GENUKI - Dairsie

Kingdom of Fife

Contents

Fife Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Dairsie

"Dairsie is a parish and village - the latter a small one, situated on the main road from Cupar to Dundee, 3 miles from the former and 8 from the latter town. The river Eden, which intersects the parish, is crossed by a good bridge of 3 arches, erected by Archbishop Spottiswoode, who was the proprietor of the Dairsie estate. The church, which is in the Saxon style of architecture, and surmounted by a neat spire, was built at the commencement of the 17th century. Dairsie castle, now a ruin, is noted as having been the residence of Archbishop Sharp, as well as the place where a parliament was called upon to assemble in the year 1335. Chapelwell, in this parish, in high repute for the healing properties of its waters, is the site of a Roman Catholic chapel, of which no remains are visible. This parish is nearly 3 miles in extent each way; with little exception, the whole is fine arable land, and freestone and whinstone abound beneath its surface." from Slater's Directory published 1852.

Towns and Villages

Dairsie (formerly called Osnaburgh)

Cemeteries Census Church History Church 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

Dairsie Cemetery and Churchyard, Dairsie Mains (south of the village - grid ref. NO 414161):

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Dairsie Churchyard 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
Another listing has been published by the Fife Family History Society in their Publication 15, Monumental Inscriptions.
The current lair registers (dating from 1924) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TA. Tel. 01334 412818. Fax 01334 412896.

Census

The original 1841 census returns were lost in transit to Edinburgh.

Parish / district reference number for 1851 - 1901 censuses: 421

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

Further information on the main Fife page.

Church History

In addition to the parish church, there was also a Free Church (later United Free) in Dairsie.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and the Free Church.

Details of 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):

Dairsie OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
421/1	1645-1819	1666-1819	1727-1819
421/2	1820-1854	1820-1854	1820-1854

Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland

Kirk Session and similar records for both the parish church (CH2/427) and the Free Church (CH3/355) are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Details of church records here.

Heritors' Records (HR175) 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
Dairsie	421	1855	1967
Cupar	420	1968	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.

Description & Travel

Dairsie village centre	Ordnance Survey Grid Reference	GPS	Post code	Lat. 56°20'40"N
Dairsie village centre	NO 413174	56.345294 -2.951259	KY15 4SS	Lon. 2°57'8"W

There is an informative Dairsie website.

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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.

Maps

Historic maps:

On-line maps:
- Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheets 6 & 11 at the Landmark Information Group (old-maps.co.uk).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 2nd edition (1895) sheets 48 & 49 at the National Library of Scotland.
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, Popular edition (1926) sheet 64 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 41 (reprint of the 1895 one-inch map).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheet 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) sheet 59 - St Andrews
- Ordnance Survey Explorer (larger scale 1:25000 - about 2 and a half inches to 1 mile) sheet 371 - St Andrews and East Fife

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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, 27.

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	469
1801	550
1851	708
1901	464
1951	492

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Dairsie 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 and Cupar Sheriff Court.