 |
Kingdom of Fife |  |
Contents |  |
Fife Towns & Parishes |  Nearby places |
|
| Leslie |
| part of the new town of Glenrothes |
Places in Leslie 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).
|
|
| 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 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.
There are 2 cemeteries in Leslie parish:
1. Kirk on the Green Churchyard, Greenside, Leslie (grid ref. NO 256021; GPS: 56.205655 -3.200886):
2. Leslie Cemetery, Kinross Road, Leslie (grid ref. NO 243017; GPS: 56.201857 -3.221722 ):
The original 1841 census returns were lost in transit to Edinburgh.
Parish / district reference number for 1851 - 1901 censuses: 444
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 Leslie - 1042269 103831 103994 203528 208763
Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Further information on the main Fife page.
As well as the parish church, other churches included a Burgher Church, a Free Church (later United Free) and a United Presbyterian Church
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, 2 United Presbyterian Churches (the 1st Congregation and Leslie West), 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: 444
The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):
Leslie OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths 444/1 1673-1767 1729-1761 444/2 1764-1819 444/3 1779-1819 1761-1819 444/4 1820-1854 1838-1854 444/5 1820-1837 1820-1837 444/6 1600-1645 1613-1645 Register of Neglected Entries
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. blank Aug. 1678 - March 1682. Early leaves much injured by damp. Record 1718 - 1763 kept in the form of a small Memorandum Book. Irregular entries throughout. Mothers' names not recorded till Feb. 1685.
M. Prior to 1761 kept in form of a Memorandum Book. Blank (exc. one entry 1755, and two entries 1761) Dec. 1750 - March 1779, from which date till 1838 entries of Proclamations only.
D. (Mortcloth Dues.)
[Subsequent to publication of the Detailed List, records were found at Worcester College, Oxford, containing B. 1640 - 1645 and M. 1613 - 1645. These have now been included in the OPR series (vol. 444/6).]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:
1040188 Items 3 - 5 Baptisms, 1673-1819; Marriages, 1729-1750, 1761; Session book (includes Marriage proclamations after 1779 and Mortcloth dues [burial records]), 1761-1786. 1040386 Items 1 - 4 Session book (includes Marriage proclamations and Mortcloth dues), 1787-1819; Baptisms, 1820-1854, 1600-1644 (with some misc. notes); Marriages, 1820-1839, 1848-1854, 1613-1644; Burials, 1820- 1837.
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 (CH2/696) are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (444/3 and 444/4). 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.
Heritors' Records (HR210) are at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
Baptism records for the Associate Session (later West Church, Anti-burgher) are held at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Leslie Associate Congregation Baptisms CH3/319/1 1748-1749; 1758-1808 CH3/340/1 (bound in with Cairneyhill in error) 1741-1747; 1750-1757 A transcript of these baptisms has been published by the Fife Family History Society Baptismal Registers No. 2and Journal, vol 9 no.2.
The Leslie West United Presbyterian baptisms for 1849-1854 are published on the Records pages of the Fife Family History Society website.
Kirk Session records for the Burgher Church (CH3/318) and the Associate Congregation (West, Anti-burgher - CH3/319) are held by the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details of records here.
The LDS have filmed some other church records which may be consulted at LDS Family History Centres.
LDS Library Film Numbers:
889477 Item 2 Leslie Associate Congregation Church Baptisms, 1742-1806. ? CH3/319 National Archives of Scotland 304672 Item 3 Leslie Associate Congregation Church Baptisms, 1748-1808 CH3/319 National Archives of Scotland
Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Details of church records here.
The Leslie 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 |
| Leslie | 444 | 1855 | 1967 |
| Glenrothes | 433 | 1968 | 1971 |
| Glenrothes | 420 | 1972 | 2002 |
| Fife | 420 | 2003 |
Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes. In the 20th century especially, there were frequent changes in registration districts.
Burgh of Barony of Leslie court records, and Leslie police court case register records are held by the Fife Council Archive Centre. Details of records here.
| Leslie town centre | Ordnance Survey Grid Reference | GPS | Post code | Lat. 56°12'7"N |
| NO 249016 | 56.201054 -3.212025 |
KY6 3AZ | Lon. 3°12'41"W |
Surrounding parishes: Kinglassie, Falkland, Markinch, Portmoak (Kinross-shire).
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 Leslie 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.
There is an index to the Ordnance Survey Object Name Books for this parish here.
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.
There is a series of articles about many Fife family businesses in Fife Family History Society's Journal, New Series 10.
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.
Peter Higginbotham's website has a lot of information about Dysart combination poorhouse.
| Year | Population |
| 1755 | 1130 |
| 1801 | 1609 |
| 1851 | 3800 |
| 1901 | 3960 |
| 1951 | 3765 |
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 Leslie may be found in the Dunkeld Commissariot (CC7), 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, Dunkeld Commissary Court and Cupar Sheriff Court.
School Board records and / or school logbooks are heldat 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 |
| Leslie | Leslie | 799 | 651 |
"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 Leslie are held by Fife Council Archives. They include Council Minutes from 1800, Chartulary from 1457, and much other more-recent material. Details of records here.
Are you lost in the GENUKI hierarchy or arrived here from a search engine? If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.
