Richmond County, Virginia was formed from a part of Old Rappahannock County in 1692 and was itself the parent of King George County. Although created eight years before the turn of the century, Richmond County wills are extant only from 1699, but the compiler of this useful work has bridged the gap by substituting information from Order Books, 1692-1699, thereby extending the possibilities for genealogical enquiry. The entries, which consist mainly of abstracts of wills and inventories and refer to about 8,000 persons, are arranged throughout the work in chronological order. Each will abstract contains the name of the testator, often his parish of residence, the date the will was written and the date it was proved, the names of legatees, executors and witnesses, and a variety of other matter supplied by the compiler himself from independent sources. The basic source for genealogical research in Richmond County, Virginia!