Saline

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

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

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 Saline parish:

1. Saline Old Churchyard, Bridge Street, Saline (grid ref. NT 024926; GPS: 56.115758 -3.571405):

• The pre-1855 monumental inscriptions for Saline Old 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
• 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. Saline Cemetery, Drumhead, North Road, Saline (grid ref. NT 016928; GPS: 56.117953 -3.581984):

• The current lair registers (dating from 1890) are administered by Fife Council, Bereavement Services West, Dunfermline Crematorium, Masterton Road, Dunfermline,KY11 8QR. Tel. 01383 602335. Fax 01383 602665.

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 455

The 1841 and 1851 returns can be searched on the FreeCEN 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
Saline	1042704	1042271	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 (which became Saline South), there was a Free Church in Saline (later Saline North).

The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives the number of "sectaries" [those dissenting from the Established Church] as not exceeding 20 or 30.

The New Statistical Account (written in 1842) gives this information:

• All families in the parish except 4 attend the Established Church.

The 1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church and the Free Church.

Information and pictures of the churches at the Scottish Churches website. Details of church history:

• Saline Kirk Session:

Prior to the reformation the church of Saline belonged to the Kirk of Dunkeld and the present day church was built in 1809. In 1890 parts of the lands of the parish of Saline were annexed and added to the Parish of Torryburn. In return an area consisting of Bonnington, Culymill, Cults, Hallcroft, Hallburn, Hillend, Hillside, Meadowland, Pow, and Wellwood were annexed form Torryburn and joined with Saline. Ministry at Saline is recorded from 1567 in the person of Peter Blackwood, formerly a monk of Holyrood Abbey. The United Free Church session of Saline North was linked with the old parish church in 1935, continuing under the name of Saline. A further link was formed with Blairingone in February 1958 and the two were united in 1993 to form the parish of Saline and Blairingone. The kirk session sat within the Presbytery of Dunfermline.

• Saline Free Church (later United Free and North Church of Scotland):

The congregation of Saline Free Church, which sat within the Presbytery of Dunfermline, was established in 1843 at the time of the Disruption and at the request of the Free Church adherents living in the district. The church of Saline Free was erected in the following year and the manse was built in 1845. In 1900, at the union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterians, Saline Free Church became Saline United Free and in 1913 a mission hall was opened at Lower Steelend. The mission congregation was later incorporated with Saline in 1917. Following the 1929 union of the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland, Saline U.F. was renamed Saline North and in 1935 Saline North was joined with the congregation of Saline South, under the name of Saline. After the local union the former North church was sold.

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: 455

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

Saline OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
455/1	1746-1819	1747-1819	1747-1810
455/2	1820-1854	1820-1854

(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.  No blanks, but irregular entries occasionally occur.
M.  Blank (exc. one entry) May 1783 - March 1794. No entries Dec. 1798 - Feb. 1800. The Record 1794 - 1817 is, with a few exceptions, one of Proclamations merely.
D.  (Mortcloth Dues.)

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:

1040181 Item 5	Baptisms, 1746-1782.
1040339 Items 1 - 2	Baptisms, 1782-1854; Marriages, 1747-1784, 1794-1854; Mortcloth dues (burial records), 1747-1810.

(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 Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Heritors' Records (HR411) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/321
  Saline Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1704-1714, 1848-1889 and 1900-1941; Cash books, 1872-1925 and 1930-1935; Baptisms, 1859-1876 and 1882-1936; Proclamations, 1855-1867; Communion roll, 1877-1933; Minutes and Accounts, 1747-1847.

• HR/411
  Saline parish heritors' records
  Minutes, 1719-1767, 1788-1930; Cash book, 1808-1811, 1868-1930; Accounts, 1788-1796, 1926-1930; Papers relating to transference to Church of Scotland, 1928-1930; Correspondence, 1924-1929.

Other Churches:

Records for other churches are held at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh :

• CH3/277
  Saline Free Church (later United Free and North Church of Scotland)
  Session minutes, 1843-1935; Deacon's Court minutes, 1844-1917; Account book, 1843-1878; Collection book, 1871-1897 and 1931-1932; Treasurer's cash book, 1909-1917; Register of members and contributions, 1916-1922; Seat letting book, 1867-1892; Communion roll, 1848-1866 and 1911-1934; Proclamations, 1932-1935.

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

  1886474

  Saline Free Church

  Session minutes, 1843-1869 (with scroll minutes, 1848-1852); Deacons court minutes, 1844-1875; Account book, 1843-1858; Communion roll, 1848-1866.

  CH3/277/1, 4, 6, 13 National Records of Scotland

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

• Saline Free Church
  MR18/1
  These are not included on the OPR microfilms but have been filmed as part of the Minor Records series:

  	Births, marriages and deaths
  Saline Free Church	1843-1883

  They are also available from the LDS Library, Film Numbers:

  1068234 Item 12

  Saline Free Church

  Baptisms, 1843-1883; Marriages, 1844-1865; Burials, 1844-1866.

  Original documents: MR18/1 National Records of Scotland

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

The Saline 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 published a list of Saline Jurors 1851 on the Records  pages of their website.

Surrounding parishes: Culross, Dunfermline, Carnock, in Clackmannanshire: Clackmannan, in Kinross-shire: Fossoway, Cleish.

• 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.
• 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 Saline to another place.

On 15th May 1891, a detached part of Torryburn parish was transferred to the parish of Saline. It comprised Bonnington, Cultmill, Cults, Wester Cults, North Cults, South Cults, Hallcroft and Hallburns, Hillend, Hillside, Meadowland, Pow and Wellwood.
On the same date, a detached portion of Saline parish was transferred to Torryburn parish. It comprised Inzievar, Inzievar Stables, Blair (part), Braidless, Duckill, Langlees, Mavisbank, Rimalton, Sunnyside, Oakley railway station and land near it, Fernwoodlee, Over Inzievar, Blairhall, Brown Muir and Rennieswells.

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 29 and 34 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, 1920 and 1951 at old-maps.co.uk.
  • Small images of Ordnance Survey 25-inch editions of 1896 and 1915 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 boundaries; Land Utilisation mapping (1930s); and more.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 1st edition (1867-1887) sheets 39 & 40; 2nd edition (1899) sheets 39 & 40; and 3rd edition (1906) sheets 39 & 40 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, Popular edition (1927) sheet 67 at the National Library of Scotland.
  • Ordnance Survey 1-inch, 7th series (1950s-1960s) sheet 55 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 39, 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 55
  • 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) sheets 58 - Perth & Alloa, 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 NT013931 (Lat/Lon: 56.120466, -3.588313), Saline 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.

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.

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.

Fife Family History Society have published a list of Saline Paupers 1845-1852 on the Records  pages of their website.

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 Saline may be found in either the Stirling Commissariot (CC21) 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 Stirling 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/6/51
  Saline Parochial Board / Parish Council
  Minute books, 1845-1925.

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

At the Fife Council Archive Centre, Kirkcaldy:

• Saline Primary School
  Log books, 1874-1980.

• Steelend Public School
  Log books, 1909-1953.

• Saline School Board
  Minute Books 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.