Britain and Ireland Electoral Registers

Do you find yourself wondering which of the Big Four large databases, Ancestry, FamilySearch,  Findmypast, MyHeritage, is best for the search you need?

In this post we’ll look at electoral registers. They help fill gaps between censuses, especially when a person moved house. Or they may not have moved, no longer appearing can be a clue they died.

Check out the table below that compiles data from the Big Four for the countries of the UK and Ireland to see where you might find anything to help your research.

Title Records Company
UNITED KINGDOM
UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors (1998-2021) 121,561,368 Findmypast
UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 65,218,347 Ancestry
UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 4,677,818 Ancestry
ENGLAND & WALES
London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 179,071,659 Ancestry
England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1910-1932 157,221,851 Findmypast
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962 46,743,829 Ancestry
Surrey, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1962 36,618,572 Ancestry
Glamorganshire, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1832-1978 35,226,372 Ancestry
Liverpool, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1970 32,578,653 Ancestry
Bedfordshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1986 17,982,265 Ancestry
Berkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1965 12,738,603 Ancestry
Gloucestershire, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1974 11,544,708 Ancestry
Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Electoral Registers, 1741-1974 10,239,239 Ancestry
Midlands, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 9,182,437 Ancestry
Worcestershire, England, Electoral Registers, 1837-1974 7,887,267 Ancestry
England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1832-1932 6,735,615 Findmypast
England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1832-1932 Image Browse 6,692,787 Findmypast
Cambridgeshire, England, Electoral Registers, Burgess Rolls and Poll Books, 1722-1966 6,234,037 Ancestry
Swansea and Surrounding Area, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1839-1966 5,918,713 Ancestry
Kent Electoral Registers 1570-1907 4,678,563 Findmypast
Norfolk Electoral Registers 1832-1915 4,557,907 Findmypast
England, Norfolk Register of Electors, 1844-1952 Images 4,557,906 MyHeritage
Sutton, Surrey, England, Electoral Registers, 1931-1970 3,823,324 Ancestry
Cheshire Electoral Registers (1832-1900) 3,784,694 Findmypast
Bexley, Kent, England, Electoral Registers, 1734-1965 3,753,187 Ancestry
Pembrokeshire, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1740-1978 3,432,144 Ancestry
Lancashire, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1935 3,146,854 Ancestry
Glamorganshire, West Glamorgan Electoral Registers 1839-1925 1,643,483 Findmypast
Anglesey, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1832-1977 1,602,837 Ancestry
Dorset, England, Electoral Registers, 1839-1922 1,584,958 Ancestry
Hampshire, Portsmouth Electoral Registers 1835-1873 198,310 Findmypast
Norfolk, Electoral Registers 1832-1915 Image Browse 161,799 Findmypast
Leicestershire Electoral Registers 1836-1970 Browse 115,295 Findmypast
Devon, Plymouth & West Devon Electoral Registers 1780-1973 74,093 Findmypast
England, Devon, Plymouth, Electoral Rolls, 1781-1973 57,142 FamilySearch
Wales, Monmouthshire Electoral Registers 1832-1889 54,032 Findmypast
Somerset Electoral Registers, 1832-1914 31,783 Findmypast
Manchester Electoral Registers Browse 1832-1900 23,298 Findmypast
Britain, Absent Voters Lists 1918-1921 22,827 Findmypast
Britain, Absent Voters Lists 1918-1921 Browse 19,311 Findmypast
Wales, Monmouthshire Electoral Registers 1832-1889 Image Browse 13,126 Findmypast
Kent, Bromley Absent Voters List 1918 9,165 Findmypast
SCOTLAND
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1857-1962 30,247,020 Ancestry
Edinburgh, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1832-1966 19,784,218 Ancestry
Aberdeen City and Former Counties of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1832-1976 14,346,425 Ancestry
Fife, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1914-1966 5,594,960 Ancestry
Scotland, Dundee & Forfarshire (Angus) Electoral Registers 1857-1939 3,750,727 Findmypast
Perth and Kinross, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1832-1961 2,477,867 Ancestry
Scotland, Linlithgowshire (West Lothian), Electoral Registers 1864-1931 1,050,793 Findmypast
North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1847-1969 714,769 Ancestry
Scotland, Linlithgowshire (West Lothian), Electoral Registers 1864-1931 Image Browse 23,469 Findmypast
Scotland, Ayrshire, Kilmarnock Voters Lists 1837-1852 2,110 Findmypast
IRELAND
Dublin Electoral Rolls 427,974 Findmypast
Ireland, Clare Electoral Registers 311,080 Findmypast
Ireland Electoral Registers, 1832 – 1838 Images 52,630 MyHeritage
Ireland, Electoral Registers 1885-1886 3,253 Findmypast
Ireland, Electoral Registers 1885-1886 Browse 3,253 Findmypast

Looking at the totals, Ancestry has 709 million records, but nothing for Ireland. Findmypast has 328 million including the 122 million records in the recent past UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors (1998-2021) collection. MyHeritage has 4.6 million, and it seems electoral registers are not a thing for FamilySearch.

TheGenealogist has many small databases for specific towns and single years.

If the online databases don’t help you’ve just confirmed that everything isn’t online.

 

2 Replies to “Britain and Ireland Electoral Registers”

  1. Just this week, the electoral registers for London, which I accessed through Ancestry, broke down a brick wall about a great aunt! I did not realize that electoral registers were not available for all parts of England.

  2. Electoral Registers are great when you find your ancestors in what ever dataset you are using. You can often follow them through a series of years. The problem is when you expect to find them but don’t. Often its a hole in the specific collection but you can’t tell if it is a hole in the collection (i.e. that part of the country not included – heaven forbid they would actually tell you that) or if your relative has moved or emigrated.

    Looking for couples in the register is a great way of coming up with street addresses to narrow down options for searching in the 1921 census.

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