Virginia Genealogy Search

Virginia family history reaches back to Jamestown in 1607, and the Library of Virginia in Richmond holds the colonial and state records, the county records of 95 counties and 38 independent cities on microfilm, the chancery court records with a free online index and images, and the vital records that have become public, with the Virginia death index from 1912 to 2014 and birth records from 1864 to 1925 online through its Ancestry partnership, free to Virginians. Virginia kept county birth and death registers from 1853 to 1896 and began statewide registration in 1912.

Virginia's land patents from 1623, the tithable lists and the county court order books carry the colonial families, and the Library's Virginia Untold project indexes records of enslaved and free Black Virginians.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Virginia statewide genealogy links

• Virginia Department of HealthVital Records
• Library of VirginiaLibrary Genealogical Resources
• Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees and Abandoned Lands
• A Guide to Genealogical Resources at the University of VirginiaUniversity Genealogical Resources
• A Guide to Virginia County and City Records
• Official Tourism Website of the Commonwealth of VirginiaGenealogy Links
• USGenWeb Archives VirginiaSearch USGenWeb Archives
• Virginia Genealogical Society

Virginia began statewide birth and death registration in 1912, after keeping county registers from 1853 to 1896, and the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Vital Records in Richmond holds the certificates. Death records become public after 25 years and birth records after 100, and the Library of Virginia holds the public ones, with the 1853 to 1896 registers, the death index from 1912 to 2014 and birth records from 1864 to 1925 imaged online through Ancestry, free at the Library and in Virginia libraries. Marriage records were kept by each county and city clerk from the county's founding, with marriage bonds from the 1700s, and divorce records sit with the circuit court clerk.

• Library of VirginiaVital records, chancery index, land patents, county records and Virginia Untold, checked September 25, 2026
• Virginia Office of Vital RecordsBirth, death, marriage and divorce certificates from 1912, checked September 25, 2026
• Virginia Vital Records guideHow to order certificates and what is public

The Library of Virginia holds the land patents and grants from 1623 with online images, the county tithable and personal property tax lists from 1782, the chancery records index with millions of digitized pages, Virginia's Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War records including the Confederate pension rolls and the Virginia Military Institute rosters, the state penitentiary registers, county records on microfilm and the Virginia Untold collections. Virginia took no state censuses, and most of the 1790 and 1800 Virginia federal censuses are lost, so the tax lists substitute. The Virginia Museum of History and Culture holds manuscripts, and the National Archives at Philadelphia holds Virginia's federal court and Freedmen's Bureau records.

• Virginia chancery records indexFree online index and images of Virginia chancery court cases, checked September 25, 2026
• Virginia UntoldRecords of enslaved and free Black Virginians, checked September 25, 2026
• National Archives at PhiladelphiaFederal court and Freedmen's Bureau records for Virginia, checked September 25, 2026
• FamilySearch Virginia research guideFree indexed Virginia records and images, checked September 25, 2026

Virginia circuit court clerks are the recorders and probate custodians for each county and independent city, holding deeds, wills, estates, marriage licenses and civil and chancery cases from the county's founding, with most clerks posting online indexes through the Virginia clerks' shared systems. The Library of Virginia holds the older books of every locality on microfilm and many original county records. Courthouse burnings during the Civil War and other fires destroyed early records in Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Gloucester, Hanover, James City, King and Queen, King William, Nansemond, New Kent, Prince George, Warwick and other counties, so the land patents and tax lists are the substitutes.

• Virginia County Public RecordsCircuit court clerks for all 95 counties and 38 independent cities
• Virginia Court RecordsCircuit court case information and chancery records

These federal and national sources complement Virginia's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Virginia state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

NARA, National Archives The federal government's primary archive. Holds the U.S. census (1790, 1950), ship passenger lists, naturalization records, military service files, and land entry files.

FamilySearch Free online genealogy platform operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Digitized microfilm copies of many county and state records worldwide.

Library of Congress, Local History & Genealogy The LoC's research guides, city directories, newspapers, and Civil War records, most accessible free online through loc.gov.