election registration

[boscoe]

In the 1870s, if one registered to vote, how long did that registration last before being officially eliminated? This person moved to Battersea sometime between 1873-1881 and registered to vote.
[Electoral Registers, Surrey, England, 1832-1962] has him registered in Battersea in 1881. The 1881 Census had him living in Southampton in 1881, as he does until his death in 1890. That is, could he have registered in the 1870s and still be left on the records not removed by 1881?

[KGarrad]

Electoral Registers were compiled annually from 1832.

Because of the time taken to (manually) produce these registers, they were usually a year out of date?

[boscoe]

Is it possible to be three years out of date? Name cited: Portsmouth, Evening News, May 11, 1878.

I recognize that I am asking for a personal opinion and not a legal opinion.
And, many thanks for your kind assistance.

[KGarrad]

You have to look at who was entitled to vote, and why, and on which Electoral Register they were.
And also whether he was a Borough voter or a County voter.

The Representation of the People Act 1832 introduced certain rules. In the case of Borough voters, men were eligible to vote if they were owners of property worth £10 a year. In the case of County voters, men were eligible if they either owned freehold property worth 40 shillings a year, were £10 copyholders (holding land from a manor), £10 leaseholders (as long as the lease was for 60 years or more) or were £50 tenants.

The 1867 Representation of the People Act extended the right to vote for borough voters to include all men who were owners or tenants of any dwelling house or were lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms, as long as they had been within the borough during the whole of the preceding twelve months. This extended the vote to about 1.5 million men.

I believe it was possible to be on an Electoral Register on the basis of owning property, and on another Electoral Register on the basis of residency?

You need to study the Electoral Registers, and take note of ALL the information it contains.

[rosie99]

This person moved to Battersea sometime between 1873-1881 and registered to vote.
[Electoral Registers, Surrey, England, 1832-1962] has him registered in Battersea in 1881.

Codes alongside the entry sometimes give a clue as to their eligibility - who are you referring to 

[boscoe]

Israel Wickens at 112 Grant Road [is the citation sent to me].
Since he worked as a rail guard, is Grant near Clapham Junction?

[rosie99]

Since he worked as a rail guard, is Grant near Clapham Junction?

Online Maps show Grant Road is right next to Clapham Junction

[rosie99]

He appears to live close to work.  In 1871 he was close to Kingston Station.

The 1881 electoral register for Grant Road where he is showing covered the period 31 December 1880 to 1st January 1882.  This register would have been compiled in the months leading up to 31 December 1880.  The 1881 Southampton census would have been where he was resident 30th March 1881.  He appears to have moved late 1880/early 1881 unless you have found registers in Battersea after this date. 

Until recently English registers were compiled from information gathered in September /October and valid from the following February.  Nowadays they can be amended throughout the year though still canvassed around September

[boscoe]

Many thanks for your help. My correspondent sent me a copy of the register and says Israel was absent in 1880 and 1882 as "occupation of tenement." I just wonder if he was in Grant St. for only a few months. Newly married [1866], by 1867-8 he lived about 2 blocks away from the station [my 1985 walk] in Kingston  as a "guard," undefined, 1871. I suspect a station goods guard. Next, he's in Southampton in 1881. I'm trying to figure out when he moved. Three facts: his son's 2-year photo was made in Battersea, meaning 1874. L&SW purchased the Southampton docks in 1775. Now, new, his 1880 voting registration. BUT...he gives court testimony [The Evening News, Southampton, May 11, 1778] about the Bishopstoke-to-Portsmouth train run as a "train guard."
Rosie, is there anything for Kingston like I found once in Southampton City Library, called: Kelly, Directory of Southampton, 1850-1974? He was there yearly from 1881 onward.