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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  nearby places |
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| Kirkton of Largo (Upper Largo) |
| Lower Largo |
| Lundin Links |
| Lundin Mill |
| New Gilston |
Places in Largo 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).
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| Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so. | |
A separate Records Page page gives details of the records for this parish held by Scottish archives.
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.
There are 2 cemeteries in Largo parish:
1. Largo Old Churchyard, Church Place, Upper Largo (grid ref. NO 424035, GPS: 56.220564 -2.930428):
2. Largo Cemetery, North Feus, Upper Largo (grid ref. NO 422038, GPS: 56.223235 -2.933718):
The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are listed in "Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 1 South east parishes" by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061948
Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 443
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 Largo 1042703 1042269 103831 103994 203528 208763
Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Further information on the main Fife page.
In addition to the parish church there was a Relief Church at Lower Largo (later United Presbyterian, St David's United Free, then Church of Scotland) and a Free Church (later Upper Largo United Free) at Upper Largo.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the Baptist Church, the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church.
Details of church history here.
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: 443
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Largo OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 443/1 1636-1656 1636-1656 443/2 1670-1754 1670-1756 443/3 1754-1819 1757-1819 443/4 1767-1854 443/5 1820-1854 1820-1854 Register of Neglected Entries 1834-1846
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. intermixed till Dec. 1688.
B. blank Dec. 1644 - Jan. 1647 and July 1656 - Sept. 1670. No entries Aug. 1689 - Jan. 1691. After 1766, irregular and interpolated entries are of frequent occurrence. Mothers' names not recorded till Jan. 1723.
M. blank Dec. 1645 - Jan. 1647, Aug. 1656 - Dec. 1670, and Dec. 1688 - March 1693. No entry Dec. 1756 - Dec. 1757.
D. (Burials.) It being impossible to separate the portion 1820 - 1854 from the earlier part of the Record, in consequence of the manner in which it has been kept, the whole has been retained by the Registrar-General.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:
1040187 Item 5 Session book (includes Baptisms, Marriage proclamations) 1636-1643. 1040180 Session book (includes Baptisms, Marriage proclamations), 1643-1656; Baptisms, 1670-1820; Marriages, 1670-1820. 1040188 Items 1 - 2 Burials (most are arranged alphabetically), 1767- 1858; Baptisms, Marriages, 1820-1854; Neglected entries (5 baptisms), 1834-1846.
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.
Further information on the main Fife page.
Kirk Session records are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (443/1). Details of church records here.
Heritors' Records (HR372) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
Records for other churches are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
Details of church records here.
The Largo page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.
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 district | number | start date | end date |
| Largo | 443 | 1855 | 1967 |
| Leven | 443 | 1968 | 1971 |
| Leven | 415 | 1972 | 2002 |
| Fife | 415 | 2003 |
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.
| Largo church | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°13'13"N |
| NO 423036 | 56.221451 -2.932062 |
KY8 6EH | Lon. 2°55'49"W |
Surrounding parishes: Newburn, Kilconquhar, Scoonie, Ceres.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.
There is a list of places in Largo 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.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.
This British Library webpage uses small examples of historical maps of London to show the differences between maps at various scales.
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).
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, 28.
The relief of paupers after 1845 was carried out by theParochial Board and later by the Parish Council. Their records are at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 1396 |
| 1801 | 1867 |
| 1851 | 2800 |
| 1901 | 2046 |
| 1951 | 2500 |
There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1961 here.
See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.
Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Largo 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.
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:
| School Board | School | Accommodation for scholars | Average attendance |
| Largo | Kirkton | 150 | 110 |
| Lundin Mill | 178 | 92 | |
| Durham Female Charity | 164 | 92 | |
| Largoward | New Gilston | 90 | 74 |
"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
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