Northumberland County Virginia History and Genealogy

Home Reference Census Records Military African-American Other States New Titles E-BOOKS FREE SHIPPING IN USA

Iberian Publishing Company's On-Line Catalog:
Northumberland County Virginia

Northumberland County was created circa 1645 from the district of Chickacoan, which consisted of the Indian reserve between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers. From Northumberland's lands came the counties of Lancaster (1651) and Westmoreland (1653). At that latter date Northumberland attained its present boundaries. Like so many early seventeenth century counties, the new county derived its name from a similar English county in Britain. Many of Northumberland's seventeenth-century records were destroyed in a 1710 fire.

For a better understanding of county boundary changes, see our new section Virginia in Maps
Iberian also has hundreds of titles in e book (PDF) format!! Click here for a complete online catalog of available titles

THE SHEPHERD'S FOLD: CEMETERY RECORDS OF NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA CHURCHES compiled by the Genealogical Society of the Northern Neck of Virginia. 2012. 8 x 10, xvi, 366 pages, illustrations, map, arranged alphabetic within individual church cemeteries as well as an overall index. Volunteer researchers from the society patiently and meticulously copied the gravestone inscriptions from the churches (31 total) in Northumberland County with an accompanying cemetery to produce this book. In all it covers more than 1100 families with burials in excess of ten thousand individuals. The format of the volume for each entry is: Name, date of birth, date of death, and particular note (e.g., husband, wife, brother, sister, etc./of) as well as military service. Two appendices are provided which bring together the military veterans of the county (Appendix One= CSA Veterans; Appendix Two County Veterans in General)

Sample entry (from Providence Baptist Church):
Forrester, Carlton William 27 May 1924 28 Jan 1993 s/o Elgin W & Mary Alice (Gill), Pvt US Army WW II

A brief history is provided for each church, along with a photo, address, and GPS coordinates. An overall county map of the churches' locations (p.xv) is helpful for the researcher.

This volume stands as the premier and comprehensive work for Northumberland County church cemetery records.

Churches included in this work are:
Bethany Baptist; Calvary Pentecostal; Coan Baptist; Corinth United Methodist; Fairfields Baptist; First Baptist; Galilee Methodist; Gibeon Baptist; Henderson United Methodist; Lively Hope Baptist; Macedonia Baptist; Melrose United Methodist; Mila United Methodist; Mooreland Baptist; Morning Star Baptist; Mt. Olive Baptist; New Friendship Baptist; Northern Neck Baptist; Northern Neck Memorial Garden; Old Fairfields Methodist; Providence Baptist; Rehoboth United Methodist; Smithland Baptist; St. Francis deSales Catholic; St. Stephens Episcopal; Shiloh Baptist & Hope Union; Wicomico Baptist; Wicomico Episcopal; Wicomico United Methodist; and Zion Baptist.

To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Shepherd's Fold
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [SFNC] $37.95

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ESFNC] $25.00 (electronic version)

NORTHUMBERLAND CO., VA 1810 CENSUS transcribed by John Vogt. 2009. 8 x 10, x, 19 pages, illustrations, maps, arranged in the original rough alphabetic form used by the enumerator. In addition, in an unusual move, the enumerator chose to require three additional pieces of information from the households: 1)the number of gallons of brandy produced [annually?]; 2)the number of looms in the household; and finally, 3)yards of cloth woven by the household [presumably annually]. This information reveals a great deal about the cottage industry of this Chesapeake community and its relations with port factors and traders.
Surname list
[NM10] $8.95 (printed version)

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENM10] $6.00 (electronic version)

Northumberland County,Virginia 1678-1699 Court Order Book Part One, Court Orders for: August 21, 1678 through April 20, 1687
Charles and Virginia Hamrick, 2004, xii, 540 pp., index, 8½" x 11" format. The Hamricks continue their transcription of the seventeenth century Northumberland order books with this third volume (See first two, 1699-1713 below). A faithful transcription of the court order for these years from this eastern, Tidewater county. Northumberland was part of the Northern Neck of the Fairfax Grant, and it was created in 1645 out of the former Chickakoan Indian District.
To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Nob1678-1
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [Nob1678-1] $51.95

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENob1678-1] $40.00 (electronic version)

Northumberland County,Virginia 1678-1699 Court Order Book Part Two, Court Orders for: April 20, 1687 through December 21, 1698
Charles and Virginia Hamrick, 2004, xii, 627 pp., index, 8½" x 11" format. The Hamricks continue their transcription of the seventeenth century Northumberland order books with this fourth volume (See first two, 1699-1713 below). A faithful transcription of the court order for these years from this eastern, Tidewater county. Northumberland was part of the Northern Neck of the Fairfax Grant, and it was created in 1645 out of the former Chickakoan Indian District.
NOTE: because of the size of this volume, the index of names is bound separate from the Order Book; it is, however, included with each order.
To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Nob1678-2
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [Nob1678-2] $56.95

