virginia: I am looking for the birth record information of an ancestor of mine, supposedly born in 1858 in Richmond Virginia. Does anyone know where I can find birth records/certificates of people in Virginia around this time? Or at least a place where I can ask if they even have the certificate before I pay?|||"A law requiring the systematic statewide recording of births and deaths was passed by the General Assembly on April 11 1853. Every commissioner of revenue registered births and deaths in his district annually and forwarded the information to the clerk of court, who then supplied the information to the state Auditor of Public Accounts. This law continued in effect until 1896. The Auditor turned the lists over to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 1918 and the registers were later transferred to the state archives. The Library of Virginia has copies of surviving birth and death records for the period 1853 to 1896 and marriage records prior to 1936." You will need to contact the Library of Virginia to inquire how to find a copy, if one exists. They are located in Richmond and is an awesome, awesome, awesome place to go do research. Been there a few times myself.|||You could post the name of your ancestor here and someone might come up with something. Are you trying to find your ancestor's parents? According the their site, they have some records back to 1853.