Electoral registers

These census substitutes, published yearly, provide another way of pinpointing family

Almost everyone over the age of 18 can vote in Britain today, but things were very different for our ancestors. As far back as 1432, voting was determined by the property you owned or rented, leaving the poor disenfranchised. It wasn’t until 1918 that all men over 21 were given the right to vote, along with some women over 30.

The London Metropolitan Archives’ ( LMA) collection of poll books and various electoral lists on Ancestry.co.uk covers a 355-year period. Importantly, among these are electoral registers spanning the period from 1832 to 1965. These give a full list of those eligible to vote in elections, and were published at least once a year – apart from during the wars.

Various pieces of legislation allowed more and more people to vote, culminating in both men and women over the age of 21 being given the right to vote in 1928, so from this point these registers act as census substitutes, providing full lists of adults in an area. Though they don’t include as much information as censuses, the basic details of name and abode will help you to keep an eye on your family each year. Prime Minister Clement Attlee appears in the electoral records from 1910, showing his constituencies and changes of address as he moves from 36 Durham Row in Limehouse in 1910 to 10 Downing Street after he was elected in 1945. Unlike in poll books, we can’t see who he voted for, but we’re guessing it was the Labour candidate!