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENob1678-2] $40.00 (electronic version)

Northumberland County,Virginia 1699 Court Order Book Part One, Court Orders for: January 1699 through November 23, 1706
Charles and Virginia Hamrick, 1999, xii, 509 pp., index, 8½" x 11" format. A faithful transcription of the court order for these years from this eastern, Tidewater county. Northumberland was part of the Northern Neck of the Fairfax Grant, and it was created in 1645 out of the former Chickakoan Indian District.
To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Nob1699-1
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [Nob1699-1] $46.95

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENob1699-1] $35.00 (electronic version)

Northumberland County,Virginia 1699 Court Order Book Part Two, Court Orders for: November, 23 1706 through September 16, 1713 A Translation by Charles and Virginia Hamrick. 549 pages, 8.5" x 11" format. The index records analyses of probable correct spellings of all the various spellings used to trace the orthography of the names in an attempt to reconcile them with their modern equivalents.
The Supreme Court of Record in the Dominion of Virginia in the Early 18th Century is the General Court, held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. The Court had Jurisdiction, and held Pleas of all Matters whatsoever arising within this Colony, Criminal, Ecclesiastical, or Civil, at Common Law, or in Chancery, Real, Personal, or Mixed. It also received and determined Appeals, and Supersedeas, obtained from the Judgment of any Inferior Court or Record: Grants Certificates of Probate of Wills, and determined the Right of Administration, where the Estate exceeded £50 Value. There are also records of all Prisoners committed to the Public Jail, and innumerable Rules, Orders, and Decrees.
This painstaking continuation of the transcription started in the first volume (above), covers so many various types of records in such great detail that we can't begin to cover it all here. The every-name index alone spans 93 pages of small type, listing almost anyone who was the subject of public documentation during this early colonial period in a county which covered a vast area of the northern neck region.
To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Nob1699-2
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [Nob1699-2] $51.95

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENob1699-2] $40.00 (electronic version)

NORTHUMBERLAND CO., VA. DEATH RECORDS, 1853-1896 abstracted by Nell Hailey, vi, 222 pages, index. A thorough and accurate abstraction of all the data contained in the first death register for Northumberland County. Contains (in most cases) name of deceased, sex, free or slave, place of death, contributing cause, age at time of death, place of birth, parents' names, and name of person reporting death to authorities.
To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Nrdr
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog) [Nrdr] $27.00

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENRDR] $18.00 (electronic version)

cite>ABSTRACTS OF VIRGINIA'S NORTHERN NECK (LAND) WARRANTS & SURVEYS, 1697-1784 (HAMPSHIRE, BERKELEY, LOUDOUN, FAIRFAX, KING GEORGE, WESTMORELAND, RICHMOND, NORTHUMBERLAND AND LANCASTER COUNTIES) by Peggy Shomo Joyner. 1987, xv, 225 pp. Published as the fourth and last volume in a series of Northern Neck Warrants & Surveys, this collection has become a standard reference work for researchers in the period of colonial Virginia history.

The Northern Neck Proprietary, also called the Fairfax Proprietary, or Fairfax Grant, was a land grant first created by the exiled English King Charles II in 1649 and encompassing all the lands bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers in colonial Virginia. This constituted up to 5,200,000 acres of Virginia's Northern Neck and a vast area northwest of it.

The grant became actual in 1660 when Charles was restored to the English throne. By 1719, these lands had been inherited by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1781). By that time the question of the boundaries of the designated lands had also become highly contentious. It was decided in 1746 that a line between the sources of the North Branch of the Potomac and the Rappahannock River (the "Fairfax Line") would constitute the western limit of Lord Fairfax's lands. The early 17th century decade was witnessing a wave of pioneer settlement throughout the region.

To obtain land a person purchased a warrant from the proprietor's agent specifying the precise location of the desired land. The warrant was then given to a surveyor, who surveyed the land. The plat, warrant, and any related papers were returned to the proprietor's office, and if the title was clear, a grant was recorded and then issued. At any point after the warrant was purchased the land could be assigned (sold) to another person, and years could elapse between the purchase of the warrant and the issuance of a grant.

The volume is arranged first by county, then alphabetic by grantee. Please note: The index provided at the end of the volume contains only those persons whose reference occurs outside the alphabetic listing in the volume. It is NOT a complete index of names or places.

