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, 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. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html