Genealogical Research & The Circuit Court Clerk's Office

The Clerk’s Office is on the 2nd floor of the Circuit Court Building, 7507 Library Drive, Hanover, VA 23069, and is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.  See Hanover County Government Complex Map and Directions for location information.

For questions about using the records in the Clerk’s Office call:

• 804-365-6120
• 804-365-6150

Notify the Clerk’s Office at HanoverCC@courts.state.va.us, if you have questions about this web page or if any of the links do not work. Most of the records of the Clerk’s Office of interest to genealogists or researchers are easy to use and are described below. 

The fee for copies is 50¢ per page.  A $2.00 fee is charged for certifying a copy. Mail in requests must specifically identify the item to be copied and be accompanied by check or money order payable to Hanover County Circuit Court Clerk covering the copy cost.  The mailing address is Hanover County Circuit Court Clerk's Office, Attention:  Records Room, Post Office Box 39, Hanover, VA 23069.

A center for genealogical research in Virginia is the The Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia. Records for counties throughout Virginia (including wills, deeds, and marriage bonds), military service records, church records, Land Office records (patents and grants), and tax records are located there. It also has census records and genealogical notes and charts.
The Virginia Historical Society has genealogical notes and charts, family papers, Bible records, county histories, and census records in its collection.

Genealogical Resources At The Hanover Circuit Court Clerk's Office

Chancery suit papers:  Suit papers from 1831 to 1913 have been scanned into digital format and are hosted on a website maintained by The Library of Virginia (Chancery Records Index), that can be accessed from the Clerk’s Office or any computer with access to the internet.  The quality of the scanned images is excellent, so the original documents are not served to the public. 

Marriage records: The Clerk's Office has marriage licenses and registers dating to 1865, showing the bride’s and groom’s names, their ages, and their parents' names.  Marriage licenses for the period 1865 to 1913 are awaiting conservation and are not open for public inspection. Information found on the marriage licenses is contained in bound marriage registers that are open for inspection.  Copies of marriage licenses can be obtained with the assistance of a Clerk’s Office staff member.

Land Records prior to 1865: Deed Books for the period 1720 to 1865 were burned in April 1865, with the exception of three volumes covering 1733 to 1735 and 1783 to 1792.

Land Records 1865 to present: The Clerk's Office has Grantor and Grantee indexes dating back to 1865 recording the names of those who transferred or received property. Deed Books dating from 1865 to present contain the official copy of land related documents. 

Freedmen's Marriage Register: The Hanover County, Virginia, marriage register of freedmen, officially titled, “Marriage Register of Freedman living in Hanover Co Va, Who were Married by the Act passed by the Legislature of Virginia, February 27th 1866” is a list of 550 African American couples whose marriages were validated by action of the Virginia legislature.  The Library of Virginia funded the conservation of the Freedmen’s Marriage Register.  The information contained in the register has been entered into a searchable database accessible by the internet (Freedmen’s Marriage Register).

Wills: The Clerk's Office has wills dating to 1865.  In addition, it has two volumes that are not indexed containing wills dating from 1785 to 1865.

"Richmond Magazine - Genealogical research article featuring the Hanover Circuit Court Clerk's Office."

   Updated:
Feb. 4, 2009