Earlsferry was created a Royal Burgh in the 13th century. At least that is the legend – in fact, whilst it may be true, documentary evidence of such a creation is missing. The explanation given for this is a fire in Edinburgh which destroyed the original charter. Various attempts were made to resurrect that text of the charter and they were sufficient to persuade the Court of Session in Edinburgh that Earlsferry was a Royal Burgh (see “The Litigation” below). Royal Burghs had certain privileges not least of which was the right to administer the affairs of the Burgh independent of the influence of either the King or local power stake holders. The granter of the title would define the area of land which was to be governed by the Burgh and the local people would elect a Provost (Mayor) and Baillies (Magistrates) to administer the area of ground. In return the King would expect assistance from the Burghers in the event of an invasion. The position of the Royal Burgh at the seaside enabled the king to have some early warning of attack. The Royal Burgh was the ultimate proprietor of the ground assigned to it by the creator of the Burgh (usually the King). Thus it would have been the town council of the Royal Burgh which would regulate the affairs of the area and be responsible for selling off or leasing land and property to its residents. Most of these burghs kept fairly meticulous records of the grants of property to their citizens. The Royal Burgh also had the ability to raise revenue inter alia by the sale/lease of seaware and the control of shipping wishing to use the Burgh’s landing facilities. The control of the foreshore by the Royal Burgh meant that it could sell some of the sand, and especially seaweed which was an effective and cheap fertiliser for the local farming community. Elie was administratively established in 1864 by the amalgamation of it and two small neighbouring villages – Williamsburgh and Liberty sandwiched between Earlsferry and Elie. It was a Police Burgh. It was administered initially by Police Commissioners and latterly by a Town Council. The land around Elie was owned by the local land owning families. Starting with the Dishingtons of Ardross and then the Anstruther line of Elie House and from 1850s onwards William Baird a wealthy industrialist from Lanarkshire. It was the local landowners that controlled the distribution of land to its people not the local council as in Earlsferry.
Prior to 1863 and the arrival of the railway line from Edinburgh and Glasgow to the Fife Coast neither village had much industry. There was a fishing community but the fleet suffered decimation in the 18th Century as a result of sea storms. Elie benefited from a sheltered harbour (indeed the name “Elie” is thought to be a corruption of the gaelic meaning safe shelter and the area was originally known as “The Ailie of Ardross”) which encouraged a degree of trade mostly with the continent but not so Earlsferry.
In the 19th Century there was a small but effective linen weaving community in Earlsferry with many houses having their own looms on which rough linen webs were woven. These were used as backing for the linoleum manufacturing industry in Kirkcaldy, a few miles west along the coast. However by the latter half of the 19th century this had been superseded by cheaper imports of jute from the east to Dundee and Kirkcaldy which led to the demise of the linen weaving industry in Earlsferry.
