Colonial Records of Virginia : 1607 - 1820.

            From 1607 to 1624, Virginia was run by the Virginia Company until its charter was revoked by the King of England.  Virginia became a Crown colony headed by a royally appointed governor and a General Assembly which was unicameral until 1743 and bicameral thereafter.  The Governor’s Council acted as the upper house and the House of Burgesses was the elected lower house.   Tobacco had become a profitable export, and by 1750 Virginia had become a slave society with the economy dependent on slavery and slave holders forming the ruling class.  As the American Revolution progressed, the governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation (Nov. 7, 1775), also known as the Emancipation Proclamation, which allowed for freedom to slaves if they fought for Britain during the American Revolution.  Large numbers of slaves responded which upset and concerned the elite.  Dunmore was forced to leave the colony in 1776, and in May the Virginia Convention declared its independence from Britain. 

In October 1775, the First Continental Congress formed the Continental Association which established a boycott on commerce with Great Britain.  The Committees of Safety for each county were a result of this, concerned with the protection of the colony during the years of the American revolutionary period, especially as it related to the importation and exportation of British goods.  Many other facets of life came under their jurisdictions:  censuring free speech especially disloyalty, circulation of goods in the counties, control of retail prices, gaming and other forms of "extravagances" were suppressed and punished, and all unknown persons in a county were watched to reduce the threat of spying.

Research Publications has assembled and microfilmed the most important published colonial and state records of the original Thirteen Colonies, Maine, and Vermont. The series is comprised of sixty-seven titles which span the years from the earliest available records for each colony until approximately 1800.            

            Online: Some or all of this material is available electronically; see Finding Aid section.

The Colonial Records of Virginia contain published colonial and state records in typescript relating to its governance from its beginnings as a British entity in the seventeenth century into its very early years of statehood during the American revolutionary war. The collection not only includes records of both houses of government of the province and state, it includes records from the earlier years run by the charter company, and a variety of documents relating to the counties.  The collection reveals aspects of life in Virginia, touching on politics, finances, land and property, commerce and economics, trade, immigration and settlement, the law and crime, maritime matters, natives, black history, slavery, British relations, local history, inter-colonial relations, and more.

Arrangement

The collection is organised by colonial record number (CR), then subdivided by volumes which are arranged chronologically.

CR 62.  The Statutes at Large Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia from the First Session of the Legislature, 1619-1792. 13 vols. Volume 1, 1619-1660.  Includes: The Declaration of Independence, 1776; Constitution of the United States; Articles of Confederation in Congress, 1778; Constitution of Virginia; and Ancient Charters;  Volume 2, 1660-1682;  Volume 3, 1684-1710;  Volume 4, 1611-1738.  At the beginning of each volume there is a list of governors with the time each served for the period covered by the volume.  There is an index at the end of each volume. Volume 5, 1738-1748; Volume 6, 1748-1755; Volume 7, 1756-1763; Volume 8, 1764-1773; Volume 9, 1775-1778; Volume  10, 1779-1781;  Volume 11, 1782-1784; Volume 12, 1785-1788; Volume 13, 1789-1792.

CR 63.  Records of the Virginia Company of London, 1607-1626.  4 vols. The Court Book.  Volume 1, 28 April 1619-8 May 1622. Contains a preface, table of contents, and lengthy introduction, which includes a chronological list of records of the Virginia Company of London, and many other documents. Volume 2, to      June 1624. There is a general index to Volume 1 and Volume 2 at the end of Volume 2. Documents. Volume 3, 1607-1622; Volume 4, 1623-1626.

For each volume, there is an informative preface and chronological list of contents at the beginning, and a general index at the end. 

CR 64. Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 1680-1775.  6 vols. Volume 1, 11 June 1680 - 22 June 1699; Volume 2, 3 August 1699 - 27 April 1705; Volume 3, 1 May 1705 - 23 October 1721; Volume 4, 25 October 1721 - 28 October 1739; Volume 5, 1 November 1739 - 7 May 1754 (proclamations after the last Journal); Volume 6, 20 June 1754 - 3 May 1775. 

There is introductory information at the beginning of each volume, proclamations, and a general index at the end.  

