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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
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| Leven |
| Scoonie |
Places in Scoonie 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.
The Methil Heritage Centre has a very interesting collection of information about Leven, Methil and surrounding areas.
The ScotlandsPlaces website lets users search across national databases by geographical location. It includes, amongst other material,
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.
Bygone Leven (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.
Scoonie Cemetery, Largo Road, Leven (grid ref. NO 384016; GPS: 56.202995 -2.994478):
Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 456
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 Scoonie 1042704 1042272 103832 103995 203531 208767
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 were also an Episcopal Church, a Free Church (Foreman) and a relief church (United Presbyterian - St John's).
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, the United Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal 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: 456
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Scoonie OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 456/1 1675-1786 1667-1766 1765-1766 456/2 1770-1792 1770-1792 1770-1792 456/3 1783-1819 1793-1819 1817-1819 456/4 1820-1854 1820-1854 1820-1854 Register of Neglected Entries 1842, 1851
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. Defective 1716 - 1718. After Record for May 1760, there are six pp. of irregular entries dated 1740 - 1786. Then follows a copy of the Record of B. Dec. 1755 - March 1760, with continuation. Blank March 1761 - Oct. 1765, and Dec. 1768 - March 1770, from which date to 1792, B. M. and D. are mixed up in one Record, and all blank July 1783 - Sept. 1788. There is, however, a separate Register of B. from 1783, which is continuous. Irregular entries frequent 1792 - 1804 incl. After 1819, are six entries (one family) 1814 - 1827.
M. Only entries of Marriage Pledges, etc. before Feb. 1676. Entries Feb. 1676 - Oct. 1677 among B. Separate Record Nov. 1677 - Nov. 1702. Blank Nov. 1702 - Oct. 1718, from which date to April 1760, entries again recorded among B. There is also a Record of Contracts or Proclamations Oct. 1755 - April 1760. Blank from latter date till Nov. 1765, when the Record of Contracts is resumed. Again blank May 1766 - March 1770, from which date till Jan. 1783, and Sept. 1788 - Nov. 1792, the entries of Contracts are intermixed with Baptisms and Burials for the same period. [Blank 1783 - 1788.] Separate Register of Contracts and Marriages from June 1794. The title-page of this Record bears that it began Oct. 1783, but the early leaves have probably been destroyed or lost.
D. (Burials.) Blank April 1766 - Jan. 1770, Feb. 1783 - Feb. 1788, and May 1792 - Jan. 1817. Deaths and Burials after 1817. [There are 7 entries of D. for 1817 between B. 1825 - 1826.]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:
1040339 Items 3 - 5 Baptisms, 1675-1786, 1783-1819; Marriages, 1667- 1702, 1755-1766, 1793-1819; Burials, 1673-1682, 1765-1766, 1817-1819; Session book (includes baptisms, marriage proclamations, mortcloth dues [burial records]), 1770-1792. 1040190 Item 1 Baptisms, Burials, 1819-1854; Marriages, 1820-1854; Burials (Leven), 1837-1843; Neglected entries (baptisms), 1842, 1851.
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 at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
The Presbytrie Book of Kirkcaldie, the record of the proceedings of the Presbytery of Kirkcaldy (which includes references to this parish), from 15 April 1630 - 14 September 1653, is available online.
Records for other churches are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Some of the pre-1855 baptism and marriage registers have been transcribed and published.
Details of church records here.
The Scoonie 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 |
| Scoonie | 456 | 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.
Heritors' Records (HR764) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Leven Burgh Court records (from 1927) are held by Fife Council Archives.
| Leven town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°11'42"N |
| NO 381009 | 56.196668 -2.999149 |
KY8 4SE | Lon. 2°59'48"W |
Surrounding parishes: Wemyss, Largo, Ceres, Kettle, Kennoway, Markinch.
The parish entry in Pigot's National Commercial Directory for the whole of Scotland, 1837, is online at Google Books.
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 Scoonie 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.
Details of historic buildings and archaeological sites in this parish held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, are catalogued at ScotlandsPlaces. In the results, click RCAHMS. Unfortunately, not all entries have digital images.
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, 30.
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.
There is a series of articles about many Fife family businesses in Fife Family History Society's Journal, New Series 11.
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 | 1528 |
| 1801 | 1681 |
| 1851 | 3115 |
| 1901 | 6342 |
| 1951 | 9518 |
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 Scoonie may be found in either the St Andrews Commissariot (CC20) or the Edinburgh Commissariot (CC8) records. From 1824 to 1960, commissary business was conducted by the Sheriff Court of Fife at Cupar (SC20). From 1960, it has been conducted at Kirkcaldy (SC23) Sheriff Court.
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 |
| Scoonie | Leven | 824 | 754 |
| 87 | |||
| Smithy Green | 65 | 32 |
"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
The archives of the former Burgh of Leven are held by Fife Council Archives. They include Council Minutes (from 1854), Licensing Records and Accounts. Details of records here.
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