Kingdom of Fife

Contents

Fife Towns & Parishes

nearby places

Dunfermline

Towns & Villages

Places in Dunfermline 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).

Archives, Libraries & Museums

A separate Records Page page gives details of the records for this parish held by Scottish archives.

Dunfermline Carnegie Library has a large collection of genealogy and local history materials, as well as the more recent archives of the former burghs of the Dunfermline district.

The Dunfermline Heritage Roots excellent website has a lot of information about the town including many links and transcripts of documents .

The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum has excellent displays about the town's famous benefactor.

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Bibliography

Fernie's History of the town and parish of Dunfermline, published 1815, is at Google Books.

Mercer's History of Dunfermline, published 1828, is at Google Books.

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.

Chalmers' Historical and Statistical Account of Dunfermline, published 1844, is also at Google Books, as is vol. 2, published in 1859.

The Annals of Dunfermline by Ebenezer Henderson, published 1878, is also online.

Old Dunfermline (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.

Cemeteries

There are 3 cemeteries and a crematorium in Dunfermline parish:

1. Dunfermline Abbey, St Margaret Street, Dunfermline (grid ref. NT 089873; GPS: 56.069822 -3.464927):

• Pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are in Mitchell & Mitchell (see below).
• A lair register, recording the purchasers of lairs in the Abbey Churchyard, but not dates of burials,  has been published "Dunfermline Abbey Church Kirk Session Burial Register 1761-1857 and 1866-67". It can be obtained from the Scottish Genealogy Society. The original is at the National Archives of Scotland (CH2/592/57).
• The Dunfermline Heritage Roots website has a a lot of information about the churchyard including a list of burials 1760-1800.
• The current lair registers (dating from 1854) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline (tel. 01383 724653; fax 01383 738636).

2. Dunfermline Cemetery, Halbeath Road, Dunfermline (grid ref. NT 105881; GPS: 56.077309 -3.439504):

• The current lair registers are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline (tel. 01383 724653; fax 01383 738636).
• There are also some records for Dunfermline Cemetery at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
• There is a listing of grave locations in Fife of holders of the Victoria Cross.

3. Douglas Bank Cemetery, Pattiesmuir, by Rosyth (grid ref. NT 091838; GPS: 56.038424 -3.460527):

• The current lair registers (dating from 1920), are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline (tel. 01383 724653; fax 01383 738636).

4. Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline (grid ref. NT 119855; GPS: 56.054217 -3.416162):

• Opened in 1973.
• The current registers (dating from 1973) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline (tel. 01383 724653; fax 01383 738636).

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

Census

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 424. Some parts in 432 from 1861 until 1891 (see Civil Registration).

The 1851 census has been indexed 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
Dunfermline	1042700, 1042701	1042265, 1042266	103827	103989, index to streets on 104117	203520, 203521, index to streets on 203392	208752, 208753, 208754, index to streets on 208606

Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Further information on the main Fife page.

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Church History

The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this list of inhabitants:

• Established church clergy - 3. [No figure is given for members of the Established Church, but the total parish population is reckoned at 9550.]
• Seceder clergy - 5
• belonging to the Relief (including children) - 600
• belonging to the Burgher Seceders - 4223
• belonging to the Antiburghers - 320
• Episcopalians - 44
• Independents - 7
• Baptists - 6
• Cameronians - about 12
• Berean - 1
• Roman Catholic - 1

The New Statistical Account (written in 1844) at pages 896-901 gives a considerable amount of information about both Established and Dissenting churches in the parish.

• Established churches: the Abbey Parish Church; St Andrews; North Church; Canmore Street (closed 1843)
• Free Churches: St Andrews; North Church; The Abbey (previously Abbey & Canmore Street)
• United Associate Synod: Queen Anne Street; St Margarets; Chalmers Street; Maygate; Limekilns; Crossgates
• Relief Congregation: North Chapel Street
• Scottish Baptist Church: James Street (from which 2 separations took place in 1841 – 1. a group meeting at the Music Hall, North Inglis Street, under Mr Blair, pastor; and 2. a group usually called Campbellites, meeting at the Old Mason Lodge, Maygate)
• Congregational or Independent Church: Canmore Street
• Holy Catholic Apostolic Congregation: (Rowites or Irvingites) meeting in rooms in Horsemarket Street
• Roman Catholic Congregation: no resident priest, meet in 2 dwelling houses
• Scottish Episcopal (Trinity) Chapel
• Also a few Swedenborgians, Unitarians, Methodists and Friends.
• There is also a missionary, Mr Joseph Hay, belonging to the United Secession.

