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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  nearby places |
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| Burntisland |
Places in Burntisland 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.
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.
Old Burntisland (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.
There are 3 cemeteries in Burntisland parish:
1. Kirkton Churchyard, Church Street, Burntisland (grid ref. NT 230865, GPS: 56.065116 -3.238273):
2. St Columba's Parish Churchyard, East Leven Street, Burntisland (grid ref. NT 235856, GPS: 56.057112 -3.229987):
3. Burntisland Cemetery, Kinghorn Road, Burntisland (grid ref. NT 245864, GPS: 56.064457 -3.214159):
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
Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 411
The 1841 return can be searched on the FreeCEN website.
The 1851 census has been indexed and published 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 Burntisland 1042699 1042253 103825 103987 203517 208749
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, there was a Free Church, an Episcopal Church and an Antiburgher Congregation (later United Presbyterian Church).
The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this information about Dissenters:
The New Statistical Account (written in 1836) gives this information:
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. The statistics for the separate burghs were also given. Those for Burntisland are as follows:
Burntisland (Parliamentary Burgh): Population of Parish 3158, Population of Burgh 2724:
Religious Denomination Number of Places of Worship Number of Sittings Number of Attendants at Public Worship on Sunday March 30 1851 (including Sunday Scholars) Free Appropriated Total Morning Afternoon Evening Established Church 1 755 755 310 324 264 United Presbyterian Church 1 598 396 430 200 Free Church 1 750 750 340 370 Episcopal Church 1 123 123 40 83 Total 4 873 755 2226 1086 1207 464 Source: Census of Great Britain, 1851, Religious worship and education. Scotland. Report and tables. British Parliamentary Papers 1854 LIX (1764).
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the Episcopal Church (St. Serf's), the United Presbyterian Church 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: 411
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Burntisland OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 411/1 1672-1686 1653-1686 411/2 1701-1777 1701-1777 1734-1743 411/3 1778-1819 1778-1819 1806-1818 411/4 1820-1854 1820-1854 1825-1848 Register of Neglected Entries 1853-1854
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 July 1686 - May 1701. Prior to 1733, the entries are tabulated. Only five entries Dec. 1743 - Jan. 1747. Not very carefully kept 1782 - 1806.
M. Contracts and Proclamations prior to 1686. Blank May 1686 - June 1701. Contracts and Marriages 1701 - 1762. Blank Dec. 1702 - July 1705. No entry Jan. 1743 - April 1744. Marriages after 1762, exc. a few entries of Contracts and Proclamations about 1770 - 1777.
D. Deaths prior to 1743. Blank May 1743 - April 1806, after which date generally Deaths and Burials. Only nine entries 1806 - 1818 incl., then none till 1825; five entries 1825 - 1828 incl.; again blank till 1838, and very defective to end of Record in 1848.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:
1040150 Item 4 Baptisms, 1672-1686; Session book (includes Marriage proclamations), 1672-1680. 1040151 Items 1 - 4 Session book (includes Marriage proclamations), 1680-1686; Baptisms, 1701-1854; Marriages 1701-1854; Burials, 1734-1742, 1806-1818, 1825-1828, 1838-1852; Neglected entries (baptisms), 1853- 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 National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (411/1). 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 (HR126) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
Records of other churches are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Details of church records here.
The Burntisland 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 |
| Burntisland burgh | 411/1 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Burntisland landward | 411/2 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Burntisland | 411 | 1856 | 1971 |
| Burntisland | 423 | 1972 | 1991 |
| Kirkcaldy | 421 | 1992 | 2002 |
| Fife | 421 | 2003 |
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.
There are Burgh Court Books (from 1581) in the Burgh Records. Details of records here.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Burntisland Burgh Register of Deeds (1731-1874).
| Burntisland town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°3'34"N |
| NT 232858 | 56.058860 -3.234860 |
KY3 9AH | Lon. 3°14'3"W |
There are 2 very informative websites with a lot of useful historical information: Burntisland Online and The Burntisland Pages.
Surrounding parishes: Kinghorn, Aberdour.
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 Burntisland 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.
This British Library webpage uses small examples of historical maps of London to show the differences between maps at various scales.
The Ordnance Survey Object 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).
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.
A list of Burntisland hammermen, 1648 - 1835, extracted from the records of the Burntisland Hammermen Craft Minute Book, held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library and Kirkcaldy Central Library, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 13 - Trade Incorporation Records and is also available on the Records pages of their website.
Also available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website are transcriptions of Burntisland Wrights (1648-1835), Weavers (1685-1866), Tailors (1685-1835), Shoemakers (1685-1835), Fleshers (1685-1835) and Bakers (1685-1835).
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.
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.
Peter Higginbotham's website has a lot of information about Kirkcaldy combination poorhouse.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 1390 |
| 1801 | 1530 |
| 1851 | 3158 |
| 1901 | 5599 |
| 1951 | 5883 |
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 Burntisland 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). 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, Cupar Sheriff Court and Burntisland 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 |
| Burntisland | Burntisland Public School | 744 | 554 |
| Burntisland Episcopal School | 242 | 218 | |
| Binnend | 233 | 143 |
"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 oldest burgh records are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. They include Protocol Books (from 1581), Sasines Registers (from 1681) and Registers of Deeds (from 1757). Court records include some 17th century harbour dues, a burgess roll, guildry records, council minutes (from 1672) and burgh charters.
The more recent archives of the former Burgh of Burntisland are held by Fife Council Archives. They include Council and Police Commissioners Minutes from 1835, Accounts from 1764, and cemetery records from 1885.
Details of records here.
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