A Guide to the City of Richmond (Va.) Records, 1873-1930 circa #52743

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Richmond (Va.) Records, 1873-1930 circa. Local government records collection, Richmond Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from the city of Richmond circuit court under the accession number 52743.

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.

Manchester (extinct), in the city of Richmond, 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.

Scope and Content

Richmond (Va.) Records, 1873-1930 circa consist of records that were filed in the corporation court of the city of Manchester which was renamed Hustings Court II in 1910. They include the following record types: Chancery Causes, 1874-1930 circa; Birth Records indices, 1873-1879; Police Court Warrants, Judgments, and Reports, 1874-1924 circa; Liquor Licenses, 1877-1916 circa; Druggist Reports related to Prohibition, 1922-1924; List of Voters - White and "Colored," 1880; Term Papers which include judgments, criminal causes, and miscellaneous record types, 1874-1913; and Tax and Fiscal Records, 1924 circa.

Chancery causes 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.