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Archives & Libraries information for Torryburn and places above it in the hierarchy

Torryburn

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

Fife

National collections, all with a lot of material concerning Fife:

  • The National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh (formerly called the Scottish Record Office, the National Archives of Scotland and the General Register Office for Scotland) contains the major Scottish records for family historians. Access to its online resources is via the ScotlandsPeople website. ScotlandsPeople can also be accessed at local family history centres in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Hawick, Alloa and Inverness.
    • Online resources:
      • civil registration records (births, marriages and deaths since 1855)
      • census returns (1841 - 1911)
      • pre-1855 Church of Scotland parish registers
      • baptism, marriage and burial registers of some other presbyterian churches
      • birth (pre-1908), marriage (pre-1934), death and other records of the Roman Catholic Church.
      • wills and testaments (1513 - 1925) held by the National Records for Scotland.
      • soldiers' wills, 26000 for the First World War and 5000 for the Second World War, but also including some from 1874 to 1964
      • valuation rolls (1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1920, 1925 and 1930)
      • the Public Register of all Arms and Bearings in Scotland (1672 - 1909). This register of Coats of Arms in Scotland is kept by the Court of the Lord Lyon.
      • surviving records of the Military Service Appeals Tribunal, 1916-18
    • Its multitude of other resources which are not online include later wills and testaments; records of the Church of Scotland - including kirk session records; records of dissenting and other churches; legal and court records; business records; land records; maps & plans; etc., etc. Catalogues and indexes are on this research page.
    • The Research Guides A-Z are extremely useful pages.
  • The Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) provides access to the holdings of over 50 Scottish archives participating in the network. It has a searchable catalogue of these collections and has a host of resources and articles which will prove invaluable for anyone interested in the written history of Scotland.
  • The Scottish Screen Archive has a lot of footage of Fife.
  • The National Collection of Aerial Photography website has photographs of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes with more to be added. The site is free to browse, although in-depth viewing requires a subscription.
  • Britain from Above has aerial photos from 1919 - 1953.
  • The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, is "an information treasure trove for Scotland". Although it is a Legal Deposit Library, the more common resources for genealogy are more easily accessed elsewhere. However, its online digital library is outstanding. Residents of Scotland can access its digital collections from home. It has the best collection of maps of Scotland (see Maps below) and also has Ordnance Survey air photo mosaics 1944 -1950 for parts of Fife.

  • 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 former Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, now part of Historic Environment Scotland - see below
    • 17th and 18th century tax rolls
    • Ordnance Survey Object Name Books
    • an opportunity to transcribe thousands of historic documents

    Fife researchers may also have to search the Perthshire entries for Abernethy, Arngask, Culross and Tulliallan.

  • Historic Environment Scotland is 'the lead public body set up to investigate, care for and promote Scotland's historic environment'. A complex website covers everything imaginable in the historic environment. A start can be made by searching the Canmore database, the online catalogue to Scotland’s archaeology, buildings, industrial and maritime heritage.
  • The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, London, is the principal repository for English and Welsh records, but it also has a lot of Scottish material. Its catalogue, 'Discovery', in addition to all the material held at Kew, also contains entries for many records held by other repositories.
  • Scran - an online learning resource base with over 390,000 images and multimedia files from Scottish museums, galleries, archives and the media - has a lot of material concerning Fife. A subscription is required to view anything bigger than thumbnail pictures, although many local libraries allow free access.
  • The Archives Hub enables you to search across a wealth of archives held at over 220 institutions across the UK.
  • See also the Scottish archives page.

Internet collections:

Local collections:

  • Cupar Library, Duncan Institute, Crossgate, Cupar. Tel. 01334 659367
    This library has a large collection of historical material related to the whole of Fife, but specialising in North-East Fife. The research material of the Fife Family History Society is now housed here.
  • Dunfermline Carnegie Library, The Local History Department, Dunfermline Carnegie Library, Abbot Street, Dunfermline. Tel: 01383 602365
    This library has an extensive local history collection specialising in the area of the west of Fife, around Dunfermline. It also houses the more recent archives of the former burghs in the west of Fife.
  • Fife Archive Centre has moved, see https://www.onfife.com/libraries-archives/archives, email: archive.enquiries@onfife.com. They are open Monday to Friday, by appointment. They hold Fife records from 1457, including local authority records like the school log books for Fife, and the records of the burghs of Culross, Dysart, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy and Leslie. The catalogue can be searched on the Fife Council website (select  A in the A-Z list, then  Archives enquiries).
  • Kirkcaldy Galleries, Local & Family History Department, War Memorial Gardens, Kirkcaldy, Fife. KY1 1YG. Tel: 01592 583206
    The Library has an extensive local studies department. The collection covers the Kirkcaldy and Central Fife area, but there is a lot of printed material concerning the rest of Fife.
  • Methil Library - Wellesley Road, Methil, Leven, Fife. Tel. 01334 659374
  • St Andrews Library, Church Square, St Andrews, Fife. KY16 9NN. Tel. 01334 659378
    The Hay Fleming Reference Library (the library of David Hay Fleming, historian & antiquary, 1849-1931) previously housed here has been transferred to the St Andrews University Library.
  • St Andrews University Library,Special Collections Department, Special Collections Napier Reading Room, Martyrs Kirk Research Library, North Street, St Andrews, Fife. KY16 9AH. Tel. 01334 467380
    In addition to the extensive university library, the Special Collections Department is the archive for local authority and church material in the East Fife area.
    • In the former Martyrs Church, open to the general public, but by appointment only, Mon. - Fri. 9.30 - 4.30
    • It also has a growing collection of archive material of local families, estates and businesses.
    • The Hay Fleming Collection (the library of David Hay Fleming, historian & antiquary, 1849-1931) contains, in addition to family papers, a large collection of material about Scotland in general, and St Andrews in particular.
    • The library holds one of the largest and most important collections of historic photography in Scotland containing upwards of 300,000 images. The photography collection is currently being digitised and can be searched online.
  • The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Collection, Yeomanry House, Castlebank, Cupar, Fife KY15 4BL. Tel: (01334) 656155, is a small regimental collection, library and archive which can be viewed by appointment only.
  • Perth & Kinross Council Archives and Library, A K Bell Library, Perth. Tel. (01738) 477012, email: archives@pkc.gov.uk, has material relating to Culross and Tulliallan when they were part of Perthshire (before 1891) and Arngask from 1891 onwards.
  • The Scottish Fisheries Museum on the harbour front in Anstruther tells the story of fishing in Scotland and its people from earliest times to the present.

An excellent guide to the location of pre-1900 archive material of genealogical and local historical importance is "The Archives of Fife" by Andrew Campbell, published 1997, which is available from the Fife Family History Society or the Tay Valley Family History Society

There are also several excellent museums in the county.

Scotland

Scotland - Archives and Libraries - links and information.

UK and Ireland