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Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  nearby places |
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| Boarhills St. Andrews Strathkinness |
The parishes of St Andrews and St Leonards were united to form a single parish in 1895.
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| Please read the main Fife pages if you have not already done so. | |
St Andrews Library has a small local history section.
St Andrews University Library houses the records of the University. The Special Collections Dept. acts as a local archive for the former burghs of north-east Fife and the churches in Cupar & St Andrews Presbyteries. It also houses a growing collection of archives of local families, estates and businesses. It is now the home of the Hay Fleming Collection.
There are also a number of museums in St Andrews with varying displays.
Old St Andrews (Stenlake Publishing) contains many photographs and full descriptions.
There are 4 cemeteries and 4 other locations of memorial inscriptions in St Andrews & St Leonards parish:
1. St Andrews Cathedral Churchyard, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 514165):
2. St Andrews Eastern Cemetery, The Pends, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 515165):
3. St Andrews Western & Roundal Cemetery, Strathkinness Low Road, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 487160):
4. St Leonard's Chapel, The Pends, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 513164):
5. St Salvator's Church, North Street, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 510168):
6. Holy Trinity Church, South Street, St Andrews (grid ref. NO 509166):
7. Boarhills Churchyard / Cemetery, A917, by Boarhills (grid ref. NO 562137):
8. Magus Muir, south of Strathkinness (grid ref. NO 456152):
The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for St Andrews Cathedral, St Andrews Cemetery, Trinity Church, St Leonard's Chapel, St Salvator's Church and Boarhills 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
Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 453
Surname indexes to the 1841 and 1861 censuses have been produced by Dr David Calvert. The 1851 census has been indexed by the Tay Valley Family History Society. All are available from the Society.
The 1841 return can be searched on the FreeCEN website.
Further information on the main Fife page.
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):
| St Andrews OPR | Births / baptisms | Proclamations / marriages | Deaths / burials / mortcloths |
| 453/1 | 1627-1680 | ||
| 453/2 | 1680-1738 | ||
| 453/3 | 1739-1803 | ||
| 453/4 | 1803-1819 | ||
| 453/5 | 1638-1659 | ||
| 453/6 | 1659-1670 | ||
| 453/7 | 1670-1679 | ||
| 453/8 | 1679-1698 | ||
| 453/9 | 1698-1706 | ||
| 453/10 | 1706-1719 | ||
| 453/11 | 1719-1729 | ||
| 453/12 | 1729-1740 | ||
| 453/13 | 1740-1750 | ||
| 453/14 | 1750-1762 | ||
| 453/15 | 1763-1771 | ||
| 453/16 | 1770-1819 | ||
| 453/17 | 1732-1819 | ||
| 453/19 | 1820-1854 | ||
| 453/20 | 1820-1854 | ||
| 453/21 | 1820-1854 |
| St Leonards OPR | Births / baptisms | Proclamations / marriages | Deaths / burials / mortcloths |
| 453/18 | 1667-1819 | 1668-1819 | |
| 453/22 | 1820-1854 | 1820-1854 |
| Data supplied by General Register Office for Scotland |
The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists St Andrews parish church, a second charge of the Established Church in St Andrews, St Leonard's parish church, an Established Church at Strathkinness, Free Churches at St Andrews and Strathkinness, the Episcopal Church, the Baptist Church, the Congregational Church and the United Presbyterian Church.
The following are held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library and an index to them has been published by the Fife Family History Society Baptismal Registers No. 2:
| Baptisms | |
| Hope Park Associate Congregation | 1829-1854 |
| Martyrs Free Church (later United Free) | 1843-1854 |
The following are held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library and an index to them has been published by the Fife Family History Society Baptismal Registers No.5:
| Births / Baptisms | Marriages | |
| St Andrews Episcopal Congregation | 1722-1787; 1819-1859 | 1722-1787; 1819-1859 |
Kirk Session and similar records for the following churches are held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library:
| Holy Trinity | CH2/316 |
| St Leonards | CH2/ |
| Hope Park Associate Congregation (burgher, UP, UF) | CH3/ |
| Martyrs Free Church | CH3/ |
| Strathkinness | CH2/291 |
| Strathkinness Associate Session (relief, UP, Free) | CH3/291 |
| Boarhills | nil |
Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (453/5-15).