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 Dunfermline are as follows:

Dunfermline (Parliamentary Burgh): Population of Parish 21687, Population of Burgh 13836:

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			2000	500	730
United Presbyterian Church	5	134	2980	4714	2344	2730
Free Church	3		2062	2062	1323	1358	160
Independents or Congregationalists	1	470	320	790	135	212
Baptists	1	120		120	75	82
New Church	1	80		80		13
Evangelical Union	1				83	105
Isolated Congregations	1			450			300
Roman Catholics	1				450
Catholic and Apostolic Church	1				12	12
Latter Day Saints or Mormons	1				50
Total	17	804	5362	10216	4972	5242	460
The number of sittings was not returned for 4 of the above churches: Evangelical Union 1, Roman Catholics 1, Catholic and Apostolic Church 1, Latter Day Saints 1.
Returns are altogether wanting for 2 other Established Churches.

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, Established Churches of St Andrew's and Dunfermline North, 3 Free Churches - Free Abbey, Dunfermline North and St Andrew's, 4 United Presbyterian Churches in Dunfermline - Gillespie, Chalmers Street, Queen Ann Street and St Margarets, United Presbyterian Churches in Limekilns and Crossgates, the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church (Trinity), the Baptist Church, the Evangelical Union Church and the Congregationalist Church.

Details of church history here.

Church Records

The Parish Church (Established Church, Church of Scotland):

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: 424

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):

Dunfermline OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
424/1	1561-1611	1561-1611
424/2	1612-1652	1612-1651
424/3	1652-1715	1652-1715
424/4	1715-1747	1715-1745
424/5	1748-1755		1745-1755
424/6	1756-1775
424/7	1776-1791
424/8	1792-1806
424/9	1807-1819
424/10		1750-1819
424/11			1617-1657
424/12	1820-1825
424/13	1825-1834
424/14	1834-1854
424/15	1820-1854
424/16		1820-1842
424/17		1842-1854
424/18			1825-1854
424/19	Index 1834-1854

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.  and M.  recorded on parallel cols. 1561 - 1745. Both Records blank Feb. 1591 - July 1598. Imperfect leaf at 1650. Blank (exc. a few entries of B.) June 1701 - March 1703. Two separate Records Oct. 1687 - Dec. 1714. Two leaves imperfect at Dec. 1747. After 1772 a large number of entries occur in the margin of the Register. Early Record beautifully kept.
M.  blank Aug. 1745 - May 1750, from which latter date there is a separate Record of Proclamations and Marriages.
D.  Blank March 1657 - Jan. 1745, and June 1755 - 1825.
[Vol. 424/9 contains an index to B. 1816 - 1825. Vol. 424/19 is an index to B. 1834 - 1854 (in vol. 424/14). Vol. 424/15 also contains an index to B. 1820 - 1854.]

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:

1040126 Items 4 - 5	Baptisms, Marriages, 1561-1652
1040102	Baptisms, 1652-1714, 1687-1756; Marriages, 1652- 1710, 1687-1745; Burials, 1745.
1040103	Burials, 1745-1755; Marriages, (1 page) 1791; Baptisms, 1756-1797.
1040104	Baptisms, 1797-1819; Marriages, 1750-1814.
1040105	Marriages, 1814-1819; Burials, 1617-1643, 1653-1657; Baptisms and Index of fathers (incomplete), 1819-1849.
1040106	Baptisms, 1836-1854; Baptisms (transcript,) 1821-1847; Marriages, 1820-1848.
1040107 Items 1 - 3	Marriages, 1848-1854; Burials, 1825-1854; Neglected entries (baptisms), 1833-1854; Index (baptisms), 1834-1854.

