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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
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| Cupar |
| Springfield |
Places in Cupar parish, with links to online historical and modern maps.
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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.
Cupar Library has a good collection of genealogy and local history materials.
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.
An excellent book is Cupar - The History of a Small Scottish Town by Paula Martin, 2006. ISBN 1 84158 410 X
Old Cupar (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.
There are 3 cemeteries in Cupar parish:
1. Cupar Old Parish Churchyard, Kirk Wynd, Cupar (grid ref. NO 372142, GPS: 56.316022 -3.016814):
2. Cupar Extension - St James's Cemetery, Ashlar Lane, Cupar (grid ref. NO 373142, GPS: 56.316035 -3.015198):
3. Cupar Cemetery, Ceres Road, Cupar (grid ref. NO 378135, GPS: 56.309813 -3.006951):
4. Wemyss mausoleum, in the grounds of Hill of Tarvit House (formerly Wemyss Hall):
The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are listed in Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 3 The north east parishes by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061999
War graves can be seen at the Scottish Wargraves Project and war memorials can be seen at the Scottish War Memorials Project.
The original 1841 census returns were lost in transit to Edinburgh.
Parish / district reference number for 1851 - 1901 censuses: 420
The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society.
Some census records on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family Search Centres around the world.
LDS Library Film Numbers:
1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 Cupar 1042254 103826 103988 203519 208751
Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Further information on the main Fife page.
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 Cupar are as follows:
Cupar (Parliamentary Burgh): Population of Parish 7127, Population of Burgh 5686:
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 3 359 1861 3300 1300 1450 70 [sic] United Presbyterian Church 3 18 482 1100 700 826 68 [sic] Free Church 1 1050 1050 850 950 Episcopal Church 1 20 120 140 108 Baptists 1 700 700 250 370 Isolated Congregations 1 310 310 83 122 Total 10 1407 3513 6600 3291 3718 750 [sic] The number of sittings was not returned for 1 of the United Presbyterian Churches. Returns are altogether wanting for 2 other churches: Established Church 1, United Presbyterian Church 1. 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, a second charge of the Established Church in Cupar and one in Springfield, the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church (St. James), the Baptist Church, 2 United Presbyterian Churches (Boston and Burnside) and the Free Church.
Information and pictures of the churches at the Scottish Churches website.
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. The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths / burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.
Parish reference number: 420
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Cupar OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 420/1 1654-1715 1654-1716 1654-1716 420/2 1717-1777 1719-1777 1719-1777 420/3 1778-1819 1778-1819 1778-1819 420/4 1820-1854 420/5 1820-1854 1820-1854 Register of Neglected Entries 1801-1850
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:
From 1654 - 1817, B. M. and D. occur in the same Register book:- B. on left hand pages; M. and D. on right hand pages.
B. defective 1696 - 1701, and blank (exc. three entries) Feb. 1716 - Nov. 1718. Mothers' names seldom recorded in entries of B. 1688 - July 1769.
M. blank Jan. 1697 - Nov. 1703, and Dec. 1715 - June 1719; defective 1738 - 1740.
D. (Burials.) Blank March 1697 - Dec. 1702.
Separate Records of B. M. and D. after Jan. 1817.Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in some local libraries and at LDS Family Search 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:
1040100 Items 4 - 5 Baptisms 1654-1739; Marriages 1654-1738; Burials 1654-1739. 1040101 Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1739-1854; Neglected entries (Baptisms), 1801-1850.
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, with digital copies at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of church records here.
Heritors' Records (HR31) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
Records for other churches are mostly held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
The LDS have filmed some records which may be consulted at LDS Family History Centres.
Details of church records here.
The Cupar 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 |
| Cupar burgh | 420/1 | 1855 | 1856 |
| Cupar landward | 420/2 | 1855 | 1956 |
| Cupar | 420 | 1857 | 1971 |
| Cupar | 417 | 1972 | 2002 |
| Fife | 417 | 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 (from 1699) are held by 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 Cupar Burgh Register of Deeds (1716-1862).
Cupar Sheriff Court records are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh (SC20). They include Register of Extract Decrees (from 1658); Court Processes (from 1699); Sequestrations (from 1838); Small Debt Court (from 1825); Register of Deeds (from 1658); Registers of Protests (from 1800); Commissary Court records (from 1824); Criminal Court records (from 1821); Record of Services of Heirs (from 1652).
Details of court records here.
An Index to the Cupar Sheriff Court Aliment Decrees 1830-1854 and an Index to the Sheriff Court of Fife Deeds 1715-1809 are available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society's website. The Society has also published printed indexes of Cupar Sheriff Court Register of Inventories (1824-1892) (published as Wills 1824-1892 Registered with the Sheriff Court of Fife at Cupar), and Cupar Sheriff Court Register of Deeds (1809-1900)
| Cupar town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°19'3"N |
| NO 375145 | 56.318757 -3.012036 |
KY15 5AS | Lon. 3°0'43"W |
Surrounding parishes: Monimail, Cults, Ceres, Kemback, Dairsie, Kilmany, Moonzie.
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 Cupar parish, with links to online historical and modern maps.
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.
Valuation Rolls and the Burgh Register of Sasines are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
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.
War graves can be seen at the Scottish Wargraves Project and war memorials can be seen at the Scottish War Memorials Project.
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).
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, 27.
A list of Cupar shoemakers, 1783 - 1846, extracted from the Shoemaker Trade Book of Cupar, held by Fife Council Archive Centre, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 13 - Trade Incorporation Records and is also on the Records pages of their website.
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 the Parochial Board and later by the Parish Council. Their records are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 2192 |
| 1801 | 4463 |
| 1851 | 7427 |
| 1901 | 6768 |
| 1951 | 8085 |
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 Cupar 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 Cupar 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 |
| Cupar (Burgh) | Castlehill | 576 | 392 |
| Kirkgate | 414 | 271 | |
| Cupar (Landward) | Brighton | 67 | 29 |
| Springfield | Springfield | 282 | 156 |
"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
Taxation Records are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
The hearth tax, clock & watch tax, male servants tax, female servants tax, and farm horse tax are all on ScotlandsPlaces.
The archives of the former Burgh of Cupar are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, the Fife Council Archive Centre and at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
An index to the Cupar Burgh Register of Deeds (1716-1862) is available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society's website.
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Page maintained by William McM. Owen : last updated 25 October, 2012