Heritors' Records (HR73-St Andrews, HR491-St Leonards) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
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 |
| St Andrews (Fife) burgh | 453/1 | 1855 | 1855 |
| St Andrews (Fife) landward | 453/2 | 1855 | 1855 |
| St Leonards | 453/3 | 1855 | 1855 |
| St Andrews and St Leonards | 453 | 1856 | 1967 |
| St Andrews | 453 | 1968 | 1971 |
| St Andrews | 413 | 1972 | 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.
St Andrews Burgh Court records (from 1588) are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
The Regality of St Andrews Admiralty Court Book (1671-1730) is held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh (RH11/61). Other Regality Court records are in the Cupar Sheriff Court records (SC20) - also at the National Archives of Scotland, and in the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library.
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there are indexes to St Andrews Commissariot Deeds (1700-1809) and St Andrews Burgh Register of Deeds (1692-1891).
| St Andrews town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°20'21"N |
| NO 509166 | 56.339202 -2.795817 |
KY16 9LU | Lon. 2°47'47"W |
The Handbook to St Andrews, published in 1897, a detailed history and description of the city of St. Andrews, together with its people, is available on CD from Archive CD Books.
There is a very informative St Andrews website.
The town is also the home of golf, and the St Andrews Links Trust has a full set of information pages about the sport (or is it a pastime?).
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is a transcription of Westwood's 1861 Parochial Directory of Fife.
Before 1891, St Andrews and St Leonards parishes were a complicated mixture of town and
country parts, intermixed with each other. St Leonards consisted of 4 separate parts: an
area at Kenly at the south end of St Andrews parish, 2 parts in the burgh of St Andrews
itself, and an area at Rathelpie to the west of the burgh.
On 15th May 1891 a new parish of St Leonards was created, situated entirely within the
burgh of St Andrews. The country areas were transferred to St Andrews parish.
The following subjects were, therefore, transferred from St Leonards parish to St
Andrews parish: Upper Kenly Farm, Nether Kenly, Newmill, Rathelpie, Peekie, Peekie Mill
and Mill Bank, Westerlee.
The separate parishes were united to form the Parish of St Andrews and St Leonards in
1895.
A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.
There is an excellent history of the town by local authors Raymond Lamont-Brown and Frank G Riddell.
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).
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, 29.
Lists of St Andrews fleshers, 1610 - 1844, St Andrews tailors, 1659 - 1866 and St Andrews weavers, 1751 - 1862, extracted from trade incorporation records held by the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, has been published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 14 - Trade Incorporation Records and is also available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website.
Also available on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website are similar lists of St Andrews Weavers (1751-1862), Tailors (1659-1866) and Hammermen (1539-1792).
At the Fife Council Archive Centre is an index to the St Andrews District Criminal Register, 1888 - 1899. Names of criminals are included in the Archive Catalogue on the Fife Council website (select A in the A-Z list, then Archives).
Mariners of St Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife by David Dobson can be obtained from the Fife Family History Society or the Tay Valley 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.
| Year | St Andrews | St Leonards |
| 1755 | 4590 | 323 |
| 1801 | 4203 | 363 |
| 1851 | 6740 | 587 |
Parish of St Andrews & St Leonards:
| Year | Population |
| 1901 | 9410 |
| 1951 | 10977 |
See also A Vision of Britain for population statistics.
Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of St Andrews 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, Cupar Sheriff Court and St Andrews Burgh Register of Deeds.
School Board Records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
Matriculation &/or Graduation lists for St Andrews University 1413-1579 and 1747-1879 have been published and are available on CD from Archive CD Books. The 1413-1579 volume is also available on CD from Family History Scotland.
The archives of the former Burgh of St Andrews are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library. They include Council Minutes (from 1656), Stent Rolls (from 1618), Cess Books (from 1826), Guildry Records (from 1604), records of Maltmen and Wright Incorporations, Harbour Dues (from 1859), etc.
There are also some records at the Fife Council Archive Centre.
St Andrews Burgh Register of Sasines (from 1673) and Registers of Deeds (from 1692) are held at the National Archives of Scotland (B65).
On the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website there is an index to St Andrews Burgh Register of Deeds (1692-1891).
A Burgess Roll of St Andrews 1751 - 1775 has been published by the Fife Family History Society.
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