GENUKI - Leuchars

Kingdom of Fife

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Fife Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Leuchars

"Leuchars parish is 9 miles in length by 5 in breadth. It is bounded on the east by the German Ocean, and watered by the Eden on the south and south-west. The surface is level and the soil tolerably fertile. There is an extensive distillery in the parish. The village of Leuchars is pleasantly situated about a mile from the coast, and 6 from St Andrews, on the road from that town to Dundee. The majority of the inhabitants are employed in the linen manufacture. The Edinburgh & Dundee Railway passes through the parish, and there is a station in the village. The church is very ancient, and considered one of the most perfect specimens of Saxon architecture in Scotland; it is supposed to have been erected in the 12th century. There is also a free church in the parish." from Slater's Directory published 1852.

Towns and Villages

Balmullo
Guardbridge
Leuchars

Cemeteries Census Church History Church Records Civil Registration Description and Travel Directories Historical Geography Maps	Monumental Inscriptions - see Cemeteries Names, Geographical Obituaries Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc. Population Probate Records Schools Wills & Testaments - see Probate Records
Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so.

Cemeteries

There are 2 cemeteries in Leuchars parish:

1. Leuchars Churchyard, School Hill. (grid ref. NO 455215):

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Leuchars Churchyard 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
There are Burial Registers for the period 1872 - 1901 in the Kirk Session records at St Andrews University Library.

2. Leuchars Cemetery, north of the village, next to St Michaels Golf Club. (grid ref. NO 447218):

The current lair registers (dating from 1900) 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: 445.

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.

In addition to the parish church, there was an Antiburgher Congregation at Balmullo, a Free Church at Leuchars and an Episcopal Church (St Saviour's) at Guardbridge.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the United Original Seceders Church (Balmullo) and the Free 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):

Leuchars OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
445/1	1665-1819	1665-1819
445/2	1820-1854	1820-1854	1720-1854

Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland

Kirk Session and similar records for the parish church (CH2/1209) and some of the other churches are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library and at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of church records here.

Heritors' Records (HR154) 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
Leuchars	445	1855	1971
Leuchars	412	1972	1975
St Andrews	413	1976	2002
Fife	413	2003

Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.

Description & Travel

Leuchars church	Ordnance Survey Grid Reference	GPS	Post code	Lat. 56°22'53"N
Leuchars church	NO 455215	56.382627 -2.884173	KY16 0HQ	Lon. 2°53'2"W

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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.

Maps

Historic maps:

On-line maps:
- Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheets 2, 3, 6 & 7 at the Landmark Information Group (old-maps.co.uk).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 2nd edition (1895) sheets 48 & 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

Present-day maps:

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).

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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. Details of records here.

Population

Year	Population
1755	1691
1801	1687
1851	1991
1901	2499
1951	3620

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

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

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Schools

School Board Records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre and at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Details of records here.

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William McM. Owen last updated 17 December 2006