Dalgety

The ScotlandsPlaces website lets users search across national databases by geographical location. It includes, amongst other material,

• catalogue entries for maps and plans held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh; some maps and plans can be viewed
• photos and details of historical buildings and archaeological sites recorded by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh
• 17th and 18th century tax rolls
• Ordnance Survey [place] Name Books
• an opportunity to transcribe thousands of historic documents

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 is a chapter about Dalgety in Mercer's History of Dunfermline, published 1828, is at Google Books.

There are 4 cemeteries and 1 private burial chapel in Dalgety parish:

1. St Bridget's Churchyard, Four Lums Road, Dalgety Bay (grid ref. NT 169838, GPS: 56.039751 -3.334535):

• Robin G K Arnott published St Bridget's Kirk, Dalgety - a Photographic Record in 1989. The inscriptions within it were published by the Fife Family History Society in their Publication 18, Monumental Inscriptions.
• Pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are in Mitchell & Mitchell (see below).
• Transcripts of many of the older stones were made by Erskine Beveridge in the 1890s. They are included in Publication 37, Monumental Notes by Erskine Beveridge and Robert Monteith, published by the Fife Family History Society.

2. Dalgety Churchyard, Four Lums Road, Dalgety Bay (grid ref. NT 167845, GPS: 56.046807 -3.338171):

• Pre-1855 monumental inscriptions are in Mitchell & Mitchell (see below).
• The current lair registers (dating from the mid 1800s) are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services West, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline,KY11 8QR. Tel. 01383 602335. Fax 01383 602665.
• A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.

3. Hillend Cemetery, Clockluine Road, Hillend (grid ref. NT 146842, GPS: 56.043074 -3.371688):

• The current lair registers are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services West, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline,KY11 8QR. Tel. 01383 602335. Fax 01383 602665.
• A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.

4. Mossgreen Cemetery, Coaledge, by Crossgates (grid ref. NT 153887, GPS: 56.083723 -3.361592):

• A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.
• The current lair registers (dating from 1947) are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services West, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline,KY11 8QR. Tel. 01383 602335. Fax 01383 602665.

5. A private burial chapel at Fordell (grid ref. NT 146854, GPS: 56.053416 -3.371983):

• Inscriptions in the private chapel at Fordell (largely to the Henderson family of Fordell) are to be found in some copies of the previous edition of the Mitchell book "Monumental inscriptions (pre-1855) in West Fife", but are also held by the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society.

The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Dalgety Churchyard and Dalgety (St Bridget's) Churchyard are listed in Fifeshire Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) vol. 2 The western parishes by John Fowler Mitchell & Sheila Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogy Society. ISBN 0901061972.

War graves can be seen at the Scottish Wargraves Project and war memorials can be seen at the Scottish War Memorials Project.

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 422

The 1841 and 1851 returns can be searched on theFreeCEN 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 Search Centres around the world.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891
Dalgety	1042700	1042254	103827	103989	203519	208751

(Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Further information on the main Fife page.

The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this information about Dissenters:

• There is no church [building] but the established one in the parish.
• The Seceders are mostly Burghers and attend a meeting house in Inverkeithing.

The New Statistical Account (written in 1836) gives this information:

• No Dissenting meeting house in the parish.
• Those parishioners who do not attend the Established Church attend a Burgher meeting house either at Inverkeithing or at Crossgates.
• Crossgates is very conveniently situated for the colliers, being only about a mile distant from most of them.

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and another Established Church at Mossgreen.

Information and pictures of the churches at the Scottish Churches website.

Details of church history:

• Dalgety Kirk Session:

The original church of Dalgety, the ruins of which still remain standing today, was dedicated to St Bridget and record of the church's existence dates back as far as the year 1178. The St Bridget's church remained in use for worship until the early 19th cent when, due to having fallen into a state of repair no longer considered safe, a new church was erected to replace the ancient building. In 1940, as a result of dwindling numbers within the parish, Dalgety became a linked charge with Aberdour St Fillan's however in 1965 the first houses of the new settlement at Dalgety bay were constructed and the link with Aberdour was dissolved, leaving Dalgety Parish restored once more to full status. As the population of the new town began to expand, the old Dalgety Church became too small and expensive to maintain and so a new parish church was erected in the centre of the town, in 1981. The kirk session sat within the Presbytery of Dunfermline, later of Dunfermline and Kinross and, following the restructuring of the presbyteries in 1976, it became part of the Presbytery of Dunfermline once more.

