GENUKI - Monimail

Kingdom of Fife

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Fife Towns & Parishes

Nearby places

Monimail

"Monimail parish occupies a portion of the central valley of Fifeshire. It is bounded on the north by Cupar, Moonzie, Creich and Dunbog; on the south by Collessie and Cults; on the east by Cupar and on the west by Abdie and Collessie. It is 5 miles long by 4 in breadth. A range of whinstone hills lies to the north, of which Mount Hill is the highest; on top of which a beautiful pillar has been erected in memory of the late Lord Hopetoun in 1826; it is upwards of 100 feet in height. The south portion is generally more level, and diversified by soft undulations. The parish is watered by several rivulets, one of them turning a mill-wheel without a dam; they all fall into the river Eden. The Fife breed of cattle, and the Ayrshire cows for milk, are preferred. Though sheep are not reared, they are largely bought to feed on turnips through the winter. Potatoes are rather extensively cultivated for the London market, as also for feeding cattle. The rent of the land will run from £1-5s to £3-10s per acre. Coal has to be brought from Markinch or Dysart. The south half contains freestone, sufficient for local use. The whinstone, though abundant, is with few exceptions unfit for building, as it soon yields to the action of the atmosphere. Weaving of linens is carried on in the parish to the annual value of 'between £2000 and £3000'. Parish church and Free church. Parish school and three private schools. There are 3 public houses in the parish. There are 2 parish libraries; and a flourishing friendly society. There is one village, Letham, with 450 inhabitants; it is 4 miles west of Cupar and 5 miles east of Auchtermuchty; it has an annual fair in June. There are 2 hamlets in the parish: Monimail with 85 inhabitants and Easter Fernie with 60." from A Descriptive & historic gazeteer of the counties of Fife, Kinross & Clackmannan, M Barbieri, published in 1857

Towns and Villages

Bow of Fife
Letham
Monimail

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 Monimail parish:

1. Monimail Old Cemetery / Churchyard, Monimail (grid ref. NO 297142):

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Monimail Old 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
Another listing has been published by the Fife Family History Society in their Publication 17, Monumental Inscriptions.
Fife Family History Society have transcribed the Death Records 1848-1854 and they are available on the Records pages of their website.
The current lair registers (dating from 1882) are administered by Fife Council, Cemeteries Department, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TA. Tel. 01334 412818. Fax 01334 412896.

2. Monimail Cemetery, Monimail (grid ref. NO 297143):

The current lair registers 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: 448

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

Further information on the main Fife page.

Church History

In addition to the parish church at Monimail, there was also a Free Church at Bow of Fife.
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and the Free Church.

Details of church history here.

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):

Monimail OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
448/1	1656-1725	1656-1725	1677-1720
448/2	1725-1819	1725-1819	1738-1819
448/3	1820-1854	1820-1854	1820-1854

Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland

The Free Church at Bow of Fife has some baptism records, held at the Manuscripts Dept. of St Andrews University Library:

Monimail Free Church	Baptisms
CH3/679	1843-1845

A transcript of these baptisms has been published by the Fife Family History Society Baptismal Registers No. 1.

Kirk Session and similar records for both the parish church and the Free Church are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (415/1). Details of church records here.

Heritors' Records (HR432) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of heritors' 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
Monimail	448	1855	1967
Cupar	420	1968	1971
Cupar	417	1972	2002
Fife	417	2003

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

Description & Travel

Monimail village centre	Ordnance Survey Grid Reference	GPS	Post code	Lat. 56°18'53"N
Monimail village centre	NO 297142	56.314968 -3.138033	KY15 4RJ	Lon. 3°8'7"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 sheet 10 at the Landmark Information Group (old-maps.co.uk).
- Ordnance Survey one-inch, 2nd edition (1895) sheets 40, 48 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) 370 - Glenrothes north, Falkland & Lomond Hills

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	884
1801	1066
1851	1102
1901	720
1951	622

See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.

Probate Records

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Monimail 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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William McM. Owen last updated 30 December 2006