Electoral Rolls

[hencarrai]

Hi,
were Electoral Rolls taken every year?
Were they taken at the same time of year?
Thanks for any help.

[CaroleW]

From Google

When were electoral registers taken?

Electoral registration was introduced by the Reform Act of 1832 and, since then, electoral registers have been compiled annually with the exception of the years 1916, 1917 and 1940 to 1944 when none was produced.

Also

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/electoral-register/

[phil57]

I have copies of spring and autumn registers between 1919 and 1927 for several of my ancestors. A quick google shows that, "Registers between 1918 and 1926 were compiled in Spring and Autumn of each year. Annual registers were resumed under the Economy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1926 (16 and 17 George 5, c9)", although interesting that the quote from Surrey FHS indicates a one year discrepancy at each end of that period?

[arthurk]

The answers to most questions about electoral registers can be found in the British Library's guide "Parliamentary Constituencies and their Registers since 1832" at

https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/britishlibrary/~/media/3c326fc08bb243cc8703e860bba11f28.ashx

(NB - this is a link to a pdf file which will open/download straight away)

[california dreamin]

Hi,
were Electoral Rolls taken every year?
Were they taken at the same time of year?
Thanks for any help.

Not a straightforward question to answer I feel. You had to qualify in order to vote (and therefore register to vote) and the criteria changed over time (for example the 1928 Representation of the People Act) and voter registration was suspended during both World Wars.  There were also local elections vs parliamentary elections. You may have qualified to vote in one but maybe not the other.

Did you maybe have a specific question?

CD

[David Outner]

As CD points out, the parliamentary electoral rolls were not the only ones. Both location and the period need to be considered. In towns after the Reform Act 1832 and the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 the qualifications for registration were different.  In my home town most of the local voters on the "burgess rolls" could not qualify for parliamentary voting and some of the parliamentary voters were not qualified for local voting.  Over the years there were various changes eg unmarried women could vote in local elections from 1869, but not in parliamentary elections.