Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Commonwealth Causes, 1782-1866, involving enslaved and free Black individuals are digitized and available through Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Cases and Ended Cases, 1904-1963 are unprocessed and need review prior to use by researchers. Contact Archives Reference Staff for access.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) Criminal Records, 1782-1963 (bulk 1945-1963), Local government records collection, Richmond (City) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. 23219.

Acquisition Information

These records came to the Library of Virginia in 1968 a transfer of court papers from the city of Richmond under accession number 26922 and in an undated accession.

Processing Information

Original Record "Richmond (Va.) Cases and Ended Cases, 1945-1963" Encoded by S. Nerney, 2010; updated by M. Mason and L. Neuroth, 2023.

Commonwealth Causes, 1782-1866, pertaining to enslaved and free Black individuals were removed from the Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes and then processed and indexed as a distinct unit by Greg Crawford and Lydia Neuroth for the purposes of digitizing them for the digital project Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative. All other commonwealth causes,1782-1866, pertaining to white and non-Black individuals as well as all post-1866 commonwealth causes are still unprocessed and filed with the Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type:

Free People in Want of Registration

Consits of lists of free Black and multiracial people confined to jail because they were without a free registration document or certificate proving their free status. In some localities, city sergeants or county sheriffs created reports for the court of individuals confined to jail. These documents serve as a certification record of who was in jail. Prisoners were required to pay the jail fees accrued during their time in jail. If they could not pay, they were hired out to cover the cost of their expenses. If this was the case, the document may indicate if they were hired out along with a totaling of expenses. For further research, search the minute books orcourt order books for the locality of interest.

Commonwealth Causes

Commonwealth causes are criminal court cases filed by the state government that consist primarily of warrants, summons, subpoenas, indictments, recognizances, and verdicts handed down by juries and other legal authorities in order to prosecute individuals who violated the penal code.

The commonwealth causes reveal an inconsistency in forms of conviction and punishment for white versus Black and multiracial individuals. Throughout the early nineteenth century, Virginia legislators revised the laws in ways that reduced the legal status of free Black and multiracial people to that of enslaved, thereby creating a legal system based on race. White Virginians and legislators feared insurrection and passed laws restricting the number of Black and multiracial people allowed to gather in groups. Enslavers could be fined for permitting their enslaved people to hire themselves out for work and enslaved people were jailed on these occasions. While public whipping originated as a form of punishment for all those convicted, in Virginia, it was retained for those who were Black, free or enslaved, and officially outlawed as a punishment for white criminals in 1848. Often, Black individuals served much longer penitentiary sentences while the cases of white men, who had committed the same or similar crimes, were dismissed.

Types of Courts: Richmond (Va.) Hustings court created by the General Assembly in 1782 at the time Richmond was granted it's charter. The court was created to handle all criminal cases, civil law cases, probate of wills, fiduciary accounts, deed recordings, all licenses (business, marriage, etc.), citizenship applications, etc. It also included the Mayor's Court.

Richmond (Va.) Hustings Court Part I was approved April 5, 1910 under agreement of consolidation between the City of Richmond and the City of Manchester and their corporation/ Hustings Court.

Richmond (Va.) Law and Equity Court was created by an act of General Assembly on February 12, 1894 to handle all civil law cases and equity cases filed in the City of Richmond (includes divorces, partitions suits, injunctions, mechanic liens suits, etc.).

Richmond (Va.) Circuit Court created in 1852 as a successor to the Circuit Court of Chancery for the County of Henrico in order to handle all civil wand criminal matters, same as other circuit courts for counties, cities, or towns. In July 1954, the Clerk of Law and Equity Court was named clerk of the Circuit Court. At the same time it's jurisdiction was limited to criminal proceedings against convicts in the penitentiary, proceeding to enforce payment of money to commonwealth and suits against public officers representing the commonwealth.

Locality History Note: The city of Richmond, located between Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, 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.

Lost Records Note: During the burning of Richmond on April 3, 1865, during the Civil War, Richmond circuit court judge John A. Meredith led efforts to save the circuit court records found at the State Court House. Rescuers successfully removed all the papers that were necessary to pending suits and many of the order books, but all of the wills and deed books were lost. Records of the superior court and circuit superior court of law and chancery were also destroyed. Most of the pre-Civil War Hustings Court records exist.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) Criminal Records, 1782-1963 (bulk 1945-1963), consist of records concerning Free people in want of Registration, 1815-1864; Commonwealth Causes 1782- 1866, involving enslaved and free Black individuals; a small amount of additional Commonwealth Causes, 1865-1960, which are post-Civil War and concern defendants of various races; and Cases and Ended Cases, 1901-1963

Free people in want of Registration Records, 1815-1864, consist largely of lists of free Black and multiracial people confined to jail because they were without a free registration document or certificate proving their free status. These records are generally created or compiled by the jailer or City Sergeant and presented to the Court of Hustings in order of legal action to be taken. The court decides if a new registration document is provided, if and how they will pay jail fees, or what other action should be required for these people in jail.

Commonwealth Causes,1782-1866, involving free and enslaved Black individuals consists of criminal cases heard in the Richmond (Va.) Hustings Court where the defendants themselves are either free or enslaved Black individuals. These cases also consist of white defendants who are charged with crimes involving matters of chattel slavery; violence against a free or enslaved Black persons; or other violations of laws involving the policing of Black communities.

Causes commonly found against free Black and enslaved people might include breaking and entering, stealing, assault, murder, arson, and aiding enslaved people to self-emancipate. Formerly enslaved men and women could also be tried for remaining in the commonwealth more than one year following emancipation. There are also cases against enslavers who permitted a gathering of enslaved people on their property.

All other commonwealth causes,1782-1866, pertaining to white and non-Black individuals as well as all post-1866 commonwealth causes are still unprocessed and filed with the Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes.

Criminal Records, 1885-1960, contains various criminal records and commonwealth causes heard by the Husting Court and Circuit Court in Richmond (Va.).

The remainder, and bulk, of the Richmond (Va.) Criminal Records consists of Cases and Ended Cases, 1901-1963, are unprocessed records created primarily by the Richmond Hustings Court Part 1 and Law and Equity Court and consist of criminal cases containing indictments or commonwealth causes for felonies and misdemeanors, appeals from juvenile court, appeals from traffic court, appeals from police court, concealed weapon permits, and notary public qualifications. Occasional other materials are included concerning imposed or expired sentences.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Series I: Free People in Want of Registration, 1815-1864, arranged chronologically. Series II: Commonwealth Causes, 1782-1866, pertaining to free and enslaved persons, and are arranged chronologically. Series III: Commonwealth Causes, 1885-1960. This set of records is not arranged in a particular manner with many of the records remaining unprocessed. Series IV: Cases and Ended Cases, 1901-1963, are unprocessed. There are two parts, cases heard in the Richmond Law and Equity Court, and cases heard in the Richmond Hustings Court Part I. Subseries A: Law and Equity Court Subseries B: Hustings Court Part I

Related Material

See also: Richmond (Va.) Ended Causes, 1782-1951 (bulk 1900-1951) for additional criminial records unprocessed.

Records related to free and enslaved people of Richmond (Va.) and other localities are available through the Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Additional Richmond (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Richmond City is one of Virginia's Lost Records Localities. Additional Richmond City Court Records may be found in the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Adjunct Descriptive Data