Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Use microfilm, Richmond City (Va.) Reels 1006-1007.

Preferred Citation

Manchester (Va.) Police Court Records, 1866-1910. Local government records collection, Richmond (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Richmond.

Historical Information

The City of Richmond was named by William Byrd (1674–1744), who envisioned the development of a city at the falls of the James River and with the help of William Mayo laid out the town in 1737. The name probably came from the English borough of Richmond upon Thames, which Byrd visited on several occasions. Richmond was established in 1742 and in 1779 was designated the capital of Virginia effective 30 April 1780. It was incorporated as a town, although "stiled the city of Richmond," in 1782 and was incorporated as a city in 1842. It served as the capital of the Confederacy from mid-1861 to April 1865. Richmond was enlarged by the annexation of Manchester (or South Richmond) in 1910, and by the addition of Barton Heights, Fairmount, and Highland Park in 1914. Further annexations from Chesterfield County occurred in 1942 and 1970.

Manchester was established in 1769 on land owned by William Byrd (1728-1777) on the south bank of the James River. The General Assembly had authorized Fort Charles to be built there in 1645, and the site was soon named Rocky Ridge. After its establishment in 1769, the newly laid-out town was named probably for Manchester Parish in Chesterfield County. The parish in turn was named either for George Montague, fourth duke of Manchester, or for the town of Manchester, England. Incorporated as a town in 1834, Manchester served as the county seat for Chesterfield County from 1871 until 1874 when it was incorporated as a city (although Chesterfield did not move its courthouse until 1876). In 1910 Manchester was consolidated with the city of Richmond with the provisos that a free bridge would be constructed to connect Manchester with Richmond and that Manchester would retain a courthouse. Today the area is also known as South Richmond.

Police Court was a city court that had jurisdiction in all petit criminal cases that involved only confinement in jail and smaller fines, including minor traffic violations, public-health nuisances, petty theft or assault, violations of city ordinances, and warrants for indebtedness. Persons arrested for greater criminal violations could begin their legal process at the Police Court and be referred on to higher courts for trial or other disposition of their case. The police justice was an elected city official.

Scope and Content

Police Record, 1866-1878, records the date, name, color, charge, by whom arrested, and remarks. The remarks column generally records the disposition of the case including fines, discharge, orders to leave town, confiscation of illegal goods, whippings, and referral on to a higher court. This volume is arranged chronologically and there is no index. Following each year is occasionally a yearly report of the chief of police giving the amount of fines collected, the number of dog and goat medals sold, the amount collected for the sale of dog and goat medals, and the number and amount of tools on hand. The last several pages in the volume record the number of dog and goat medals sold including the date, to whom sold, the medal number, and financial information related to the medal sales.

Record of Police Court, 1878-1887, records the date of judgment, name of accused, character of offense, convicted or acquitted, amount of fines, number of stripes, term of imprisonment, amount of costs, to whom due, by whom tried, kind and date of execution, and name of officers to whom delivered. Often the sentence was written in generally and did not conform exactly to the column headings. The volume is arranged alphabetically and then chronologically thereafter. This volume has sustained significant water damage.

Record of Police Court, 1887-1891, records the date of judgment, name of accused, character of offense, convicted or acquitted, amount of fines, number of stripes, term of imprisonment, amount of costs, to whom due, by whom tried, kind and date of execution, and name of officers to whom delivered. Often the sentence was written in generally and did not conform exactly to the column headings. The volume is arranged alphabetically and then chronologically thereafter.

Record of Criminal Judgments 1, 1878-1900, records the date of judgment, name of accused, character of offense (misdemeanor or felony), whether convicted or acquitted, amount of fine, number of stripes, term of imprisonment, amount of costs and to whom due, kind of execution, date of execution, name of officer to whom delivered, and a column labelled return which denotes any further actions, for example, sent to Hustings Court, turned over to Buckingham County, put under bond, etc. The volume is arranged alphabetically by surname and chronologically thereafter.

Police Court Docket, 1896-1910, records name of the defendant, charge, witnesses, and judgment. Some occasional notes are included about sentence or further actions taken. The volume is arranged in chronological order and there is no index.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Criminal procedure -- Virginia -- Manchester.
• Judgments -- Virginia -- Manchester.
• Police -- Virginia -- Manchester.

Geographical Names:

• Manchester (Va.) -- History -- 19th century.
• Richmond (Va.) -- History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Criminal court records -- Virginia -- Manchester.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Manchester.
• Register (lists) -- Virginia -- Manchester.

Added Entry - Corporate Name:

• Manchester (Va.) Police Court.