Lists about 2500 books found in major libraries throughout the U. S. containing genealogies of families from Virginia and West Virginia. The books listed deal with families of Virginia origins but often follow their descendants far and wide across the continent. Each book is listed under the surname of the primary Virginia family covered in it. Many of the titles listed deal with several families, not all of which may have Virginia roots. Citations to all these allied families are listed in a cross-reference table, regardless of the geographic focus of the family, making this bibliography of use to researchers with interests outside Virginia also.

From Tyler's quarterly historical and genealogical magazine.

In 1992, following the publication of her award-winning book of the same name, Virginia Hutcheson Davis launched Tidewater Virginia Families: A Magazine of History and Genealogy. Devoted to new research and information concerning Tidewater Virginia, Mrs. Davis' periodical would focus on Tidewater counties lying north of the James River, namely, Caroline, Charles City, Elizabeth City, Essex, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northumberland, Richmond, Warwick, Westmoreland, and York. Cognizant of the number of tidewater counties that have lost their records to courthouse fires, war, and the ravages of time, Virginia Davis started her quarterly magazine in order to preserve or make accessible any number of records that had never before been published. Now in its sixth year of publication, Tidewater Virginia Families is widely recognized as the best new source of valuable genealogical findings for Virginia's oldest area of settlement. Each volume is perfect bound and contains complete name indexes to the contents of all four issues. The five volumes range over Bible records, lists of marriages, abstracts of deeds and wills, military records, tax records and tithables, guardianship records, parish registers, tombstone inscriptions, and so on. Mrs. Davis has also sprinkled the magazine with a variety of methodological essays germaine to the Tidewater region, including tracing Virginia ancestors, county and parish formation, records pertaining to "burned counties," vital statistics, map collections, and places of note. Finally, each of the following families is featured in the tables of contents to the first twenty issues of the magazine: Alford, Blakey, Bland, Bradway, Broche, Brown, Burruss, Butler, Byrom, Carr, Carter, Catesby, Cathon, Catlett, Chiles, Clements, Cock, Cole, Downer, Drake, Dunbar, Eubank, Faulkner, Garrett, Hargrave, Harrison, Herring, Higby, Hill, Hockaday, Howerton, Hubbard, Hudgins, Jones, Ladd, Latham, Lewis, Lumpkin, McAdam, Macon, Medlicott, Morris, Moseley, Munday, Page, Parrish, Rogers, Ross, Sanders, Shadwick, Spiller, Stiff, Taylor, Utie-Otey, Vaughan, Walden, Washington, Watkins, Williams, and Winston.

Fothergill's work improves upon William A. Crozier's efforts for Westmoreland County by including abstracts of wills of one entire volume (1665-77) omitted by Crozier, and extending Crozier's period of coverage (in Virginia County Records, New Series, Vol. I) by six years to 1800. About 8,000 related individuals are mentioned in 1,200 will abstracts, which typically give the name of the decedent, dates of recording and probate, heirs, executors, and, sometimes, the place of residence. Crucial for anyone doing research in Westmoreland County.