Kettle

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 are 2 cemeteries in Kettle parish:

1. Kingskettle Old Churchyard, 30 Main Street, Kingskettle (grid ref. NO 310084, GPS: 56.262095 -3.114753):

• The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions 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
• Another listing has been published by the Fife Family History Society in their Publication 16, Monumental Inscriptions.
• Some stones are recorded in Graveyard Monuments in East, North and Central Fife, John di Folco, published in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1969-70, vol. 102, pages 205-236, which deals largely with stones dated pre-1707. It can be downloaded from ARCHway.
• A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.

2. Kingskettle Cemetery, just off A914 near Kettlebridge (grid ref. NO 314079, GPS: 56.259202 -3.10932):

• The current lair registers (dating from 1873 are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services East, County Buildings, St Catherine Street, Cupar, KY15 4TA. Tel. 01334 659336. Fax 01334 412896.
• A CD with photographs of the stones and transcriptions is available from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions or from The Parish Chest.

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 435

The 1841 and 1851 returns can be searched on the FreeCEN website.

The 1851 census has been indexed and published 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
Kettle	1042702	1042268	103829	103992	203524	208758

(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 (Kettle East), there was also a United Presbyterian Church (Kettle West), and Kettle and Cults Free church at Balmalcolm.

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

• There are 2 clergymen in the parish - 1 Established and 1 Relief
• Members of the Established Church over 8 years of age - 805
• Separatists from the Established Church over 8 years of age - 587

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

• The Dissenters amount to almost one-third of the whole population.

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church of Kettle & Cults.

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

Details of church history:

• Kettle Church (Kettle East)
  The church of Kettle was anciently known as Lathrisk. It was originally dedicated to St Athernash but there was an additional dedication to St John the Evangelist. The church was granted to the Priory of St Andrews prior to 1181 . Ministry at Kettle is first recorded from 1565 in the person of David Cuke. The parish of Kettle lies in the Presbytery of Cupar (subsequently the Presbytery of St Andrews) and formerly in the Synod of Fife. The present parish church was built in 1832. In 1930, after the union of the United Free Church of Scotland and the Church of Scotland, there was a local union of congregations. Kettle East, this congregation, united with Kettle West (the former Kingskettle United Free Church), and with Balmalcom (formerly Kettle and Cults United Free Church). The new charge took the name Kettle, using the fomer Kettle East church. A further link was formed in 1963 with the congregation of Cults. In 1983 the congregations of Collessie and Ladybank, and Cults and Kettle were united under the name Howe of Fife.

• Kettle (Kingskettle) United Presbyterian Church (later United Free and Kettle West Church of Scotland)
  The first minister of the congregation of Kettle U.P., which sat within the Presbytery of Cupar, was ordained around the year 1781. In 1900, at the time of the union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterians, Kettle U.P. was renamed Kingskettle Free Church, and the charge of Pitlessie was united with Kingskettle U.F. in 1901. Following the 1929 union between the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church a further name change took place and Kingskettle U.F. became Kettle West Church of Scotland. During the following year Kettle West united with the congregation of Balmalcolm and Kettle East, under the name of Kettle Church of Scotland, and after this local union the former Kettle West Church ceased to be used as a place of worship.

• Kettle and Cults Free Church / United Free / Balmalcolm Church of Scotland
  Kettle and Cults Free Church was formed at the Disruption by adherents in the two parishes, who built a church on the border between them, about a mile from Kingskettle. It passed successively to the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland, in the latter case as Balmalcolm, which almost immediately united with Kettle East and Kettle West as Kettle in 1930. The United Free Church charge was in the presbytery of Cupar and the synod of Fife and Angus.

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: 435

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

Kettle OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
435/1	1633-1721	1633-1721
435/2	1723-1787
435/3	1787-1819	1723-1819
435/4			1700-1723
435/5			1719-1819
435/6	1820-1854	1820-1854	1820-1842
Register of Neglected Entries	1843, 1849

(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.  and M.  intermixed. B.  Only one entry for 1639. Separate Record of B. till July 1645, and of M. till June 1635. M. blank 1635 - April 1640. B. blank July 1645 - July 1646 after which intermixed with M. Both records blank May 1658 - Feb. 1682. At Feb. 1714 are two leaves containing irregular entries of B. (four families) 1705 - 1826. Records blank Sept. 1717 - June 1719.
B.  blank July 1721 - Jan. 1723, after which a separate Record. Blank Aug. 1748 - Dec. 1752. Exc. May 1682 - Feb. 1699, mothers' names not recorded till Oct. 1731, and sometimes omitted during the period above stated.
M.  blank June 1721 - Jan. 1723, Dec. 1751 - Dec. 1752, and Oct. 1755 - May 1760, after which several leaves imperfect. Leaf at 1794 partially burnt.
D.  (Burials) blank June 1723 - Dec. 1735. Separate Records for West and South Divisions of the Churchyard 1735 - 1799; for East Division, 1735 - 1797, and for Burials in the Church, and in Forther's Burial-place, 1721 - 1791. Record blank (exc. one entry for 1808) Jan. 1799 - Feb. 1817.
[The Old Statistical Account (written in 1790) states "The barrow in Forthar is said to have been a regular place of burial, and to have had a church or chapel near it. But of this no vestiges are now extant."  This would appear to imply a place of antiquity, rather than one until recently used for burials. The "Forther's Burial-place" referred to in the OPR therefore possibly refers to a part of the church or churchyard.]

