yeomanry Cavalry, The Fife Artillery, The Fife Militia, The 1st Fifeshire Rifle Volunteers and the Black Watch. **This website is currently not available.**
The Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle commemorates nearly 150,000 Scottish casualties in the First World War, 1914 - 1918, over 50,000 in the Second World War, 1939 - 1945, and the campaigns since 1945, including the Malayan Emergency, the Korean War, Northern Ireland, the Falklands War and the Gulf War. You can carry out an on-line search of the Scottish Roll of Honour.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's "Debt of Honour Register" is the Commission's database listing the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars and the 23,000 cemeteries, memorials and other locations worldwide where they are commemorated. The register can also be searched for details of the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action in the Second World War. This site records some Scots not listed on the Scottish National War Memorial, and, for those listed in both databases, contains some additional information.
An increasing number of military records held by The National Archives (TNA), Kew, can be searched online at DocumentsOnline, including those for World War 1 Campaign Medals, World War 2 Seamen's Medals, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and Registers of [Royal Navy] Seamen's Services (1873-1923).
Other records held at TNA can be searched in their Catalogue, including soldiers discharged to pension (WO97 and WO121).
The Military Badge Identification Website may help identify a soldier's regiment or a sailor's division.
There are several websites about the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
including:
the
Army's own site (unfortunately doesn't display in all
browsers), the
Scots at War site, and the
Scottish Military
Historical Society. See also their museum above.
The publication The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
and 14th (F. & F. Yeo.) Battn. R.H. 1914-1919 by David D Ogilvie, is available at
Project Gutenberg.
Many Fife men served with The Black Watch.
Fife Family History Society's Publications Series, No. 25, Some Fife Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen has articles about Fife holders of the Victoria Cross, Fifers in South Africa 1900-01, some Fife Soldiers from World War 1, and some Fife Veterans.
Tommy Manson has a page giving the meanings of Fife placenames.
The Ordnance Survey [Place] Name Books 1850-1854 are held by the Fife Council Archive Service and Cupar, Dunfermline & Kirkcaldy libraries. There are indexes to all parishes except Culross and Tulliallan on the Fife Council website (select A in the A-Z list, then Archives).
Historical editions of The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh, can be searched online for the period 1817 - 1950.
You can search the Newspaper Library Catalogue of the British Library Newspaper Library at Colindale, London to find details of the newspapers which have been published and which are held by the Newspaper Library. Search results give the catalogue reference numbers and dates held at Colindale for the title concerned, whether on microfilm or in hard copy, and any changes in title.
The National Library of Scotland is the main repository for Scottish newspapers, although Fife's local libraries and the Newspaper Library at Colindale, London, may provide easier access to copies. The National Library does, however, have an online guide to Scottish newspaper indexes.
There is a listing of current Scottish newspapers. Those of particular local interest in Fife include: The Courier (Dundee), The Fife Free Press, Fife Online, and The Scotsman (Edinburgh).
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.
Andrew Campbell has also 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.
Many references to places and persons in Fife are to be found in the searchable Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707.
Local government records for the whole of the county of Fife from 1709 are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. They cover the functions which Fife Council still looks after today including roads maintenance, bridges, schools, police, etc. Also held there are records of most of the Parochial Boards and Parish Councils.
Records of the former burghs (towns) in Fife are held at several locations. Details will be found on the parish pages.
The Fife Council website has further information concerning present-day local government - including Registration, Archives, Cemeteries, etc.
Until 1845, the relief of paupers was carried out by the Kirk Session and the Heritors (see Church Records).
The relief of paupers after 1845 was carried out by the Parochial Boards and later by the Parish Councils. Their records are at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
Peter Higginbotham has a detailed website about workhouses and poorhouses. There were 3 poorhouses in Fife: Dunfermline combination, Dysart combination and Kirkcaldy combination.
Records of the Dysart Combination Poorhouse are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Fife Family History Society have published an index covering the period 1868-1880 in their Publications Series, 34.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 81570 |
| 1801 | 93743 |
| 1851 | 153546 |
| 1901 | 218837 |
| 1951 | 306778 |
| 2001 | 349429 |
There is a page with census statistics for all Fife parishes from 1755 to 1961 here.
A Vision of Britain provides population statistics from the 1801 census onwards.
