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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
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| Dysart Gallatown, Pathhead & Sinclairtown (now included in Kirkcaldy) |
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| Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so. | |
The McDouall Stuart Museum tells of the adventures of John McDouall Stuart, first man to cross Australia north to south, and also has displays on the area's historic salt industry.
Old Dysart and East Kirkcaldy (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.
There are 6 cemeteries in Dysart parish. There are others in Kirkcaldy, in Kirkcaldy and Abbotshall parishes.
1. Barony Churchyard, Windmill Road, Dysart (grid ref. NT 302934):Ref: "Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 1 South east parishes" by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061948
Kirkcaldy Central Library has a large collection of transcripts, indexes and manuscript volumes of Kirkcaldy burials.
A selection of interesting inscriptions and photographs are included in the booklet Guide to Kirkcaldy Graveyards, published by Kirkcaldy Civic Society, 1996 (ISBN 1946294038).
Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 426
The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society.
Further information on the main Fife page.
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):
| Dysart OPR | Births / baptisms | Proclamations / marriages | Deaths / burials / mortcloths |
| 426/1 | 1582-1662 | 1582-1662 | 1582-1596 |
| 426/2 | 1609-1662 | 1612-1629 | 1721-1821 |
| 426/3 | 1662-1734 | 1662-1734 | |
| 426/4 | 1735-1819 | ||
| 426/5 | 1735-1819 | ||
| 426/6 | 1820-1854 (+ index) | 1849-1850 (3 entries) | |
| 426/7 | 1820-1854 | ||
| 426/8 | 1756-1863 |
| Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland |
There was also a chapel of ease at Pathhead, a United Presbyterian Church and a Free
Church in the parish. For more details of churches in Dysart, Kirkcaldy, Gallatown,
Pathhead and Sinclairtown, see the Kirkcaldy page.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and the
United Presbyterian Church in Dysart.
Fife Family History Society have transcribed the baptism records for the Dysart Relief Church from 1828-1831 (with gaps) and they are available on the Records pages of their website.
A list of elders (1827 - 1841) and a communion roll (1835) for the parish church have been extracted from the Kirk Session records (CH2/390/8) and have been published by the Fife Family History Society in their Publication 20.
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.
Notices from the local records of Dysart, a compilation from various sources covering both parish and burgh matters from 1534 to 1697, is available online.
Heritors' Records (HR613) 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 |
| Dysart burgh | 426/1 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Dysart landward | 426/2 | 1855 | 1855 |
| Dysart | 426 | 1856 | 1930 |
| Kirkcaldy | 442 | 1931 | 1971 |
| Kirkcaldy | 421 | 1972 | 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.
Dysart Burgh Court records are at the National Archives of Scotland (B21).
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Dysart Burgh Register of Deeds (1690-1829).
| Dysart town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°7'33"N |
| NT 304932 | 56.126436 -3.121197 |
KY1 2UG | Lon. 3°7'16"W |
Kirkcaldy Civic Society provide lots of information about the town.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.
In 1901, the parishes of Abbotshall, Dysart & Kirkcaldy, plus part of the parish of Kinghorn, were united to form the parish of Kirkcaldy & Dysart.
In 1930, the burgh of Dysart was combined with the burgh of Kirkcaldy.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.
The Register of the Fife Fallen in the Great War, vol 1:Kirkcaldy & Dysart Fallen, 1914-1919 has been published and is available from the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society.
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, 29.
Records of the Dysart Combination Poorhouse are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Fife Family History Society have published an index covering the period 1868-1880 in their Publications Series, 34.
Peter Higginbotham's website has a lot of information about Dysart combination poorhouse.
| 1755 | 2367 |
| 1801 | 5385 |
| 1851 | 8739 |
| 1901 | 16042 |
| 1951 | boundary changed; no separate figures |
See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.
Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Dysart 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 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 Dysart Burgh Register of Deeds.
School Board Records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
The archives of the former Burghs of Dysart and Kirkcaldy are held by Fife Council Archives. They include Council Minutes, Dysart Parochial Board records, Dysart Combination Poorhouse records (1921-1928).
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to Dysart Burgh Register of Deeds (1690-1829).
Dysart Burgh Protocol Books, Burgh Register of Sasines and Registers of Deeds, Burgh Court Books and Burgess Rolls are held at the National Archives of Scotland (B21).
Notices from the local records of Dysart, a compilation from various sources covering both parish and burgh matters from 1534 to 1697, is available online.
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