Aberdour, Fife, Scotland Genealogy

Aberdour #401

History
The parish name, in Gaelic, signifies 'the mouth of the water,' referring in this instance to a rivuulet which empties itself into the Forth, a little below the village. The number of acres may be about 5000. The parish is divided by a ridge of hills running nearly from east to west. The north part is cold and bleak and the south part is much more kindly in both soil and climate. The parish stretches along the shore of the Forth for more than two miles.

Anciently the parish belonged to the monastery of Inchcolm founded about the beginning of the twelfth century.

The population of the parish in 1811 was 1302, in 1821 was 1489, in 1831 was 1751, and in 1841 was 1891. There are two saw mills and an iron mill within the parish.

The number od Dissenting or Seceding families within the parish is about 70. There is one Episcopalian family and one Roman Catholic family. There are four schools in the parish.

The above extract is from the account written in February 1843.

Source: The New Statistical Account of Scotland, for Fife. FHL book 941 B4sa, 2nd series. vol. 9.

Condition of Original Register—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index available on computer at the Family History Library and family history centers. Some information may be indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Births: There are no birth entries January 1689–February 1691. Mother's names are not regularly recorded until about 1763. Marriages: There are only transcribed entries of contracts prior to December 1669 and no entries July 1682–October 1702. Deaths: Except for burial entries of the Earl of Morton family, 1739–1848, on one page after the marriages for 1819, the record is blank from October 1669–April 1790. There are Mortcloth Dues, 1790–December 1816, after which deaths and burials are recorded. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. FHL British Book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
Minutes 1649–1682, 1697–1930 Accounts 1790–1866 Register of Distribution to the Poor 1658–1676 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/3.

Aberdour Free Church
History— This congregation was organized immediately after the Disruption in 1842. Membership: 1848, 318; 1900, 117. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details are given in the source including list of ministers.

Records— Various Minutes 1843–1940 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH3/784.