Ferry-Port-on-Craig, Tayport
Ferry-Port-on-Craig is a parish in the extreme north-east of Fifeshire. It is bounded by the German Ocean (North Sea), the Firth of Tay, and the parishes of Forgan and Leuchars. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Ferryport on Craig, Garpit, Scotscraig, Shanwell, Tayport
Scotscraig
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The parish of Ferry-Port-on-Craig was disjoined from Leuchars in 1602, and was erected by Act of Parliament on 11 July 1606. (1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.
| OPR and RD Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Range | Name | Number | Type |
| 1634-1854 | Ferry-Port-on-Craig | 429 | OPR |
| 1855-1971 | Ferry-Port-on-Craig | 429 | RD |
| 1972-1993 | Ferry-Port-on-Craig | 410 | RD |
| 1994-2008 | Tayport | 410 | RD |
| 2009 | Fife, Tayport | 410 | RD |
| 2026 | Fife Council; Tayport Community Council | ||
(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)
Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)
Statistics from informal and official censuses
Brown, Duncan, Greig, Henderson, Robertson, Scott, Smith, Thomson, Welch, White
Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.
By the Reverend Robert Dalgleish, D. D., Minister.
"At present there are 208 families in the village, and 32 in the country. There are 310 males and 390 females, above 7 years of age. There are about 35 sailors, 67-69 weaver, 9 wrights, 9 tailors, 3 smiths, 5 shoemakers, 3 bakers, 6 ale sellers in the village, 3 ale sellers who are brewers, and about 35 male labouring servants.
The principal manufacture, is weaving coarse brown linens, of different fabrics. The weavers are chiefly employed by the merchants of Dundee in manufacturing these linens. They sometimes weave other cloth for country use. So great is the present demand for such linens, that both the weavers and spinners have more work offered them, than they are able to undertake. The other artists work principally for the use of the people in the parish and neighbourhood; and sometimes manufacture articles for sale.
The parish contains the house of Scotscraig, four farms, with their cottaries, and the village of Ferry-Port-on-Craig, from whence the parish has its name. The greatest number of the parishioners live in the Ferry, where the church and manse are both situated, and are very centrical for the parishioners.
The people are peaceably disposed, and firmly attached to the present happy civil constitution of their country. They all adhere to the principles of the established church of Scotland; and regularly attend divine worship in the parish kirk, excepting one Unitarian, (who, however, frequently hears sermon with the other parishioners), and one Seceder; both of whom came lately into this parish from Dundee."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)
Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 8, p. 456
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 9, Section I, p. 81
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
