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.
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.
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.