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:

1040114 Items 2 - 4	Session book (includes baptisms, marriage proclamations), 1636-1658; Baptisms, 1633-1646, 1682-1797; Marriages, 1633-1635, 1682-1721.
1040336	Baptisms (listed by family), 1773-1819; Baptisms, 1797-1854; Marriages, 1723-1854; Session book (includes Marriages, 1701-1705 and Mortcloth dues [burial records]), 1700-1723; Burials, 1719-1722, 1734-1793 (years repeat), 1793-1799, 1808, 1817-1842; Neglected entries (2 baptisms), 1843, 1849.

(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.

Some of the OPR entries can be searched on the FreeREG site.

Further information on the main Fife page.

Kirk Session records are held at the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library and at the National Records of Scotland. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (435/1 and 435/4).

Heritors' Records (HR81) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, with digital copies of the earlier volumes at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/207
  Kettle Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1682-1731, 1742-1778; Register of testimonials, 1648-1660; Roll of adherents, 1890-1930; Miscellaneous documents, undated; Accounts, 1731-1843; Minutes, 1881-1930; Communion roll, 1888-1902 and 1925-1939; Stipend, 1782-1840; Cash book, 1778-1788; Deas bequest minutes and accounts, 1861-1897; Baptismal register, 1878-1930.

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

• Kettle Kirk Session
  • 435/1
    Minutes, 1633-1658; Minutes and Collections, 1691-1694.
  • 435/4
    Accounts, 1699-1722.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• HR/81
  Kettle parish heritors' records
  Minutes, 1732-1928; Cash book, 1854-1930; Papers relating to transference of property to Church of Scotland, 1927-1928; Correspondence, 1709-1930; Plan of manse, undated.

Other Churches:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH3/188
  Kettle (Kingskettle) United Presbyterian Church (later United Free and West Church of Scotland)
  Session minutes, 1832-1930 [some deaths etc. noted on back cover of volume for 1832-1868]; Communion roll, 1874-1915; Manager's minutes, 1819-1952; Accounts, 1789-1854; Manager's and congregational minutes, 1855-1893; Manse committee minutes, 1878-1884; Accounts relative to building of church, 1851-1853; Ledger, 1854-1893; Manager's and congregational minutes and accounts, 1893-1930; Communion roll,1915-1930.

  The LDS have filmed the following records which may be consulted at LDS Family History Centres.

  1886226

  Kettle United Presbyterian Church

  Session minutes, 1832-1868.

  Original source: CH3/188 National Records of Scotland

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

• CH3/1066
  Kettle and Cults Free church / United Free / Balmalcolm Church of Scotland
  Minutes, 1843-1930; Deacons' court: minutes, 1879-1930, accounts, 1858-1930; Collections, 1908-1930; Communion roll, 1893-1930; Cash book, 1914-1930.

The Kettle 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.

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Kettle 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.

Surrounding parishes: Kennoway, Markinch, Falkland, Strathmiglo, Cults, Collessie, Scoonie.

• Geograph
• Flickr

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.

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.
• 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 Kettle 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 2 & 3 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 1895, 1920 and 1938 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • Ordnance Survey 25-inch editions of 1894 and 1914 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 (1867) sheet 40; 2nd edition (1899) sheet 40; and 3rd edition (1906) sheet 40 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1927) sheet 64 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheet 56 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 sheet 40 (reprint of the 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) sheet 56
  • 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 59 - St Andrews
  • Ordnance Survey Explorer (larger scale 1:25000 -  about 2 and a half inches to 1 mile) 370 - Glenrothes north, Falkland & Lomond Hills

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NO316072 (Lat/Lon: 56.252209, -3.104924), Kettle 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 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, 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. See Public Records below.

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 Kettle 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.

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

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

• FCC/6/32
  Kettle Parochial Board / Parish Council
  Minute books, 1867-1936.

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

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

• Kettle School / Kingskettle Public School
  Log books, 1875-1949; Admissions Registers, 1875-1969, 1939-1988; School Board Minutes 1873-1919.

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.