Ferry-Port-on-Craig, Fife, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #429

This is a guide to the history and major genealogical records of Scotland as they pertain to the parish of Ferry-Port-on-Craig. To learn more about how to use these records to search for your ancestors, go to the Scotland: Research Strategies.

= History =

The New Statistical Account of Scotland (pub. 1834-45) offers uniquely rich and detailed parish reports for the whole of Scotland, covering a vast range of topics including history, agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs. The reports, written by the parish ministers, are available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Click on ‘Browse scanned pages’ then search the parish reports for Ferry-Port-on-Craig. Also available at the Family History Library.

= Census Records =

A census is a count and description of the population, taken by the government, arranged by locality and by household. Read more about census records.

Here is a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the census records of Ferry-Port-on-Craig as well as the library numbers for any surname indexes available:

The 1901 census of Scotland is indexed on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. To use it, you must register and pay a small access fee. All available censuses, 1841-1901, are indexed on this website. It may be easier for you to pay to use the website rather than access indexes through the library.

= Church Records =

The Established Church of Scotland was Presbyterian. Read more about church records.

Here are the pre-1855 records that exist for this parish.

Condition of Original Registers
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. The records may be indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Births: There are no entries December 1694–June 1697. The entries for 1697-1710 are included in the Session minutes. Marriages: From 1640–1674 marriages are intermixed with births for same period. A separate record exists 1674–1708, much of it in the Session minutes. This record contains only four entries, November 1701–March 1704 and there are no entries December 1704–November 1706. There are no entries December 1708–October 1710, after which date records again intermixed with births and so continued throughout. In general there are separate entries of contracts and proclamations and of marriages before 1757. Deaths: Deaths or burials are recorded at various times. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. FHL British Book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
The Kirk session was the court of the parish. The session was made up of the minister and the land owners and business men of the parish, chosen to serve on the session. The Kirk session dealt with moral issues, minor criminal cases, matters of the poor and education, matters of discipline, and the general concerns of the parish. Kirk session records may also mention births, marriages, and deaths.

Here is a list of the surviving Kirk session records for this parish:

Minutes 1640–1674; 1710–1853 Accounts 1756–1819; 1819–1857 Scroll Minutes and Accounts 1763–1776 Note: Available at St. Andrews University Library, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, record CH2/150.

Nonconformist Church Records
A nonconformist church is any church that is not the Established church. Read more about nonconformity in Scotland in the article on the Scotland Church Records Union Lists.

Ferry-Port-On-Craig, Tayport Free Church
History— The minister here with a large congregation came out in 1843. The church was built and opened in October of that year. The church was renovated and enlarged in 1866. Membership: 1848, 450; 1900, 472. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details may be given in the source.

Records— Deacons Court Minutes 1852–1911 Note: Available at St. Andrews University Library, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, record CH3/890.

Ferryport-On-Craig, United Presbyterian Church
History— This congregation originated in the controversy respecting the magistrates power in matters of religion, popularly known as The Old Light Controversy, and partly in the unacceptability of the incumbent of the parish. Part of the congregation assembling at Balmullo adhered to The Constitutional Presbytery, better know as The Synod of Original Seceders, and part to the General Associate Anti-burgher Synod. The latter were chiefly resident in and about Ferryport-on-Craig, where a number of people were dissatisfied with the doctrines taught by the incumbent, and the moral deadness which pervaded the parish. These joined together in a petition to the General Associate Anti-burgher Presbytery of Kirkcaldy for supply of sermon, which was granted in 1806. Their first church was built in 1807 and the second in 1844. Source: Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church, by Rev. William MacKelvie, D.D., pub. 1873. Film #477618. More details may be given in the source.

Records— The extent of pre-1855 records is unknown.

= Civil Registration Records =

Government or civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths (also called statutory records) began on January 1, 1855 in Scotland. Each parish has a registrar's office and large cities have several. The records are created by the registrars and copies are sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh. Annual indexes are then created for the records for the whole country.

See the article on Scotland Civil Registration for more information and to access the records.

= Probate Records =

Ferry-Port-on- Craig was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of St. Andrews until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Fife at Cupar. Probate records for 1513-1901 are indexed online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You must register on the website but use of the index to probate records, called 'Wills &amp; Testaments,' is free. You may then purchase a copy of the document or, if the document is before 1823, it will be on microfilm at the Family History Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library catalog for the 'Place' of Fife and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Fife.

The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Fife. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place' of Fife and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.

[Return to the Fife parish list.]