The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce that microfilming
of the original Southampton County chancery causes housed at the Library
of Virginia is now complete. The Library's on-line Chancery Records
Index <http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm>
has been updated and these records are now available for searching
through the LVA website. The Southampton County chancery collection
covers the years 1749 through 1912 and joins the growing list of
localities whose chancery causes have been preserved and made available
through the Library's innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation
Program (CCRP).  The CCRP seeks to preserve the historic records of
Virginia's Circuit Courts. Please see the Chancery Records Index for a
listing of additional locality chancery collections that are available. 

 

Chancery causes are cases that are decided on the basis of equity and
fairness as opposed to the strictly formulated rules of common law
cases. They are especially 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. Chancery causes
often contain correspondence; property lists, including slaves; lists of
heirs; and vital statistics, along with many other types of records.
Some of the more common types of chancery causes involve divisions of
the estate of a person who died intestate (without a will); divorces;
settlements of dissolved business partnerships; and resolutions of land
disputes.

 
Vincent T. Brooks
Senior Local Records Archivist
The Library of Virginia
800 E. Broad St.
Richmond, VA  23219
804/225-4452 (voice)
804/692-2277 (fax)
http://www.lva.lib.va.us