Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1861-1920 circa. Local government records collection, Richmond Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from the city of Richmond circuit court under the accession numbers 52593 and 52743.

Historical Information

Richmond, located between Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, was named by William Byrd (1674-1744), who envisioned the development of a city at the falls of the James River and with the help of William Mayo laid out the town in 1737. The name probably came from the English borough of Richmond upon Thames, which Byrd visited on several occasions. Richmond was established in 1742 and in 1779 was designated the capital of Virginia effective 30 April 1780. It was incorporated as a town, although "stiled the city of Richmond," in 1782 and was incorporated as a city in 1842. It served as the capital of the Confederacy from mid-1861 to April 1865. Richmond was enlarged by the annexation of Manchester (or South Richmond) in 1910, and by the addition of Barton Heights, Fairmount, and Highland Park in 1914. Further annexations from Chesterfield County occurred in 1942 and 1970.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1861-1920 circa, are civil suits that often involved the following: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, divorces, debt, and business disputes. Predominant documents found in chancery causes include bills (plaintiff complaint), answers (defendant response), decrees (court decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, wills, slave records, plats, business records or vital statistics, among other items.

The collection includes chancery causes heard in the Hustings Court and later Chancery Court of the city of Richmond.

Chancery causes are useful when researching local history, genealogical information, and land or estate divisions. They are a valuable source of local, state, social, and legal history and serve as a primary source for understanding a locality's history.

Arrangement

Chronological by date cause ended.

Related Material

Additional city of Richmond records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

• African Americans--History
• Business enterprises--Virginia--Richmond.
• Debt--Virginia--Richmond.
• Divorce suits--Virginia--Richmond.
• Equity--Virginia--Richmond.
• Estates (Law)--Virginia--Richmond.
• Free African Americans--Virginia--Richmond.
• Land subdivision--Virginia--Richmond.

Geographical Names:

• Richmond (Va.)--History
• Richmond (Va.)-- Genealogy

Genre and Form Terms:

• Chancery causes--Virginia--Richmond.
• Deeds--Virginia--Richmond.
• Judicial records--Virginia-- Richmond.
• Land records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Local government records--Virginia--Richmond.
• Plats--Virginia--Richmond.
• Wills--Virginia--Richmond.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Richmond (Va.) Chancery Court.
• Richmond (Va.) Hustings Court.

Adjunct Descriptive Data