To give an idea of topics, in volume 2, the editor indicates in the preface that there was much discussions about pirates and those captured by English man-of-war; affairs of Indians; questions of supply in aid of New York in building a fort as commanded by Britain; rules for convoying vessels, fixing times of sailing of fleets under convoy, and disputing with commanders of England man-of-war sent to guard coasts; and altercations between Governor Nicholson and members of Council.  Editor's notes for volume 5 state the records concern the expansion of Virginia to the West which led to the French and Indian War.  Some examples of the activities in addition to granting of lands included:  organisation of counties, George Washington's appointment as adjutant general of the Southern District, court houses ordered, freedom granted to negro slaves, impressment of seamen, Jefferson and Fry map, house for the governor purchased, comedians not allowed in Williamsburg.

CR 65.  Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia, 1776-1781. 3 vols. Volume 1, 12 July 1776 - 2 October 1777; Volume 2, 6 October 1777 - 30 November 1781; Volume 3, 1 December 1781 - 29 November 1786.  Note:  Volumes 4 and 5, covering the years 1786-1788 are available online; see Finding Aid section.

All volumes begin with a preface, and there is a general index at the end of each volume. 

Journals of the Committee of Safety of Virginia from June 5 to July 5, 1776 is found in Volume 1; volume 2 in appendix, its minutes from Feb.7, 1776 through June 4, 1776.

CR 66. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1776. 13 vols. Volume 1, 1619-1659;Volume 2, 1660-1693; Volume 3, 1695-1702; Volume 4, 1703-1706, 1710-1712; Volume 5, 1712-1715, 1718, 1720-1726;Volume 6, 1727-1734, 1736-1740; Volume 7, 1742-1749; Volume 8, 1752-1758; Volume 9, 1758-1761; Volume 10, 1761-1765; Volume 11, 1766-1769;  Volume 12, 1770-1772;  Volume 13, 1773-1776 which includes: The Records of the Committee of Correspondence - minutes and letters received for 1773-76..  

The volumes begin with a table of contents, lists of members by year, an introduction, and a preface.  There is a general index at the end of each volume.  Volume 1 has two separate indexes.

CR 67. Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 1680-1773. 3 vols.  Volume 1, 8 June 1680 - 24 December 1714;  Volume 2, 3 August 1715 - 19 December 1752; Volume 3, 22 August 1754 - 15 March 1773. 

There is a lengthy appendix at the end of Volume 3. A general index to Volumes 1 through 3 is located at the end of Volume 3. 

CR 68. Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia, 1622-1632, 1670-1676. 1 vol.  Contains notes and excerpts from original Council and General Court Records into 1683, now lost.  

There is a preface at the beginning of the volume and an index at the end.

CR 69. Virginia Colonial Abstracts.  34 vols.  The Colonial Records that have been included in the Abstracts are transcribed in typescript form.  The principal arrangement is by county.  They include records from 17th and 18th centuries, and consist to a large degree of legal records.  There are county record books, deeds, wills, marriage and birth records, court orders, patents, biographical and genealogical information and many other records. 

CR 70.  Colonial Records of Virginia.  The Proceedings of the First Assembly of Virginia, 30 July 1619.            

            A microfilm shelf list which correlates the microfilm reel numbers with the Colonial Record numbers and the volume numbers is available in The Loyalist Collection red binders and electronically, see Electronic Finding Aid section.

An index of names and an appendix can be found at the end of most volumes. (See specific volumes above for additional finding aid notes for each.)

Online:

Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 1680-1775; volumes 2-6 (1699-1775) are available and searchable via Hathi Trust's digital library.
Also available and searchable from the website of Internet Archive (archive.org); University of Pennsylvania has convenient links to all volumes at Internet Archive.
	
Journals of the House of Burgesses of virginia, 1619-1776; all made available and searchable via Hathi Trust's digital library.
	
Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia, 1776-1791; all made available and searchable via Hathi Trust's digital library.
	
Minutes of the Council and General Court of colonial Virginia, 1622-1632, 1670-1676; searchable via archive.org
	
Available digitally and searchable from the website of Internet Archives (archive.org).
	
	
Legislative Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, 1680-1773; available and searchable via Hathi Trust's digital library.
	
The Statutes at large; being a collection of all the laws of Virginia, from the first session ....available via Internet Archives (archive.org)

            

Online Related External Records:

Governors' Letters Received, 1776-1784, accessible via the Library for Virginia, includes documents digitised from microfilm and from originals; fully searchable.

Official Letters of the Governor of the State of Virginia via HathiTrust. Three published volumes edited by H. R. McIlwaine include vol. 1 - Letters of Patrick Henry, July 1, 1776-June 1, 1778; vol. 2 - Letters of Thomas Jefferson, June 1, 1779-June 3, 1781; vol. 3 - Letters of Thomas Nelson and Benjamin Harrison, June 7, 1781-February 27, 1783.