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I posted here a few weeks ago about using the Electoral Registers to keep track of some distant relatives I am researching, a couple, that moved around the south of England reasonably regularly during the the 1920s-1940s.  I've now been looking closely at their entry in the 1939 Register and would be interested in advice on whether there is perhaps another clue to be found there.

Broadly, drawing on the Electoral Registers, I know that they were in London till the mid-1920s, and that they then moved to Henley-on-Thames until at least the early 1930s.  I lose them for a while then until they appear in Folkestone in 1936.  They are still in Folkestone at the time of the 1939 Register.  Then I lose track of them again until they re-appear in Henley in 1948.  Per the Electoral Registers, they are not in Folkestone in 1945 or the following couple of years.  (In fact, it is quite plausible that they may have been evacuated from Folkestone when the area was bombed in the early years of the War as they would have been in their mid-60s by this time.)

The relevant part of their entry in the 1939 Register should be in this post (I hope).



I know that the Register was used for many years after the end of National Registration in 1952 for NHS purposes, being updated for changes of name and moves to new areas etc.  The NHS link and their move to Henley in 1948 is borne out by the annotation at the right hand side of the entry where there is a correction to the birth date and the further addition 'DYD 29-6-48'.  DYD is the 1939 Register Area Code for Henley, and I assume the date is when my relative registered for the about to be launched NHS.  The opportunity was clearly taken to correct her date of birth, and all of this annotation is clearly in the same handwriting and almost certainly entered at the same time.

Moving back to the left though, there is another annotation, this time clearly in a different handwriting.  My relative's middle name has been added to her original entry in the 1939 Register, and there is a further short entry, commencing with 'E' sitting above 'Louise'.  The FindMyPast transcriber has interpreted this to mean that her forenames are 'Emily Louise Ella', but I am wondering if this annotation sitting above Louise' is in fact another 1939 Register Area Code.

I understand that while National Registration was in force - up until 1952 - it was a legal requirement to notify the registration authorities of any change of name or address.  I know that the couple were in Henley in 1948 (and well into the 1950s), so if this annotation is a 'change of area' entry by the authorities, it will certainly pre-date 1948 and the introduction of the NHS in that year, and would be a product of National Registration processes.

So I wonder if there was indeed a process of the 1939 Register being kept up to date, pre-NHS, when a person changed address. As far as I know, pre-NHS change of address records that would have been reflected in National Registration Identity Cards have not survived, and the specific address has not been changed here, but is it plausible that the authorities have updated the Register to reflect a new area to which they have moved? 

And would this have happened only during the War, or possibly afterwards as well, while National Registration remained in place.  Or could this annotation reflect something else entirely?  (I do know that my relative's middle name was not Ella!)

If the annotation is a 1939 Register three digit area code, the next question is what is the code.  This is possibly a contender for the Handwriting, Deciphering and Recognition part of the Forum, but having regard to the Area Code lists here:

https://www.findmypast.com.au/articles/1939-register-enumeration-districts

my best guess is that the entry reads 'EHA', which would place them in Eastbourne in the East Sussex Enumeration District.  But I may be misreading this - it is certainly not the clearest handwriting.

Any advice on the likelihood of this being a 1939 Register pre-NHS change of Area Code entry would be appreciated, as well as suggestions on whether I have the 'EHA' correct? 

And though I may have a slim chance of ever seeing it, is it likely that there could be additional information in the so-called 'postings column' - the right hand side of the double page 1939 Register entry (not digitised by FindMyPast).

Cheers

Thank you, that makes it clear.  In my example, the qualifying date for the 1905 Electoral Register is therefore 31 July 1905.

The only instance I know for sure was in France just prior to World War I.  No knowledge of any imprisonment in the 20s and 30s - and I have looked pretty thoroughly - but not impossible by any means. 

I'm making use of UK Electoral Registers from the 1920s-1940s to keep track of some distant relatives, a couple, that I am researching. They moved around the south of England reasonably regularly over this period, in part because the husband regularly came to police attention (he was a low level con man).  They also varied their name from time to time, no doubt in an attempt to keep ahead of the authorities.

What is notable is that the wife appears without fail in the Electoral Registers right throughout this period, albeit under different names from time to time, but the husband appears only sporadically.  I am trying to establish how best to interpret this.

I know that voting is not compulsory in the UK, but am I right to think - in this period at least, the 1920s-1940s - that registering to vote was also not compulsory?  I'd be interested to know more of the precise process for registering to vote at this time.  Was it the responsibility of the individual to take the initiative and make themselves known to the relevant local authority to register, or was it the responsibility of the local authority to follow up with people who they were aware - perhaps through rates or rent books - were residing in the area but were not on the register?

Also, in this period, was there a fixed cut off point in the calendar to appear in the Electoral Register for the following year - that is, if you were going to appear in the Register for 1931, was there a fixed point in late-ish 1930 by which time you had to have registered?

If registering was not compulsory, and only at the initiative of the would-be voter, then the fellow I am researching may well have been typically residing with his wife, but choosing to stay off the register most of the time in the interests of keeping a low profile.  However, if the process was one where the local authority would follow up with individuals to ensure that they were registered, this makes it more likely that he was living apart from his wife more often than not.  Certainly, in his 'line of work', there were periods where he travelled frequently and I would imagine that he could be away for relatively extended periods plying his trade.

The exact process and requirements for registration should provide some insight into his possible movements over this period.  I'd be most appreciative of any advice on these processes and timings.

Thanks
Peter

Thanks to everyone for your advice, information and assistance.

I called the Evergreen Cemetery this morning and they will get back to me if the maiden name information is included with the burial record of Mary E. Rogers.  If not, I will order the Marriage Certificate for her son Ernest and hopefully the information will be there.

With processing and shipping time, it is likely to be quite a few weeks before I would see a Certificate, so fingers crossed that the burial record from 1906 might do the trick.  I will post on here the outcome of my quest regardless.

And, while not essential to the information I am seeking, if anyone could solve the mystery of what became of Mary's ex-husband, the blacksmith Joseph Howe Rogers who simply disappears from history after a newspaper reference to 'making considerable money in the North' in September 1906, that would be good to know too.

Many thanks