• Mossgreen Kirk Session:

A church was built at Mossgreen in 1852 which in 1860 was granted status as a chapel-of-ease. The parish of Mossgreen was subsequently disjoined, quoad sacra, from Aberdour, Dalgety, Inverkeithing and Dunfermline in 1879, with the chapel-of-ease, which had been enlarged two years prior, becoming the Parish Church of Mossgreen. In 1948 Mossgreen established a union with the former United Free Church congregation of Crossgates, under the name of Mossgreen and Crossgates, after the union both churches continued in use alternately and united charge was linked with Cowdenbeath West in 1986. The session of Cowdenbeath Trinity was later formed in 1998 when Mossgreen and Crossgates with Cowdenbeath West united with Cowdenbeath Cairns. The kirk session sat with in the Presbytery of Dunfermline, later of Dunfermline and Kinross and, following the restructuring of the Presbyteries in 1976, it became part of the Presbytery of Dunfermline once again.

Data provided by the  Scottish Archive Network (SCAN)

The Parish Church (Established Church, Church of Scotland):

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 National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, and they can all be consulted there at the National Records of Scotland. The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths / burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.

Parish reference number: 422

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):

Dalgety OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
422/1	1644-1650	1644-1707	1697-1709
422/2	1717-1819	1709-1819	1710-1785
422/3	1820-1854	1820-1854	1833-1854

(Data supplied by the National Records of 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 May 1650 - March 1717. One leaf headed 'Seceders' containing entries 1777 - 1783, after Record for 16th Dec. 1778.
M.  blank 1662 - 1698, from which date there are only entries of Proclamation Fees till Oct. 1717. Only one entry for 1726. Blank July 1794 - May 1797, and July 1804 - May 1811. There are, however, entries relating to irregular Marriages, dated 1741 - 1813, a number of which are applicable to the period blank in the regular Record.
D.  Mortcloth Dues till June 1717, then Deaths to end of Record. Blank March 1748 - March 1750. After Nov. 1785, only nine entries, viz. one for 1817, and eight for period 1833 - 1852.

Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in some local libraries and at LDS Family Search 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:

1040127 Items 3 - 5	Baptisms, 1644-1650, 1717-1854; Session book (includes Marriage proclamations), 1644-1662; Marriages, 1698-1707, 1718-1817, 1784-1840; Mortcloth dues (burial records), 1697-1709; Session book (includes Marriage proclamations and Mortcloth dues), 1709-1717; Burials, 1718- 1785.
1040126 Item 1	Marriages, 1839-1855; Burials, 1833, 1843-1854.

(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 records are held at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (422/1 and 422/2).

Heritors' Records (HR185) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/970
  Dalgety Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1909-1971; Proclamation register, 1967-1977; Baptismal register, 1889-1986.

Included in the Old Parochial Registers on microfilm and at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh but not online:

• Dalgety Kirk Session
  • 422/1
    Minutes, 16442-1662.
  • 422/2
    Minutes, 1709-1717.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• HR/185
  Dalgety parish heritors' records
  Minutes, 1803-1927; Cash book, 1848-1927.

Other Churches:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/1176
  Mossgreen Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1879-1925; Manager's minutes, 1851-1898; Communion roll, 1877-1907.

At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, USA, but available on microfilm at LDS Family History Centres around the world:

• Microfilm no. 104150 Item 6
  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Crossgate Branch
  Record of members, 1885-1886.

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

Fife Family History Society have transcribed a list of Dalgety Jurors, 1851 on the Records pages of their website.

