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Flisk

Map showing the location of the parish

"Flisk parish is bounded on the north by the Tay, on the south by Creich and Abdie, on the east by Balmerino and on the west by Dunbog. It is 4 miles in length from east to west and 1 mile in breadth. Area 3.5 square miles; under cultivation 2210 acres; under pasture 140 acres; under wood 266 acres. Occupying the northern slope of the Ochils, a considrable portion of its surface is hilly and irregular, except about mile from the river, where it is level ground along the whole extent of the parish: the hills are Lyndemus, nearly 750 feet above sea level, Logie Law and Glenduckie Hill. With the exception of the Tay, the parish is watered by small burns and supplied by innumerable springs of the finest water. The soil for the most part is a clayey loam, varying from 1 to 3 feet in depth, lying on rock, clay and till; the whole is nevertheless fertile, and the land is found cultivated from the shore of the Tay to the summit opf the hills. Rent of arable is at an average £1-10s. per acre. Much has been done by draining land naturally wet; till lately stone draining was chiefly used, but now tile-draining is introduced; some of the grounds are not sufficiently enclosed; a mixture of 1 part of bone-dust to 2 parts of coal ashes is much used for turnips on the hill lands; wheat, barley, and oats, with potatoes, turnips, peas and beans are grown in the proportion of the order given here; the Fifeshire breed of cattle crossed with the Forfarshire is the kind kept; there are few sheep kept, owing to the hardness of the soil not being favourable to grass; there are eight thrashing mills; there is a great deficiency of cottages in this parish, which is the cause of the continued decrease of Population. There are 3 heritors. Coals have to be brought from Newburgh or Balmerino or the Balbirnie pit; though some use English coal, brought in vessels to the beach. There are 3 quarries of sandstone and clinkstone; none of them of importance, and only used for local purposes. The parish being entirely a rural one, there are no manufactures carried on within it. The patron is the Earl of Zetland. There is no Dissenting place of worship. Parish school only. There are no fairs nor public houses in the parish. The nearest market towns are Newburgh 6 miles, Cupar 8 miles and Dundee 10 miles. There is a post office at Newburgh, but the post town is Cupar. There is no village, but a small hamlet, the farm of Glenduckie, consisting of a dozen cottages." from A Descriptive & historic gazeteer of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan, M Barbieri, published in 1857

Towns and Villages

Flisk

Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so.

Cemeteries

Flisk Cemetery (grid ref. NO 313225):

Census

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 430. Parts in 423 from 1861 (see Civil Registration).

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

Further information on the main Fife page.

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Church History

In addition to the Parish Church, there was a Free Church of Scotland in Creich.
The Old Statistical Account (1793) mentions no church other than the parish church.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and the Free Church of Flisk & Creich.

Details of church history here.

Church Records

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):

Flisk OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths
430/1 1697-1819 1697-1819 1775-1815
430/2 1820-1854 1820-1854 1820-1854
Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland

The Free Church has these registers:

Creich and Flisk Free Church Baptisms & Marriages
CH3/1582 1843-1854

Fife Family History Society have transcribed these Free Church baptism & marriage records on the Records pages of their website, and a transcript of the baptisms has been published by the Society as Baptismal Registers No. 1.

Kirk Session and similar records for the parish church (CH2/1545) and the Free Church of Flisk and Creich (CH3/1582) are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Details of church records here.

Heritors' Records (HR278) 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
Flisk 430 1855 1967
Newburgh 450 1968 1971
Newburgh 416 1972 2002
Fife 416 2003  

Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts. Parts of Flisk parish were included in Dunbog registration district.

Description & Travel

Flisk church Ordnance Survey Grid Reference GPS Post code Lat. 56°23'23"N
NO 313225 56.389757
-3.114346		 KY14 6HN Lon. 3°6'37"W

Surrounding parishes: Creich, Abdie, Dunbog, Balmerino.

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.

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Maps

Historic maps: Present-day maps:
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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

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.

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 318
1801 300
1851 213
1901 232
1951 201

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Flisk 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.

Schools

School logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.

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William McM. Owen    last updated 12 August 2007