Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Burned Jurisdiction Court Records Collection, 1703-1860 [include series information]. Local government records collection, Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

These photocopies of orginal records were created by Library of Virginia staff between 1995-2010, resulting in this atrifical collection.

Processing Information

Local records archivists began to identify these records while processing chancery causes and other locality records starting in the mid-1990s. Library staff then photocopied the original record, which remained with the other original court records. The original records are at times in collections still housed at the Library of Virginia; however, some original records may be in the locality.

The photocopies were filled together in a "Burned Records Jurisdiction Collection" and organized by court and date. The photocopy was then indexed and used to create the "Burned Jurisdictions Database." These fields captured in this index included the court, record type, and party [names]. This information is retained in the content list for the collection. New additions to the collection ended around 2010, both in regards to photocopies for the artificial collection and entries in the "Burned Jurisdictions Database" per the Local Records manager.

During the Library of Virginia's web redesign project 2024-2025, the web committee and Local records staff decided that due to the inactive nature of the project and relatively low use, that the database be removed from the website and replaced with a finding aid.

Encoded by M. Mason: August, 2025

Historical Information

Types of Courts/ Jurisdictions: For information regarding the various courts of Virginia see: Virginia Superior Courts

Scope and Content

Burned Jurisdiction Court Records Collection, 1703-1860, is an artificial collection of photocopies created by Local Records Archivists at the Library of Virginia. The collection consists of photocopies made from original records recorded in courts or jurisdictions that subsequently suffered record losses.

These records are from higher or appeal courts, most of which do not presently exist. Among the jurisdictions included in this collection are the General Court, the [Supreme] Court of Appeals, the High Court of Chancery, the various Superior Courts of Chancery, and the various District Courts.

These records were generally used as exhibits in a court case. In most instances, the indexed records compose only a fraction of a case or proceedings. In most cases, the copy may be the only extant copy of the document.

Some folders contain additional information such as print outs or other research related to the item. The photocopy itself may contain notations related to the location of the original records; however, these notations may no longer be accurate as records has been processed, digitized, and perhaps returned to the locality over since the active period of this project.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged

Related Material

For chancery causes, see the: Chancery Records Index

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

There various localities included in these records considered a Virginia Lost Records Locality. Additional records may be found in the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website.

Adjunct Descriptive Data