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.

The following records are also held by the ScotlandsPeople Centre, Edinburgh but not online. They are not included on the OPR microfilms but have been filmed as part of the Minor Records series:

Dunfermline MR45/1	Deaths 1790-1832
Dunfermline MR45/2	Index to Deaths1790-1832

The following are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh but they have been transcribed and published. See Cemeteries above.

	Burials
Dunfermline Abbey	1761-1857; 1866-1867

Further information on the main Fife page.

Kirk Session records for Dunfermline Abbey (CH2/592) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.

Heritors' Records (HR159) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.

The LDS have filmed some other church records which may be consulted at LDS Family History Centres.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

1068237 Item 1

Dunfermline Parish Church

Blotter registers: Burials, 1790-1800, 1815-1833

MR45/1-2 ScotlandsPeople Centre, Edinburgh

Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Other Churches :

Most records of other churches are held by the National Archives of Scotland or the General Register of Scotland in Edinburgh. Some records are still retained in the churches.

Some of the pre-1855 baptism and marriage registers have been transcribed and published.

Details of church records, transcriptions and indexes here.

The Dunfermline page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.

Civil Registration

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 districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts. Parts of Inverkeithing parish were included in Dunfermline registration district, and parts of Dunfermline parish were included in Inverkeithing registration district, until 1891.

Court Records

Records of the Convener's Court and the burgh police court are held at the Local History Department, Dunfermline Carnegie Library.

Records of the Regality Court of Dunfermline (from 1531), the Burgh Court, the Dean of Guild Court and the Nine Merk Court are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.

On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Dunfermline Burgh Register of Deeds (1700-1884).

Records of Dunfermline Sheriff Court are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh (SC21). They include Ordinary Court Minute Books; Register of Decrees; Register of Sequestrations; Small Debt Court, Criminal Court and Commissary Court records.

The aliment decrees (1830-1854) have been extracted from the Register of Decrees and indexed by the Fife Family History Society Journal, vol.8 no.3, April 1996. They are also available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society's website.

Details of court records here.

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Description and Travel

There is a comprehensive collection of links to Dunfermline information at the Annals of Dunfermline Links Page.

There is an informative Dunfermline website.

Surrounding parishes: Inverkeithing, Dalgety, Aberdour, Beath, Saline, Carnock, Torryburn, Cleish (in Kinross-shire); and, before 1891: Fossoway (in Kinross-shire) and, by ferry and later bridges across the River Forth, Queensferry (in West Lothian [Linlithgowshire as it was then]).

Directories

The parish entry in Pigot's National Commercial Directory for the whole of Scotland, 1837, is online at Google Books (see also Limekilns and Charlestown on p. 407).

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.

Gazetteers

There is a list of places in Dunfermline 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.

• David Webster's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1819, online at Google Books.
• Fullarton's Topographical, Statistical and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, published 1842, online at Google Books.
• Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1846, online at British History.
• Barbieri's Descriptive and Historical Gazetteer of the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, published 1857, is at Google Books.
• Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) and John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887), are on A Vision of Britain (click on "Historical descriptions").

Historical Geography

Prior to 1891, Inverkeithing parish had a detached portion entirely surrounded by Dunfermline parish. The village of North Queensferry, on the other hand, was part of Dunfermline parish.

On 15th May 1891, the following subjects were transferred from the parish of Inverkeithing to the parish of Dunfermline: Brucehaven, Milesmark, Whitemyre Foundry, Blackburn, Logie, Urquhart, North Urquhart, Lady's Park and some properties in Dunfermline Burgh.

On the same date, the following subjects were transferred from Dunfermline parish to Inverkeithing parish: Carlingnose, Ferryhills, North Cliff, Fernbank House, Ferrybarns, Rockville, St Margaret's, and the whole village of North Queensferry.

Also on the same date, a part of Dunfermline parish north of the south march of Moreland (comprising Moreland House & Moreland Hill lands) was transferred from the parish of Dunfermline to the parish of Cleish in the county of Kinross. This formalised an arrangement by which the area had been treated as being part of the county of Kinross for some time.

