Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Northampton County (Va.) Judgments, 1655-1816. Local government records collection, Northampton County 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 circuit court of Northampton County.

Historical Information

Northampton County was named probably 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, or counties, first enumerated in 1634, was first called Accomack. The General Assembly changed the name to Northampton County in 1643. Accomack County was created from Northampton County about 1663, but in October 1670, the General Assembly temporarily reunited the two counties as Northampton County. In November 1673, Accomack County was again separated from Northampton. The county seat is Eastville.

Scope and Content

Northampton County (Va.) Judgments, 1655-1816, consist of civil suits in which justice was administered on the strictly formulated rules of common law. The majority of the cases relate to matters of debt.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by surname of plaintiff and then chronological by date when suit ended.

Related Material

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

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Northampton County (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Civil procedure -- Virginia -- Northampton County.
• Debt -- Virginia -- Northampton County.
• Public records -- Virginia -- Northampton County.

Geographical Names:

• Northampton County (Va.) -- History.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Judicial records -- Virginia -- Northampton County.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Northampton County.

Adjunct Descriptive Data