Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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

Preferred Citation

Surry County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1785-1922 (bulk 1806-1912). (Cite style of suit and chancery index no.). Local Government Records Collection, Surry County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Digital images were generated by Backstage Library Works 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.

Surry County was named for the county of Surrey in England, and was formed from James City County in 1652. The county seat is Surry.

Created in 1652. Deed Book 10 (1835–1838) is missing and order books for 1718–1741 and various other early volumes are fragmentary. Most loose records prior to 1806 are missing. Courthouse fires in 1906 and 1922 did not result in loss of records, however, because at that time records were housed in a separate clerk’s office.

Scope and Content

Surry County (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1785-1922 (bulk 1806-1912), 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.

Related Material

Additional Surry County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia web site. Consult 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.

Surry County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Surry County Court Records may be found in the Virginia Lost Records Localities Collection at the Library of Virginia. Search the Lost Records Localities Database found at the Library of Virginia web site.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Surry County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

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

Geographical Names:

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

Genre and Form Terms:

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

Adjunct Descriptive Data