find_your_uk_ancestors_with_electoral_rolls_bespoke_genealogy

Electoral registers, commonly known as electoral rolls can be very useful in helping you find where your UK ancestors lived, especially in the early 20th Century, between the 1911 census and the 1939 register. More indexed records are appearing online now and this will only increase in the coming years. This post is a roundup of which electoral rolls are available and where. It also looks at the earlier poll books which can be useful for finding your property owning UK ancestors.

Poll Books

Poll books were introduced in Britain in 1696 by act of Parliament as a measure to minimize voter fraud. Local sheriffs would make a list of voters in his area and would also record the candidate that he voted for. These lists were often published as books and often contained other details about the voter such as address, occupation and qualifications to vote. Only property owners could vote until voting rights were extended in the second half of the 19th Century. Therefore these books only contain details of a small minority of the population.

Poll books remained in use until the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872.

Many poll books have survived and some have been digitized and are available online. A list of free online poll books can be found on the electoralregisters.org.uk website.

Some poll books are also available on the subscription sites as follows:

The Genealogist has the following poll books:

  • Bath 1855, 1857
  • Bristol 1830
  • East Kent 1868
  • Kent 1832
  • Leeds 1868
  • Lindsey, Lincolnshire 1841
  • London 1768, 1849
  • London, Westminster 1774, 1818, 1841
  • Monmouth 1852
  • Norfolk 1768, 1806, 1817
  • Norfolk East 1865
  • Northampton 1831
  • Northamptonshire 1702-1831
  • Northumberland 1826, 1832
  • Northumberland Northern Division 1841
  • Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1774
  • Suffolk 1710, 1790
  • Suffolk Eastern Division 1832
  • Sussex 1820
  • Yorkshire 1741, 1807
  • Yorkshire West Riding 1835
  • York 1868

FindMyPast has these poll books available:

  • Bath Reform 1832-1837
  • Bedfordshire 1832
  • Bristol 1830
  • Buckinghamshire 1831
  • Cambridge University 1831
  • Cambridgeshire 1830, 1832
  • Canterbury Burgesses 1835
  • Colchester 1830
  • Derbyshire North 1832
  • Derbyshire South 1832
  • Dorset 1831
  • Durham City 1832
  • Durham North 1832
  • Hereford City 1835
  • Hertford 1835
  • Rochester, Kent 1830
  • Shrewsbury 1835
  • Truro 1832
  • Wallingford 1832

Ancestry UK has the following:

  • Bristol 1812, 1830
  • Lincolnshire 1818
  • Norfolk 1768
  • Norwich 1818
  • Tewkesbury 1832, 1835
  • Westmorland 1820

Electoral Rolls

Registers of voters, commonly known as electoral rolls, were mandatory in the UK after the Reform Act of 1832. The electoral rolls have usually been published every year since then, apart from the war years. At first, it was only a small proportion of the adult population who appeared on the rolls as only property owning males were eligible to vote. The voting franchise was gradually extended, and by 1867, working class male householders who lived in cities were able to vote. This was extended to rural areas in 1884. In 1918, all males aged 21 and over as well as women 30 and over were eligible to vote. From 1928, women aged 21 could vote.

Most registers will have the names and addresses of listed voters

Online electoral rolls   

Here is a roundup of electoral rolls available online.

Family Search has these free collections:

  • Cheshire 1842-1900
  • London 1847-1913
  • Norfolk 1832-1915

The subscription sites have the following collections:

FindMyPast have the largest online collection of British electoral rolls as they worked with the British Library to digitize their collection of registers from 1832 to 1932. This collection is pretty comprehensive and there is good UK coverage, although there are some gaps, especially before 1885. The best years for coverage of most counties are between 1885 and 1915. There are more gaps after 1918.

In addition to the British Library collection, FMP also has the following sets available to subscribers:

  • Cheshire 1842-1900
  • Devon 1780-1973
  • Hampshire 1835-1873
  • Leicestershire 1836-1970
  • Linlithgowshire (West Lothian) 1864-1931
  • Manchester 1832-1900
  • Monmouthshire 1832-1889
  • Norfolk 1832-1915
  • Somerset 1832-1914

The Genealogist has a number of sets:

  • Devon, South 1865-1869
  • Dorset, Absent Voters 1918-1919
  • Stroud 1939
  • Winchester 1929, 1931, 1934, 1939
  • Hereford 1936
  • East Barnet 1937
  • Maidstone 1891, 1905
  • City of London 1877, 1894-1895
  • Somerset, East 1832
  • Somerset, West 1832
  • Swindon 1915
  • Worcestershire, West 1832-1833
  • Wakefield 1832, 1834, 1835, 1840, 1846, 1847, 1849-56, 1911-18, 1919

Ancestry UK has the following sets:

  • Liverpool 1832-1970
  • Edinburgh 1832-1966
  • Berkshire 1840-1965
  • Fife 1914-1966
  • Anglesey 1832-1986
  • Bedfordshire 1832-1986
  • Swansea 1839-1966
  • Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1741-1974
  • Glasgow 1857-1962
  • Bexley 1734-1965
  • Gloucestershire 1832-1974
  • Sutton 1931-1970
  • Perth and Kinross 1832-1961
  • Surrey 1832-1962
  • West Yorkshire 1840-1962
  • Midlands 1832-1955
  • Dorset 1839-1922
  • London 1832-1965

Physical Records

The British Library holds electoral rolls for most of the UK. The collection is most complete for the years from 1947. Check the guide on the BL website here for more details.

Most local archives hold electoral rolls for their respective counties. See my Parish Register and Archive Guides to find links to the archive websites to get more details for specific counties. Click on the following links to see the guides:

Happy researching!

You may find these genealogy books helpful:

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Find your British Roots with Electoral Records. Bespoke Genealogy
Use Electoral Rolls to find your British Ancestors. Bespoke Genealogy
Discover your British Roots with Electoral Rolls. Bespoke Genealogy
Where to find British electoral records. Bespoke Genealogy
Where to find UK Poll Books. Bespoke Genealogy
Find your British ancestors with voting records. Bespoke Genealogy
Using Electoral Records for British Genealogy. Bespoke Genealogy
Discover electoral records for British genealogy. Photo of 2 nurses voting at the Holborn polling station, London in the 1945 general election.