“The Coat and Breeches that I am now Wearing.”

Around the year 1826, the Virginia State Library and Archives (now Library of Virginia) began collecting transcriptions of original papers in the Public Records Office in London due to record loss in early colonial Virginia. Much later, under supervision of the Carnegie Mellon Institution, several historians were tasked to create a calendar of transcripts of Virginia-related records on file in that office, now known commonly as The National Archives, United Kingdom (UK). Approximately 38 volumes covering the years 1606-1772 were abstracted and transcribed. Topics concerned the Virginia boundary with North Carolina, various Journals of the Council, petitions to the House of Lords, business records, and letters of note. The Virginia State Library then published this report as The Virginia State Library Calendar of Transcripts, 1905. The transcripts remain a valuable tool in the study of early Virginia and may be found in the Library of Virginia’s Record Group 35. Many of the transcribed records are now found within the Virginia Colonial Records Project collection, making them valuable to researchers.

The Virginia Colonial Records Project was established to rebuild Virginia’s archived collection of colonial history. In the years between 1955 and 1985, project specialists from some of Virginia’s historical centers, like the Virginia State Library, visited more than one hundred libraries and archives in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France to review their Virginia-related documents. Survey reports were written of the findings. This collection consists of over 14,000 survey reports. In some cases, the project specialists retained permission to have the surveyed documents duplicated for reference use. The survey reports and some corresponding documents are available on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. The Library of Virginia’s catalog also houses a Virginia Colonial Records database that provides a digital version of the survey reports.

Records pertaining to Virginians include correspondence, business records, British merchants’ claims, ships’ cargo lists, Loyalists’ claims, depositions, some wills, and British chancery proceedings, etc. In many cases, this collection may be used for genealogical research.

In researching Mordecai Cooke of Gloucester County, a chance search of the Virginia Records Project resulted in the will of Joseph Hayes of Ware Parish, Gloucester County, Virginia. According to the Survey Report of the will, my several-times-great-grandfather, Mordecai Cooke, was named one of two trustees of his will. Listed as Joseph Hayes’s friends, James Taylor and Mordecai Cooke were tasked with settling Joseph Hayes’s accounts in Virginia. Apparently, Joseph Hayes had returned to London. Hayes’s wife Anna and his son William were both executors of the estate and the prime recipients of the estate. Three others, seemingly unrelated to the deceased, but still recognized in the will, were also recipients of a portion of Joseph Hayes’s estate. James Taylor inherited a suit of clothing, a hat, and stockings, while Sarah Collier inherited a cow and calf. Lastly, John Greene, not to be forgotten, inherited Joseph Hayes’s coat and breeches. What is fascinating about the mention of John Greene and his inheritance is the detailed description of what he is receiving. The will states, “the coat and breeches I am now wearing.” There you have it, not one portion of Joseph Hayes’ estate was squandered.

In the case of the will of Joseph Hayes, the Library of Virginia only holds the survey report documenting the existence of a will. To find the original will, I looked towards the National Archives United Kingdom’s website. Once on the website, I conducted a simple search for the will. The will appeared in my search results, and I was able to review it, as well as purchase a copy. Below you will find the copy.

The Virginia Colonial Records Project became a colossal undertaking in the years of 1955 to 1985. Thanks to that effort Virginia has a vast collection of survey reports and colonial records on hand for Virginia researchers. The Virginia Colonial Records Project was not given copy rights from some repositories in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the Library is unable to provide copies of the documents on microfilm. Contact the repository holding the original document to order copies.

It should also be mentioned that this project in conjunction with the National Archives United Kingdom helped bridge a gap in the early colonial records for Virginians researching their families from across the Atlantic.