GENUKI - Auchtertool

Kingdom of Fife

Contents

Fife Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Auchtertool

"Auchtertool parish is bounded on the south by Kinghorn, Burntisland and Aberdour, on the north & north-west by Auchterderran and Beath, and on the east by Kinghorn & Abbotshall. It is 3 miles long by 1.5 miles broad and covers an area of 2630 acres. There are 1650 acres under cultivation, 750 under pasture and none under wood. The Cullalo hills at the west of the parish rise to 750 feet above sea level and command a fine view of the Isle of May, the Bass and North Berwick Law. Camilla Loch, near the north-east boundary, covers 18 acres and is 22 feet deep in places. It is supplied with eels, perch and pike. Horses are only bred and reared for farm purposes, but not for sale. Much attention is paid to the breeding and rearing of black cattle, for which the growing of turnips and potatoes is much increased. Sheep have lately been introduced and appear to pay well. There are no collieries, coal having to be brought from Auchterderran. There are 2 limestone quarries, wrought for local use but not for sale. There are several whinstone quarries used for the turnpike and other roads in the parish. The parish church is about 1 mile distant from the village. There is a parish school, a private school and an infant school. There is also a parish library, established in 1824, with 240 volumes. The village has a savings bank, 6 public houses but no inn. The village is famed for its extensive brewery, making ales, porter and table beer. The ales are shipped at Kirkcaldy for London. " from A Descriptive & historic gazeteer of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan by M Barbieri, published 1857.

Towns and Villages

Auchtertool

Cemeteries Census Church History Church Records Civil Registration Court Records Description and Travel Directories Historical Geography Maps	Monumental Inscriptions - see Cemeteries Names, Geographical Obituaries Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc. Population Probate Records Schools Taxation Wills & Testaments - see Probate Records
Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so.

Cemeteries

Auchtertool Churchyard / Cemetery, off B925 Auchtertool to Crossgates road (grid ref. NT 206903):

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are listed in "Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 2 The western parishes" by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061972
The current lair registers (dating from 1933) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, Kirkcaldy Crematorium Lodge, Rosemount Avenue, Dunnikier, Kirkcaldy, KY1 3PL. Tel. 01592 260277. Fax 01592203438.

Census

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 407

The 1841 return can be searched on the FreeCEN website.

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

Further information on the main Fife page.

Church History

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists only the parish church. Auchtertool Kirk has an informative website.
Details of the church history here.

The original Old Parish Records (of baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages, and 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 copies on microfilm may be consulted in local libraries and at LDS Family History Centres around the world. The baptisms / births and proclamations / marriages (but not deaths) can also be searched at Scotland's People - the online database of Scottish Birth, Marriage, Death & Census records at the General Register Office. The index can also be searched on the LDS FamilySearch website.

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

The old parish records span the following dates (although there may be gaps within these ranges):

Auchtertool OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
407/1	1708-1819	1708-1819
407/2	1820-1854	1820-1854
407/3			1830-1855

Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland

Kirk Session and similar records for the parish church (CH2/25) are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of church records here.

The Presbytrie Book of Kirkcaldie, the record of the proceedings of the Presbytery of Kirkcaldy (which includes references to this parish), from 15 April 1630 - 14 September 1653, is available online.

Heritors' Records (HR638) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.

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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 district	number	start date	end date
Auchtertool	407	1855	1967
Cowdenbeath	410/1	1968	1971
Cowdenbeath	430	1972	2002
Fife	430	2003

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

Court Records

Fife Family History Society have transcribed a list of Auchtertool Jurors, 1851 on the Records pages of their website.

Description & Travel

Auchtertool village centre	Ordnance Survey Grid Reference	GPS	Post code	Lat. 56°6'10"N
Auchtertool village centre	NT 216907	56.102614 -3.261985	KY2 5XW	Lon. 3°15'37"W

There is an interesting Auchtertool website with some old photographs.

Directories

On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.

Historical Geography

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

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Maps

Historic maps:

On-line maps:
- Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheets 36 at the Landmark Information Group (old-maps.co.uk).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 2nd edition (1895) sheet 40 at the National Library of Scotland.
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, Popular edition (1926) sheet 68 at the National Library of Scotland.
- A Vision of Britain has the Ordnance Survey one-inch, 1st edition (1850s) and the Ordnance Survey one-inch, Popular edition (1920s) - both showing parish boundaries; and Land Utilisation mapping (1930s).
Paper maps:
- The Caledonian Maps Victorian Ordnance Survey Map Series sheet 40 (reprint of the 1895 one-inch map).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheets 55, 56

Present-day maps:

On-line maps:
- Multimap
- Streetmap
- both Google maps and local.live provide detailed maps and aerial photographs
- Google based mapping showing nearby GENUKI townships / parishes.
- Google based mapping showing nearby places recorded in the GENUKI gazetter.
Paper maps:
- Ordnance Survey Landranger (scale 1:50000 - about 1 inch to 1 mile) sheets 58 - Perth & Alloa,
  65 - Falkirk & Linlithgow
- Ordnance Survey Explorer (larger scale 1:25000 - about 2 and a half inches to 1 mile) sheet 367 - Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy & Glenrothes south

Names, Geographical

The Ordnance Survey [Place] Name Books 1850-1854 are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. There is an index to the entries for this parish on the Fife Council website (select A in the A-Z list, then Archives).

Obituaries

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 recently re-published it in their Publications Series, 26.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

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. Details of records here.

Population

Year	Population
1755	389
1801	396
1851	517
1901	742
1951	558

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Auchtertool may be found in either the St Andrews Commissariot (CC20) or the Edinburgh Commissariot (CC8) records. From 1824 to 1960, commissary business was conducted by the Sheriff Court of Fife at Cupar (SC20). From 1960, it has been conducted at Kirkcaldy (SC23) Sheriff Court.

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.