Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Prince William County (Va.) Circuit Court Records, 1852-1933. Local Government Records Collection, Prince William County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a shipment of court records from Prince William County.

Historical Information

Prince William County was formed from Stafford and King George Counties by a statute adopted in 1730, to take effect on 12 March 1731. The county was named for William Augustus, duke of Cumberland and third son of King George II.

Many pre-Civil War records were lost, destroyed, or stolen by Union troops in 1863 during the Civil War. Sixteen deed books and five will books are missing.

Rule books contain orders or directions made by a court regulating court practices or the actions of parties.

Fee books are volumes showing the date of a duty performed by the clerk, the name of the person paying the fees and the amount. These volumes include fees charged attorneys, cash accounts and the clerk's fees in common law and chancery suits.

Memorandum books are used for notations of entries to be made in other books.

Scope and Content

Prince William County (Va.) Circuit Court Records, 1852-1933, contain court papers involving disputes of wills and estates (Eleanor L. Lowman, Paul Portner and Robert V. Portner) , 1 Chancery Rule Book, 5 Common Law and Chancery Fee Books, 5 Fee Books, 7 Memorandum Books for Court Suits, Suit papers and Transcripts and 1 Witness book.

Related Material

Additional Prince William County Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Prince William County is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Prince William 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:

• Prince William County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Public records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Geographical Names:

• Prince William County (Va.)--History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records--Virginia--Prince William County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data