Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond County (Va.) Land Records, 1710-1888. Local Government Records Collection, Richmond County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Richmond County.

Historical Information

Richmond County may have been named for Richmond borough in Surrey, England, or for Charles Lennox, first duke of Richmond and a son of King Charles II. It was formed from Old Rappahannock County in 1692. The county seat is Warsaw.

Two freeholders were appointed on order of the county court to procession or review the bounds of farms or tracts of land in each precinct in order to renew or replace old landmarks. This was originally a function of the church vestry, but was continued by the court after disestablishment. Persons who walked the boundaries were called processioners.

Some volumes were burned and mutilated through unknown causes; in addition, the will books prior to 1699 were missing as early as 1793, and order books for the period 1794-1816 are also missing. Numerous loose records prior to 1781 are missing as well.

Scope and Content

Richmond County (Va.) Land Records, 1710-1888, consist of deeds, processioners' returns, lists of conveyances, and plats.

Richmond County (Va.) Deeds, 1710-1888, consist of deeds of bargain and sale, deeds of gift, mortgages, deeds of trust, and deeds of emancipation. On presentation to the court, deeds were proved and recorded. If the deed was not witnessed, the grantor acknowledged the deed in open court. Some deeds may include plats. Except for a few years early in the eighteenth century, slaves in Virginia were considered personal property and consequently were not usually sold by deed. However, they were often transferred in deeds of gift or were the property listed in mortgages and deeds of trust.

Deeds of bargain and sale are the most commonly recorded deed in which one individual sells property, usually land, but occasionally personal property, to another individual. Such deeds show the names of the grantor and grantee, the residence of both parties, a description of what is being sold, the consideration (or price), the location of the tract of land, the tract's boundaries, and any limitations on the property being sold. The deed was signed by the grantor, and possibly his wife or anyone else having a claim to the property, and by at least two witnesses. Appended to the deed may be a memorandum of livery of seisin, stating that the property has changed hands and that peaceful possession has taken place.

Deeds of gift are often found transferring property, either real or personal, from one individual to another "for love and affection." The degree of kinship, if any, between the grantor and grantee is sometimes stated.

Mortgages and deeds of trust were deeds where one party is indebted to another and transfers or mortgages property to a third party to secure the debt.

Processioners' returns, 1797-1839, record area processioned with geographical landmarks, roads, property lines noted, the names of the persons present, the date(s) when the processioning occurred, the names of the processioners, and the date that the return was recorded by the county court.

Lists of conveyances, 1816-1836, 1888, summarizes real and personal property transactions recorded in the clerk's office. Entries record names of parties involved, form of conveyance, date of conveyance, type of property conveyed, and date conveyance was recorded in clerk's office.

Miscellaneous Plats, 1794-1846.

Related Material

Deed Books and Indices to Deeds for Richmond County can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

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

Richmond County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Richmond County Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available at Virginia Memory.

For more information and a listing of lost records localities see Lost Records research note .

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Richmond County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• African Americans -- History.
• Land owners -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Land subdivision -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Land use surveys -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Personal property. -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Slaveholders. -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Slavery -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Slaves -- Virginia -- Richmond County.

Geographical Names:

• Richmond County (Va.) -- History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Deeds -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Land records -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Mortgage deeds -- Virginia -- Richmond County.
• Plats -- Virginia -- Richmond Courty.

Adjunct Descriptive Data