Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Patrons are to use digital images of Northampton County (Va.) Chancery Causes found on the Chancery Records Index available electronically at the website of the Library of Virginia.

Preferred Citation

Northampton County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1721-1816. (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, Northampton County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by Crowley Micrographics through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Historical Information

Chancery Causes are cases of equity. According to Black's Law Dictionary they are "administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law." A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case.

Northampton County probably was named for the English county, of which Obedience Robins, a prominent early resident of the Eastern Shore, was a native. The county, which originally included all of the peninsula south of Maryland and which was one of the eight shires established in 1694, was first called Accomac. The name was changed by legislative action in 1643.

Scope and Content

Northampton County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1721-1816, are indexed into the Chancery Records Index. Cases are identified by style of suit consisting of plaintiff and defendant names. Surnames of others involved in a suit, including secondary plaintiffs and defendants, witnesses, deponents and affiants, and family members with surnames different from the plaintiff or defendant are indexed. Chancery causes often involved the following: divisions of estates or land, disputes over wills, divorces, debt, and business disputes. Predominant documents found in chancery causes include bills (plaintiff's complaint), answers (defendant's response), decrees (court's decision), depositions, affidavits, correspondence, lists of heirs, deeds, wills, slave records, business records or vital statistics, among other items. Plats, if present, are noted, as are wills from localities with an incomplete record of wills or localities other than the one being indexed.

Chancery cases are 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.

Arrangement

Organized by case, of which each is assigned a unique index number comprised of the latest year found in case and a sequentially increasing 3-digit number assigned by the processor as cases for that year are found. Arranged chronologically.

Arrangement of documents within each folder are as follows: Bill, Answer, and Final Decree (if found.)

Related Material

Additional Northampton County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. See A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm

See the Chancery Records Index found on the Library of Virginia web site for the chancery records of other Virginia localities.

Additional Northampton County Chancery Causes are found at the Northampton County Courthouse.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Northampton County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans--History.
• Business enterprises--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Debt--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Divorce suits--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Equity--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Estates (Law)--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Land subdivision--Virginia--Northampton County.

Geographical Names:

• Northampton County (Va.)--Genealogy.
• Northampton County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Chancery causes--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Deeds--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Judicial records--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Land records--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Local government records--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Plats--Virginia--Northampton County.
• Wills--Virginia--Northampton County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Additional Northampton County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. See A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm

See the Chancery Records Index found on the Library of Virginia web site for the chancery records of other Virginia localities.

Additional Northampton County Chancery Causes are found at the Northampton County Courthouse.