Histpop, the online historical population reports website, provides statistics in the published population (census) reports (1801 - 1937).
Good online background information about this subject can be found at the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) Knowledge Base, in the National Archives of Scotland online guides, and on the Scotland's People website.
Prior to 1824, most Fife testaments will be found in either the St Andrews Commissariot (CC20) or the Edinburgh Commissariot (CC8) records. These records are held at the National Archives of Scotland. Printed indexes to these records up to 1800 were published by the Scottish Record Society. Indexes to the all the testaments are now available on the Scotland's People website. This site has a searchable index to Scottish Wills and Testaments from 1513 - 1901, comprising over 611,000 names of 'defuncts'. The indexes may be searched free, and copies of the documents may be viewed and purchased.
From 1824 to 1960, commissary court business was conducted by the Sheriff Court of Fife at Cupar (SC20). These records are also held at the National Archives of Scotland. Entries from the registers of inventories and settlements (wills) up to 1875 are included on the Scotland's People site. From 1876 - 1901, entries in the printed Calendar of Confirmations are included on the site. There are no online indexes for testaments after 1901.
For deaths which occurred after 13 October 1960, commissary business has been conducted at Cupar (SC20), Dunfermline (SC21) and Kirkcaldy (SC23) Sheriff Courts.
The wills of some Scottish soldiers and airmen, 1857-1964, are held by the National Archives of Scotland.
Scots who owned goods or investments in England were supposed to have their wills proved in England as well as Scotland. Wills proved before 1858 at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are held at The National Archives, Kew, and can be searched online at DocumentsOnline. This database also has a few Scots listed in the Death Duty registers.
Many wills can be found in the collections of Deeds deposited in various courts.
Some of these have been indexed and some have indexes online.
The Records pages of the Fife Family History Society's
website have indexes to the following:
Before1878, the parochial schools were the responsibility of the Heritors of each parish (see Church Records), although mention is frequently made to them in the Kirk Session papers.
After 1878, School Boards were created. Their records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
A census of Religious Worship and Education was taken in 1851 at the same time as the census of population. There is a table of statistics about the schools and Sunday schools in Fife in 1851 here.
There are two family history societies which cover this area.
The Fife Family History Society website has a wide range of information relating to Fife, plus details of their publications and how to join. Many of their resources are housed in Methil Library.
The Tay Valley Family History Society covers the former counties of Fife, Angus, Perthshire & Kinross, and the city of Dundee. They have a Research Centre, with an excellent library, at 179-181 Princes Street, Dundee.
"Statistical accounts" were written on nearly every parish in Scotland on three occasions - in the 1790s (the "Old Statistical Account"), in the 1840s (the "New Statistical Account") and in the 1950s (the "Third Statistical Account"). The author was usually the parish minister. They give fascinating insights into the local topography and history, social and economic conditions, and even the daily lives of people of those times. Published versions include:
A Vision of Britain provides statistics on population, housing, industry and social class from the 1801 census onwards.
Histpop, the online historical population reports website, provides statistics in the published population (census) reports (1801 - 1937), and the reports of the Registrar General for Scotland (1855 - 1920).
The hearth tax, due on every hearth in Scotland, and payable by both landlords and tenants, was levied between 1691 and 1695. Records (E69/10 - Fife, E69/19 - Culross & Tulliallan) are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. A copy of the Fife listings is held by the Tay Valley Family History Society. The Perthshire hearth tax return (including Culross & Tulliallan) has been reprinted in Perthshire Hearth Tax 1691-1692 published by the Scottish Genealogy Society.
From 1748, taxes were levied on various items for varying lengths of time. These included windows (1748-1798), inhabited houses (1778-1798), retail shops (1785-1789), male servants (1777-1798), female servants (1785-1792), carts & carriages (1785-1798), farm horses, dogs, clocks & watches (1797-1798). The farm horse tax is the most useful of these returns. Surviving records are patchy and are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Details of taxation records here.
The National Archives, Kew, online database DocumentsOnline has a few Scots listed in the Death Duty registers.
Records of the former burghs (towns) in Fife are held at several locations. Details will be found on the parish pages.
For most of Fife, electoral registers are held by the Fife Council Archive Centre for the years 1914, 1918-1939 and 1950-2001.
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