Kingdom of Fife

Contents

Fife Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Kemback

Towns and Villages

Cemeteries

Kemback Churchyard / Cemetery (grid ref. NO 417151):

• 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
• The current lair registers (dating from 1928) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TA. Tel. 01334 412818. Fax 01334 412896.

Census

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 433

The 1841 return can be searched on the FreeCEN website.

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

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists only the parish church.
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):

Kirk Session and similar records for the parish church (CH2/204) are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Details of church records here.

Heritors' Records (HR471) 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 districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.

Description & Travel

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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.

History

Maurice Milne, Session Clerk, has written an excellent short history of the parish.

Maps

• On-line maps:
  • Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheet 11 at the Landmark Information Group (old-maps.co.uk).
  • Ordnance Survey one-inch, 2nd edition (1895) sheet 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

• 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

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, 28.

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 and the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Details of records here.

Population

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Kemback 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 Board Records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.

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