The Library of Virginia (LVA) is pleased to announce that processing and
indexing of the Northampton and Nottoway County chancery causes housed at
the Library of Virginia is now complete. Additional records for Dinwiddie
County have also been added to Library’s on-line Chancery Records Index
(http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/local/chancery/index.htm), and all
three localities are now available for searching through the LVA website.
The Northampton County chancery collection covers the years 1721 through
1816, though additional pre-1913 chancery records remain in the clerk’s
office.  Nottoway’s chancery causes include records from 1818 through
1968.  The Dinwiddie County update consisted of cases spanning 1845
through 1940.  These counties join the growing list of localities whose
chancery causes have been preserved and made available through the
Library’s innovative Circuit Court Records Preservation Program, which
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.
Chancery cases 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 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.

The above cited records are currently available in their original format
in the Library of Virginia’s manuscript room. Though no firm timetable is
currently available, future plans include the digital reformatting of
these records and making them accessible through the Chancery Records
Index.

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