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

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Land & property

Maps

This British Library webpage uses small examples of historical maps of London to show the differences between maps at various scales.

• On-line maps:
  • For 17th, 18th and early 19th century maps, see the National Library of Scotland map collection.
  • Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheets 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 39 at the National Library of Scotland (for the best images), or at old-maps.co.uk or British History online.
  • Ordnance Survey 6-inch editions of 1897, 1920 and 1938 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • Small images of Ordnance Survey 25-inch editions of 1896, 1915 and 1927 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • Town plans of Dunfermline dated 1823 (Wood), 1832 (Great Reform Act plan & report), 1854 (Ordnance Survey) and 1896 (Ordnance Survey) at the National Library of Scotland
  • There is a list of places in Dunfermline parish, with links to online historical and modern maps.
  • A Vision of Britain has the Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 1st edition (1850s) and the Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1920s) - both showing parish & burgh boundaries; and Land Utilisation mapping (1930s).
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 1st edition (1857-1867) sheets 32 & 40; 2nd edition (1898-1899) sheets 32 & 40; and 3rd edition (1904-1906) sheets 32 & 40 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1927-1928) sheets 67, 68 at the National Library of Scotland.
• Paper maps:
  • The National Library of Scotland sells paper and digital copies of the Ordnance Survey 1st edition (1850s) 6-inch maps (select "Enquiries & copies").
  • The Caledonian Maps Victorian Ordnance Survey Map Series sheets 32, 40 (reprint of the 1898/99 1-inch maps).
  • Old-maps.co.uk sell paper copies of all their on-line maps.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheets 55, 61, 62
  • Caledonian Maps publish Wood's 1823 town plan of Dunfermline (which shows names of proprietors)

• On-line maps:
  • Multimap
  • Streetmap
  • Ordnance Survey maps
  • both Google maps and local.live provide detailed maps and aerial photographs
  • Google based mapping showing just the parish names for this and the surrounding parishes.
  • Google based mapping showing places in this parish only recorded in the GENUKI Gazetteer.
  • Google based mapping showing places in this parish and nearby recorded in the GENUKI Gazetteer.
  • There is a list of places in Dunfermline parish, with links to online historical and modern maps.
• 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

Medical Records

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Names, Geographical

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).

Obituaries

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, 27 and 28 (for Limekilns and North Queensferry).

Occupations

A list of Dunfermline Hammermen, 1585 - 1862, extracted from the Minute Books of the Dunfermline Hammermen Incorporation, held by Dunfermline Museum, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 13 - Trade Incorporation Records.

A list of Dunfermline Wrights, 1677 - 1763, extracted from the Incorporation of Wrights of Dunfermline Minute Book, held by the National Library of Scotland, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 14 - Trade Incorporation Records. It is also available on the Records pages of their website, along with a similar listing of Dunfermline Weavers (1596-1863). Details of records here.

Records of Dunfermline City Police Officers are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre.

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.

Politics and Government Records

Records of Dunfermline District Council (1929 - 1975) are held by the Fife Council Archives. Details of records here.

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 Local History Department, Dunfermline Carnegie Library. Details of records here.

Peter Higginbotham's website has a lot of information about Dunfermline combination poorhouse.

There are some records of the Dunfermline Combination Poorhouse at Fife Council Archives. Details of records here.

Population

There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1961 here.

See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Dunfermline 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 Dunfermline (SC21) 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 the Dunfermline Burgh Register of Deeds which is indexed (1700-1884) on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website.

Schools

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:

Statistics

"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 'Old' Statistical Account is at Google Books.
• The 'New' Statistical Account is also online at Google Books.

Taxation Records

Some early tax returns are held by the National Archives of Scotland. Details of records here.

The Dunfermline Heritage Roots website has transcripts of the Hearth Tax (1694) and the Window Tax (1748-1753) lists.

Town Records

The older archives of the former Burgh of Dunfermline are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.

On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Dunfermline Burgh Register of Deeds (1700-1884).

The more recent archives of the former Burgh of Dunfermline are held by the Local History Department, Dunfermline Carnegie Library.

Some records are held by the Fife Council Archives.

Details of records here.

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