Surrounding parishes: Inverkeithing, Dunfermline, Aberdour.

• Geograph
• Flickr

Westwood's ParochialDirectory 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.

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.

• David Webster's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1819, online at Google Books.
• Fullarton's Topographical, Statistical and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, published 1842, online at Google Books.
• Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1846, online at British History Online.
• Barbieri's Descriptive and Historical Gazetteer of the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, published 1857, is at Google Books.
• Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) and John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887), are on A Vision of Britain (click on "Historical places and writing").
• Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland(1892-6) on Electric Scotland

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Dalgety to another place.

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.

Historic maps:

• On-line maps:
  • National Library of Scotland map collection - main page
  • For 17th, 18th and early 19th century maps, see the National Library of Scotland map collection.
  • Using the geo-referenced maps at the National Library of Scotland allows historic maps to be viewed on top of a modern map or satellite view
  • Ordnance Survey 6-inch, 1st edition (1855) Fife sheets 35, 36, 39 & 40 at the National Library of Scotland (for the best images), or at old-maps.co.uk or British History online.
  • Ordnance Survey 6-inch editions of 1897 and 1921 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • Ordnance Survey 25-inch editions of 1896, 1915 and 1926 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • A Vision of Britain has the Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 1st edition (1850s) and the Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1920s) - both showing parish & burgh boundaries; Land Utilisation mapping (1930s); and more.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 1st edition (1857-1867) sheets 32 & 40; 2nd edition (1898-1899) sheets 32 & 40; and 3rd edition (1904-1906) sheets 32 & 40 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1928) sheet 68 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheets 55 and 62 at the National Library of Scotland.
• Paper maps:
  • The National Library of Scotland sells paper and digital copies of their maps (select "Enquiries & copies").
  • The Caledonian Maps Victorian Ordnance Survey Map Series sheets 32 & 40 (reprint of the 1898/1899 1-inch maps).
  • Old-maps.co.uk sell paper copies of all their on-line maps.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheets 55 & 62
  • The best collection of large scale local and estate maps and plans is held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. The RCAHMS also has some plans. They are catalogued on the ScotlandsPlaces website. N.B. Only a few maps and plans are available as digital images.

Present-day maps:

• On-line maps:
  • National Library of Scotland map collection - main page
  • Streetmap
  • Ordnance Survey maps
• Paper maps:
  • Ordnance Survey Landranger (scale 1:50000 -  about 1 inch to 1 mile) sheet 65 - Falkirk & Linlithgow
  • Ordnance Survey Explorer (larger scale 1:25000 -  about 2 and a half inches to 1 mile) sheet 367 - Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy & Glenrothes south

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NT168854 (Lat/Lon: 56.054387, -3.337176), Dalgety which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

War graves can be seen at the Scottish Wargraves Project and war memorials can be seen at the Scottish War Memorials Project.

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, 27.

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. See Public Records below.

Peter Higginbotham's website has a lot of information about Dunfermline combination poorhouse.

There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1961 here.

See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.

Probate records are 'Confirmations' in Scotland.

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Dalgety 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 Dunfermline (SC21) 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.

Parochial Boards and their successors, Parish Councils, administered many local functions including poor relief.

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

• FCC/6/23
  Dalgety Parochial Board / Parish Council
  Minute books, 1847-1930.

School Board records and / or school logbooks are held at the Fife Council Archive Centre. Dalgety records:

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

• Mossgreen School
  Log books, 1953-1962; admission registers, 1959-1966.

• Hillend Public School
  Log books, 1882-1939.

Entries less than 50 years old may contain sensitive personal information and are not on open access. If you are a former pupil you are entitled to see your own entry. Please contact the Archivist for further details.

Education statistics for Fife schools in 1891-2 list the following board schools in the parish:

"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 'Old' Statistical Account is at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland and Google Books.
• The 'New' Statistical Account is also at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland and Google Books.

The hearth tax, clock & watch tax, male servants tax, female servants tax, and farm horse tax are all on ScotlandsPlaces.

See also the Early Taxation Records page.