Hide

--- TEST SYSTEM --- TEST SYSTEM --- TEST SYSTEM ---

Hide
hide

Church Records information for Falkland and places above it in the hierarchy

Falkland

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: 428

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

Falkland OPR Births / baptisms Proclamations / marriages Deaths / burials / mortcloths
428/1 1669-1674 1661-1706 1670-1706
428/2 1702-1819 1702-1819 1737-1819
428/3 1820-1854 1820-1854 1820-1855
Register of Neglected Entries 1826-1852    
(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 July 1674 - Feb. 1702; Jan. 1746 - June 1748. Defective March 1755 - July 1758. Blank (exc. four entries) May 1759 - March 1767. From 1772 - July 1780, the entries are made alphabetically, according to the baptismal names of the children, in the form of an index. Six pp. of irregular entries 1789 - 1817 recorded in 1817.
M.  Chiefly Proclamations, intermixed with other matters, prior to 1669, and from 1687 - 1705. No entries Nov. 1688 - Oct. 1691, nor (exc. entries of Pledges) May 1703 - Jan. 1705, after which the Record is pure. Blank May 1746 - May 1748, Dec. 1755 - April 1772, and April 1780 - April 1786. The fact of Marriage is rarely recorded after 1687.
D.  Blank Sept. 1706 - March 1737, April 1780 - Oct. 1784, and June 1795 - Jan. 1817.

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:
1041475 Baptisms, 1669-1674; Marriages, 1661-1706; Burials, 1670-1706.
1040111 Items 2-4 Baptisms, 1669-1674, 1702-1855; Marriages, 1669- 1682, 1702-1755, 1772-1849; Mortcloth dues (burials records), 1666-1683, 1737-1758; Burials, 1777-1795, 1817-1819; Session book (includes Marriage Proclamations, Mortcloth dues), 1661- 1667, 1682-1706.
1040337 Item 1 Marriages, 1849-1855; Burials, 1820-1853; Neglected entries (baptisms), 1826-1852
(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 Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library, with digital copies at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (428/1).

Heritors' Records (HR416) 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:

  • CH2/428
    Falkland Kirk Session
    Minutes, 1643-1661, 1667-1681, 1691-1706 and 1772-1952; Cash disbursements, 1643-1644; Testimonials, 1656-1663; Minutes and accounts, 1702-1750 and 1755-1770; Proclamations and marriages, 1856-1955; Copy of some parochial census statistics, 1801; Accounts, 1772-1864; Baptisms, 1862-1863 and 1878-1945; Parish electoral roll, 1898; Communion roll, 1856-1937.

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

  • 428/1
    Falkland Kirk Session
    Minutes 1662-7, 1676, 1682-1706

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

  • HR/416
    Falkland parish heritors' records
    Minutes, 1784-1930; Cash book, 1843-1928; Accounts, 1778-1896; Papers relating to buildings, 1790-1885; Correspondence, 1793-1850; Miscellaneous, 1690-1856; Plans of church and manse, 1848-1885, 1930, undated.

Other Churches:

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

  • CH2/1066
    Freuchie Kirk Session
    Minutes, 1880-1949; Manager's minutes, 1877-1892; Communion roll, 1877-1928; Cash book, 1876-1917; Baptismal register, 1880-1982.

At the Special Collections Dept. of St Andrews University Library:

  • CH3/357
    Falkland Free and United Free Church
    Session minutes, 1845-1921, with lists of members and baptisms, 1902-1909; Session minutes, 1922-1938; Deacon's Court minutes, 1872-1938; Accounts, 1924-1938; Baptismal register, 1918-1938; Communion roll, 1869-1938.
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. 104151 Item 4
    Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Freuchie Branch
    Record of members, 1851-1854

The Falkland page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.

Fife

Data provided by the  Scottish Archive Network (SCAN)

Information about the church records for each parish will be found on the parish pages.

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

The original Old Parish Registers, sometimes called the Old Parochial Registers, abbreviated to OPRs, comprise the registers of baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages, and burials / deaths of the parish Church of Scotland for the years up to 1854. They are held at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh with online access at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the original register entries may be purchased.

There is a list of the OPR parish reference numbers here.

Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family Search Centres around the world. The birth / baptism & proclamation / marriage records are indexed on the IGI (International Genealogical Index) on microfiche and online at the LDS website (see below). Copies of the films (not necessarily of all parishes) are also held by both the Fife Family History Society and the Tay Valley Family History Society; and in some local libraries. There is a list of the LDS library reference numbers for the OPR films here. Note that on September 1, 2017, FamilySearch will discontinue its microfilm distribution services. (The last day to order microfilm will be August 31, 2017.)

The Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland, published 1872, gives details of the coverage of the OPR volumes including the gaps within them. These pages list the information about the Fife parishes.

Deaths and 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.

The searchable LDS website - Family Search (and the IGI):

Note on using Family Search and IGI Batch Numbers:
It is not always easy to locate your ancestors in Family Search using the search mechanisms provided at the above LDS site. Manually typing the batch numbers into the search screen can be tedious. Hugh Wallis has made an exhaustive search of the likely ranges of batch numbers and created a database of those numbers and the source records that they apply to. A very powerful feature included is a hotlink from each batch number to the actual search engine provided at the Family Search site, including the ability to enter the surname you are looking for. This makes it very easy to search all the batches for a particular geographic location using just the last name you are searching for - something that is not possible directly from the LDS site without doing a lot of typing.

Hugh Wallis's site is at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Ehughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm.

Another site, with updated and improved data, is Steve Archer's site.

The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general wellbeing of the congregation and, particularly in centuries past, parochial discipline. Kirk Session records for the Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Presbyteries are held in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. Those for the Cupar and St Andrews Presbyteries are held in the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library, but digital copies may be seen at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh (and at some other archives in Scotland). Some Kirk Session material is often to be found amongst the Old Parish Registers. The Kirk Session records have been scanned with a view to making them more widely available soon.

Lists of Male Heads of Families, circa 1834, gathered as a result of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland's 1834 Veto Act have been transcribed for some parishes by Old Scottish Genealogy and Family History.

The Heritors were the landowners in each parish who were responsible (until 1925) for the maintenance of the church and manse and (before 1878) for the parochial school. They were also responsible, with the Kirk Session, for the Poor of the parish until 1845. Their records are also to be found in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Records of the Synods and Presbyteries are to be found in either the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library.

For information about the ministers, see Occupations below.

Other Churches:

Records of many other churches, particularly Free Churches and United Presbyterian Churches, are also to be found in either the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library. Some of these records include baptism and marriage registers and some are being made available on the ScotlandsPeople website. Many of these have been transcribed and published by the Fife Family History Society. Some of these records are also available on microfilm in LDS Family History Centres and there is a list of them and their library reference numbers here.

Records of the Catholic Church in Scotland are held by the Scottish Catholic Archives, in Edinburgh. Indexes to and images of the Roman Catholic registers of births and baptisms (1703-1908),  banns and marriages (1794-1934), deaths and burials, and other events, are available at the National Records of Scotland and on the ScotlandsPeople website.

Photocopies of pre-1855 Roman Catholic registers of marriages at Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy are held by the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. Roman Catholic marriages which took place in Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh (St Mary's, Broughton Street) prior to 1855 have been transcribed and published by the Fife Family History Society in Publication 22 - Fife Roman Catholic Marriage Registers 1793 - 1854.

Records of the Synods and Presbyteries are to be found in either the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh or the Manuscript Department of the Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library.

Records relating to Jews in Scotland from the eighteenth century are held by the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Glasgow.

Scotland

Scotland - Church Records - links and information.

Ecclegen is a website which deals with ecclesiastical genealogy. It contains the whole of the text of Ewing’s Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843-1900, along with supplementary material on a good number of the ministers. It also has a digital General Index of Scottish Presbyterian ministers. This contains the names of all the ministers listed in the Hew Scott’s Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae (Vols.1-8), Ewing’s Annals, David Scott’s Annals of the Original Secession Church; Small’s History of the Congregations of the United Presbyterian Church (Vols.1 and 2); and other lesser reference works. It is, I think, easy to search and a click will then take you to the appropriate page of these reference works. Only online material is listed in the Index and a link is provided in each case. This makes searching these works much easier.

UK and Ireland