 |
Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
|
| Crail |
|
|
| Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so. | |
Crail Museum, 64 Marketgate, Crail KY10 3TL has an interesting collection of items concerning the history of the burgh, and also holds several manuscript and printed books of genealogical interest.
There are 2 cemeteries in Crail parish:
1. Crail Churchyard, Marketgate North (grid ref. NO 614080):Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 417. Part in 425 after 1880 (see Civil Registration).
The Isle of May is included in Anstruther Wester (no. 403) for the 1841 -1861 censuses, thereafter it is included in Crail.
The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society.
Further information on the main Fife page.
In addition to the parish church, there was an Associate Session (Burgher, later United Presbyterian, and United Free - Crail West Church) and a Free Church (later United Free - Crail North Church).
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):
| Crail OPR | Births / baptisms | Proclamations / marriages | Deaths / burials / mortcloths |
| 417/1 | 1684-1745 | 1655-1745 | 1684-1693 |
| 417/2 | 1745-1819 | 1745-1819 | |
| 417/3 | 1685-1721 | ||
| 417/4 | 1722-1751 | 1750-1752 | |
| 417/5 | 1752-1779 | 1753-1793 | |
| 417/6 | 1820-1854 | 1820-1854 |
| Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland |
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church.
The Associate Congregation has these registers:
| Crail Associate Congregation | Baptisms |
| 1821-1852 (with gaps) |
A transcript of these Associate Congregation baptisms has been published by the Fife Family History Society Baptismal Registers No. 5 and it is also available on the Records pages of their website.
Kirk Session and similar records for the parish church, the Associate Church and the Free Church are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (417/3, 417/4 and 417/5).
Heritors' Records (HR242) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
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 |
| Crail, burgh | 417/1 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Crail, landward | 417/2 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Crail | 417 | 1856 | 1967 |
| East Neuk | 426 | 1968 | 1971 |
| East Neuk | 414 | 1972 | 2002 |
| Fife | 414 | 2003 |
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts. The Isle of May was moved to Crail from Anstruther Wester registration district (403) before 1871 and remained there until at least 1901. Part of Crail parish was transferred to Dunino registration district in 1880.
Burgh Court records are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Crail Burgh Register of Deeds (1682-1841).
| Crail town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°15'38"N |
| NO 613076 | 56.259315 -2.626279 |
KY10 3RA | Lon. 2°37'36"W |
Surrounding parishes: Kingsbarns, Kilrenny, Carnbee, Dunino, St Andrews and St Leonards.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.
On 1st January 1891 the following places, considered by some to be part of Crail parish, were transferred to Dunino parish: part of Balkaithly, Beley, Beley Bridge, part of Chesters and New Bridge.
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.
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).
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 Crail hammermen, 1588 - 1743, extracted from the records of the Hammermen Incorporation of Crail, held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 13 - Trade Incorporation Records.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website are similar listings of Crail Squaremen (Wrights) (1668-1743), Weavers (1694-1845), Tailors (1684-1743), Shoemakers (1589-1834), Coopers (1690-1743) and Baxters (1647-1743).
Mariners of St Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife by David Dobson can be obtained from the Fife Family History Society or the Tay Valley 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.
| Year | Population | |
| 1755 | 2173 | |
| 1801 | 1652 | |
| 1851 | 1903 | |
| 1901 | 1605 | * boundary changed |
| 1951 | 1592 |
See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.
Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Crail 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 Crail Burgh Register of Deeds.
School Board Records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
The archives of the former Burgh of Crail are held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. They include Court Books, Council Minutes, Minute Books of Incorporated Trades, Deeds, Stent Rolls and much more.
There are also some records at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Crail Burgh Register of Deeds (1682-1841).
The minute books of the Crail Sea-box Society (not part of the Burgh records) are held by Crail Museum, 64 Marketgate, Crail KY10 3TL.
Are you lost in the GENUKI hierarchy or arrived here from a search engine? If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.
