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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  nearby places |
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| Auchtermuchty |
| Dunshalt |
Places in Auchtermuchty parish, with links to online historical and modern maps. (The Google maps show all the places in the list; the links to www.magic.gov.uk don't apply in Scotland).
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| Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so. | |
A separate Records Page page gives details of the records for this parish held by Scottish archives.
The ScotlandsPlaces website lets users search across national databases by geographical location. It includes, amongst other material,
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.
There are 2 cemeteries in Auchtermuchty parish:
1. Auchtermuchty Old Churchyard, High Street, Auchtermuchty (grid ref. NO 239117, GPS: 56.291615 -3.231047):
2. Auchtermuchty Cemetery, Station Road, Auchtermuchty (grid ref. NO 242114, GPS: 56.288969 -3.226115):
The original 1841 census returns were lost in transit to Edinburgh.
Parish / district reference number for 1851 - 1901 censuses: 406
The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society.
Some census records on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family History Centres around the world.
LDS Library Film Numbers:
1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 Auchtermuchty - 1042252 103825 103986 203516 208747
Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Further information on the main Fife page.
In addition to the parish church, other churches include a Free Church, and 3 United Presbyterian churches.
The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this information about Dissenters:
The New Statistical Account (written in 1843) gives this information:
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, 3 United Presbyterian churches (East, West & North), and the Free Church.
Details of church history here.
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 General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh, and they can all be consulted there at the ScotlandsPeople Centre.
Parish reference number: 406
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Auchtermuchty OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 406/1 1649-1819 1649-1794 1649-1667 406/2 1795-1819 1744-1819 406/3 1820-1854 1820-1854 1820-1851 Register of Neglected Entries
Data supplied by General Register Office for 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. blank Dec. 1661 - Mar. 1663, and Aug. 1667 - Sept. 1702. After 1794, blank spaces occur, apparently intended for neglected registrations.
M. blank Dec. 1661 - Aug. 1663, and July 1667 - Oct. 1702. Record, 1702 - 1786, well kept. Blank (exc. five entries for 1794) June 1786 - April 1795, from which date till 1817 entries of Proclamations merely, and these defective till April 1797. Entries of sums 'mortified' by bridegrooms before Marriage 1701 - 1794 in vol. 2.
D. blank Feb. 1662 - Feb. 1663, and June 1667 - Nov. 1774. Mortcloth Dues from latter date till Jan. 1817, when a Record of Deaths again commences. From 1704 - 1799, occasional entries relating to funeral Expenses of Paupers, mixed up with other matters in vol. 2.The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths / burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.
Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in some local libraries and at LDS Family History 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:
1040148 Item 4 Baptisms, 1649-1667, 1700-1819; Marriages, 1649-1667, 1702-1786, 1794; Burials, 1649-1667. 1040149 Items 1 - 2 Session book (includes Marriage proclamations and Mortcloth dues [burial records]), 1701-1817; Marriages, 1817-1854; Burials, 1817-1851; Baptisms, 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. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (406/2 and 406/3). Details of church records here.
Heritors' Records (HR724) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
Records for other churches are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
Some of the pre-1855 baptism and marriage registers have been transcribed and published.
Details of church records, transcriptions and indexes here.
The Auchtermuchty page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.
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 district | number | start date | end date |
| Auchtermuchty burgh | 406/1 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Auchtermuchty landward | 406/2 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Auchtermuchty | 406 | 1856 | 1971 |
| Auchtermuchty | 418 | 1972 | 2002 |
| Fife | 418 | 2003 |
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.
Burgh Court Books (dating from 1757 to 1915) are to be found among the Burgh archives at St Andrews University Library. Details of records here.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Auchtermuchty Burgh Register of Deeds (1757-1874).
| Auchtermuchty town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°17'31"N |
| NO 238117 | 56.291599 -3.232662 |
KY14 7AP | Lon. 3°13'59"W |
Surrounding parishes: Collessie, Strathmiglo, Newburgh, Abernethy (Perthshire), Falkland - not adjoining but very close.
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.
There is a list of places in Auchtermuchty parish, with links to online historical and modern maps. (The Google maps show all the places in the list; the links to www.magic.gov.uk don't apply in Scotland).
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.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.
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.
This British Library webpage uses small examples of historical maps of London to show the differences between maps at various scales.
There is an index to the Ordnance Survey Object Name Books for this parish here.
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, 26.
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.
There is a series of articles about many Fife family businesses in Fife Family History Society's Journal, New Series 9.
The relief of paupers after 1845 was carried out by theParochial Board and later by the Parish Council. Their records are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 1308 |
| 1801 | 2060 |
| 1851 | 3704 |
| 1901 | 1884 |
| 1951 | 1831 |
There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1961 here.
See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.
Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Auchtermuchty 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, Cupar Sheriff Court and Auchtermuchty Burgh Register of Deeds.
School Board records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.
Education statistics for Fife schools in 1891-2 list the following board schools in the parish:
| School Board | School | Accommodation for scholars | Average attendance |
| Auchtermuchty | Dunshalt | 83 | 43 |
| Madras | 127 | 84 | |
| North | 194 | 137 | |
| South | now closed |
"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
The archives of the former Burgh of Auchtermuchty are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, the Fife Council Archives and the National Archives of Scotland. They include the Court Books and Council Minutes (from 1549), Registers of Decreets (from 1716), Burgess Lists (1754-1771, 1824-1900), Register of Cautions (1785-1817), Guildry records (from 1599), Charter Book (1784-1803), etc. Details of records here.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Auchtermuchty Burgh Register of Deeds (1757-1874).
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