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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
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| Bow of Fife |
| Letham |
| Monimail |
Places in Monimail 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 Monimail parish:
1. Monimail Old Cemetery / Churchyard, Monimail (grid ref. NO 297142; GPS: 56.314968 -3.138033):Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 448
The 1841 return can be searched on the FreeCEN website.
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 Monimail 1042703 1042270 103831 103994 203529 208765
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 at Monimail, there was also a Free Church at Bow of Fife.
The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this information about Dissenters:
The New Statistical Account (written in 1836) gives this information:
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish 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: 448
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are 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 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 1687. Records prior to 1725 very much wasted. Blank Feb. 1657 - Sept. 1658, July 1679 - July 1682, July 1684 - Nov. 1686, Aug. 1689 - Aug. 1690, Aug. 1696 - Jan. 1698. After May 1747, entries of children of Seceders, 1738 - 1748. Duplicate of Record of B. 1725 - 1749. Page of irregular entries 1799 - 1810, at June 1806; also entries 1823 - 1854, on four pp. at end of 1814. Mothers' names seldom recorded till 1666, and occasionally omitted till about 1682.
M. Prior to 1687 intermixed with B. Blank Dec. 1687 - Aug. 1690. No entries June 1696 - Nov. 1697. Blank Nov. 1754 - July 1761. Record before 1725 much injured by damp.
D. Four entries for 1685. Regular Record commences Oct. 1697. Blank April 1720 - Jan, 1738, June 1751 - Jan. 1753, and (exc. three entries) Oct. 1754 - March 1784. Only two entries Aug. 1786 - Jan. 1817.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:
1040338 Items 1 - 3 Session book (includes baptisms, marriage proclamations), 1656- 1685; Baptisms, 1685-1854; Marriages, 1685-1754, 1761-1861; Burials, 1685, 1697-1720, 1738-1754, 1780-1790, 1817-1835, 1844, 1853-1854.
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 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 records here.
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.
Details of church records here.
The Monimail 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 |
| 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.
| Monimail village centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°18'53"N |
| NO 297142 | 56.314968 -3.138033 |
KY15 4RJ | Lon. 3°8'7"W |
Surrounding parishes: Moonzie, Creich, Dunbog, Abdie, Collessie, Cults, Cupar.
Westwood's Parochial Directory for the Counties of Fife and Kinross for 1862 and 1866 are online at Google Books. On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of the 1862 edition.
There is a list of places in Monimail 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).
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.
The parish is included in Andrew Campbell's compilation of Fife Shopkeepers and Traders 1820-1870 taken from newspapers and directories. It is available in most Fife reference libraries, in the libraries of the family history societies, and at the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. It is also available as Fife Traders and Shopkeepers on CD from Fife Family History Society.
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.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 884 |
| 1801 | 1066 |
| 1851 | 1102 |
| 1901 | 720 |
| 1951 | 622 |
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 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.
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 |
| Monimail | Easter Fernie | 54 | 26 |
| Letham | 103 | 82 |
"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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