A Guide to the Southampton County (Va.) Judgments, 1743-1943
A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Barcode Numbers 1050775-1050778, 1119643-1119694, 1147497-1147639
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Processed by: Library of Virginia Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Southampton 
County (Va.) Judgments, 1743-1943. Local Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
These items came in a transfer of court papers from Southampton County .
Historical Information
Southampton County was formed from Isle of Wight County in 1749. A part of Nansemond County was added in 1785.
The County Court was the original colonial court of adjudication and recordation, and it was the principal tribunal for the administration
of local justice. The individual justices could act on small claims
matters as well as criminal matters where imminent bodily harm was a possibility, there being an appeal to the full County Court, which met monthly. This court ceased to exist in 1904 and the recordation function
was transferred to the circuit court.
The District Courts were created by the General Assembly in 1788. They were designed to alleviate congestion in the General Court which had caused long delays in adjudication of common law cases. The District Courts were abolished in 1808 and were replaced by the superior courts of law.
The Superior Court of Law was created in 1808. It met twice a year in each county , presided over by a circuit-riding General Court judge. Records were filed with the County Court. It had civil and criminal
jurisdiction. The court ceased to exist in 1831.
The Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery, established in 1831, were the upper courts on the local level. Sessions were
held twice a year in each county , presided over by a General Court judge. The
counties were grouped into districts for the convenience of the judge. The court ceased to exist in 1851.
The Circuit Court was authorized by the Constitution of 1851 and established by an act of the General Assembly passed in May
1852. Courts were held twice yearly in each county , presided over by 21 judges who
rode circuits in the area of their jurisdiction. The records were filed with County Court records. These courts were granted original jurisdiction concurrrent with that of the County Courts, as well as appellate
jurisdiction in all civil cases of more than fifty dollars and criminal cases not "expressly cognizable in some other court,"
including those involving loss of life.
Scope and Content
Southampton County (Va.) Judgments, 1743-1943, contain civil cases heard in County Court, District Court, Superior Court of Law, Circuit Superior Court, and Circuit Court in which justice was administered
on the strictly
formulated rules of common law. The majority of cases in this record series relate to matters of debt. A few boxes in the
collection contain additional material such as clerks' notes, letters, and criminal warrants.
Arrangement
Chronological (Cases filed within each box by month and year they were resolved.)
Access Terms
- Civil procedure -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Courts -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Debt -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Decisions -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Judicial records -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Local government records -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Public Records -- Virginia -- Southampton County .
- Southampton County (Va.) -- Circuit Court.
- Southampton County (Va.) -- Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery.
- Southampton County (Va.) -- County Court.
- Southampton County (Va.) -- District Court.
- Southampton County (Va.) -- History.
- Southampton County (Va.) -- Superior Court of Law.