My guess would be that the Margaret Douglass case of 1853 may have had some influence on the increase in registrations. Douglass was fined and jailed for teaching free blacks in Norfolk. Her case received a large amount of press in state and national papers. After her release from jail, she moved to Philadelphia and published an account of her ordeal. In the months following the trial and publication of the book, there was an immediate surge in the number of registrations and arrests of free blacks. This was reflected in the deed books where I found registrations and in the loose papers (Ended Law Causes) where I found expired free passes. The presence of expired free passes in the loose papers of course is evidence that the free black re-registered and received a new pass. In the Ended Law Causes for 1853 alone, I found more than 100 expired passes. I haven't copied the passes from later years, but know that in 1856 and 1859 similar surges appeared again. I also found a jailor's report in the 1853 Ended Law Causes. The report included the names of free blacks arrested for living in the state or migrating into the state contrary to law. It contains a gold mine of names and places of origin of free blacks at the time. I suspect these people were discovered in the aftermath of the trial when city authorities enforced the law more strictly. I don't know how many names were in the report, but recall that there were more than 10 pages on a folded down approx. 11" x 17" paper. I couldn't photocopy the report because of its fragility. In an attempt to trace back to the cause of origin, I've searched through the Common Law Order Books, Chancery Order Books, and Circuit Order Books, as well as deed books and Ended Law Causes. I found this method to be especially effective when searching through records at an earlier date. In August 1835 for example, Norfolk citizens panicked after discovering abolitionist papers addressed to free blacks. They called a town meeting and formed a vigilance committee. The committee was instructed to survey the free black community with the intent of collecting evidence that could be used in prosecuting free blacks for remaining in Norfolk contrary to law. The committee identified more than 700 free blacks by ward, freedom status and whether or not they were registered & had free papers. I found an account of the proceedings in a local Norfolk newspaper. I also found the report in the Ended Law Causes. I've gone back and forth between the Ended Law Causes, the order books and deed books to track the proceedings and the individuals named within the report. I'm in the process of analyzing the data, but have found evidence to suggest a definite progression from the point that the survey was completed and submitted in court to the registration of free blacks. There is also some evidence to suggest that the report was used to expel a handful of free blacks out of the state. Having shared all of this, I would suggest that you search through the order and deed books about three years prior to the common date of the expired passes, then perhaps a month or two prior to that, to determine the reason for the surge in registrations. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html