Surname list
[Nnw4] $27.00

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:
[ENNW4] $20.00 (lectronic version)

Northumberland Co. 1815 Directory of Landowners by Roger G. Ward. 2005. 17 pages, map, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the 1815 LAND DIRECTORY Records and a listing of available counties, see combined volume below

[Vd75] $7.00

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:

[EVd75] $5.00 (electronic version)

1815 DIRECTORY OF VIRGINIA LANDOWNERS & GAZETTEER, vol. 3 Eastern Region (Includes the counties of Accomack, Caroline, Elizabeth City, Essex, Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Nansemond, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, Princess Anne, Richmond, Surry, Warwick, Westmoreland, York, and the independent city of Norfolk. ) abstracted by Roger G. Ward. 1997, vi, 252 pages, indices, maps.
In 1782 the General Assembly of Virginia enacted new tax laws which created within each county an enumeration of land and certain personal property. These early land tax laws required a tax commissioner in each district of a county to record a list of the names of persons owning land or town lots, the quantity of land owned and its value, and the amount of tax owed. By 1813, a brief geographic description (usually citing an adjacent stream, road, or other landmark) was required; in 1814, the distance and direction from the courthouse for each parcel was also added to the tax rolls.
The present work is an alphabetical listing of all 1815 landowners found in each county, as well as the accompanying description of the location of the said property. We have not included the number of acres, taxes assessed, or any transactions between landowners which may have been noted on the tax rolls; also, in many cases the geographic location was provided as "adjacent to John Smith", etc. and, while useful many times to a genealogist, was considered to be beyond the objectives of this project. The reader is encouraged to consider the information here-in as an "outline" of early landowners in Virginia rather than a "text" due to the year-to-year variation in information provided to the clerk (or recorded by the clerk), omissions, lack of "identifiers" to determine if "same name" was also "same person" within a district or across districts, marginal quality/clarity (in a few cases) of the microfilm copy, and, not least, errors on the part of either the original clerks or the current author while transcribing.
Some of the approaches to utilizing the 1815 landowner information include:
observe distinct clusters of the same surname within a county in order to clarify the common surnames such as "Smith", "Anderson", etc;
identify non-resident landowners and their county (or state) of residence (these people often being former residents of the current county);
determine neighbors with different surnames (often being relatives);
use the 1815 information as a "bridge" from the 18th and 19th century deed/will books to the 17th and 18th century land grants/patents in the county;
evaluate the 1810 to 1840 census information which generally grouped neighbors;
substitute this information for missing deed/will books in the "burned" counties; and, clarify/enhance vague deed/will information in the counties with more complete records.
FORMAT OF PRESENTATION: Each entry is listed as: Surname, name, personal identifiers (if any); location/place-name of land; miles/direction from the 1815 courthouse. If multiple owners are listed for a property, the listing is duplicated under each of the owner's surnames (i.e "Smith and Brown" is also listed as "Brown, --see Smith"); when multiple owners share a common surname, the property is only listed once. When a landowner had land at more than one location/place-name, the miles/direction listing for each parcel is in the same sequence as the location listing (i.e. James RV, Slate CK; 12N, 5SW.). In the few cases where a landowner had "many" parcels, the miles/direction notation is attached to the location listing (i.e. Sandy RV- 5NE, Willow CK-7S, etc.)

[Vdl3] $32.00 (paper version)

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:

[EVDL-3] $20.00 (electronic version)

Northumberland Co. Revolutionary Public Claims transcribed by Janice L. Abercrombie and Richard Slatten.. 2005. 22 pages, 5 1/2X8 1/2.
For a full description of the Virginia Revolutionary Public Claims and a listing of available counties, see: Revolutionary "Publick" Claims series

To view a digital copy (pdf) of the index to this book, visit Index-Northumberland
(Close the pdf file with the left arrow to return to Iberian's catalog)

[Pc51] $6.00 (printed version)

The above title is also available as a digital e-book in PDF format:

[EPc51] $3.50 (electronic version)

For more records pertaining to NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA see also:

Chickacoan Indian District
Guide to Virginia Militia Units in the War of 1812
Chart on the Formation of Virginia Counties
Atlas of County Boundary Changes in Virginia, 1634-1895
Index to the 1810 Virginia Census

Please see our HELP PAGE for mail-order instructions, wholesaler policies and other contact information.

|| Virginia/W.Va. || General Reference || Military Records ||
|| Other States || E-Books || New Titles || Home Page || E-Books ||

Copyright 2026 Iberian Publishing Company

Iberian Publishing Company's On-Line Catalog: Northumberland County Virginia

Iberian Publishing Company's On-Line Catalog:
Northumberland County Virginia