New Kent County (Va.) Court Records, 1822-1956

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

New Kent County (Va.) Court Records, 1822-1956. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Extent:
9 v.; 1.80 cu. ft. (4 boxes)
Creator:
New Kent County (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

New Kent County (Va.) Court Records, 1822-1956. Local government records collection, New Kent County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

New Kent County (Va.) Court Records, 1822-1956, consist of a Chancery Docket Book No.1, a Chancery Fee Book, a Chancery Process Book No.1, a Chancery Rule Book No.1, a Judgment Docket Book, a Minute Book, a Witness Attendance/Juror Docket Book, a General Index to Judgment Lien Docket Books (undated), a General Index to Minute Books (undated) and 4 boxes of Judgments and Criminal Records from the Superior Court of Law and/or the Circuit Superior Court of Law.

Biographical / historical:

New Kent County may have been named either for the English county of Kent or for Kent Island, in the upper waters of the Chesapeake Bay. William Claiborne, a native of Kent who had been driven from Kent Island by Lord Baltimore, was a prominent resident of the New Kent area around 1654 when the county was formed from York County. Part of James City County was added in 1767.

Records were destroyed when John Posey set fire to the courthouse on 15 July 1787. Many records were lost when the courthouse was partially destroyed by fire during the Civil War hostilities in 1862. Additional records were burned in Richmond on 3 April 1865, where they had been moved for safekeeping during the Civil War.

Acquisition information:

All volumes came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from New Kent County under the accession number 42127.

All boxes came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from New Kent County under the accession number 43278.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Physical location:
State Records Center--Library of Virginia, Archives Annex. Barcodes 1165231 and 1177676 are found at the Library of Virginia.