Researching your ancestors from Great Britain and Ireland

A guide to researching your ancestors in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, using resources at State Library Victoria.

Introduction

Poll books were first introduced in 1694 and usually contained the names of electors, their residence, their entitlement to vote (mainly freemen and freeholders) and the names of the candidates they voted for. The books were publicly available, a practice which continued until 1872 when a secret ballot was introduced.

Electoral registers were introduced following the 1832 Reform Act, but only a limited number of men had the right to vote. By 1918 all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 were entitled to vote. Not until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 was passed, did all men and women obtain the right to vote.

Where to find records

The British Library holds the national collection of electoral registers from 1832 to the present day, however the collection is only complete from 1947 onwards.

The content, arrangement and availability of the registers varies greatly so for detailed information please consult the following guides to the British Library's holdings.

In 2015 the British Library and FindMyPast digitised the existing England and Wales Electoral Registers from 1832-1932 and made them available on the FindMyPast database. See below for further information.

Surviving historical registers from 1832 onwards are also held in county archive offices. Use the GOV.UK site to find a local council. Large collections of poll books are also held in the British Library, the Guildhall Library, the Society of Genealogists and the Bodleian Library.

Access from home

electoralregisters.org.uk
A number of poll books are available online through this website.
Freeholders' records
For Ireland use the Freeholders' records - available from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Freeholders' records lists of people entitled to vote, or of people who voted, at elections. A freeholder was a man who owned his land outright (in fee) or who held it by lease which could be for one or more lives (for example, his own life or for the lives of other people named in the lease).

Access in the Library

Ancestry Library Edition
Database includes:
- UK, Electoral Registers, 2011-2018
- UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010
- London, England, electoral registers, 1832-1965
- Westminster, London, England, Electoral Registers, 1902-1970
- UK, Absent Voter Lists, 1918-1925, 1939
- UK, poll books and electoral registers, 1538-1893
- Individual collections of county electoral registers
FindMyPast
Database includes:
- UK electoral registers 2002-2014
- England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1832-1932. Over 220 million names of voters listed. Search the records by personal name, polling district, county and constituency, as well as by keyword search.
- England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1832-1932 Image Browse. Browse through thousands of pages of electoral registers from the British Library. The registers include all of England and Wales. The collection includes parliamentary registers, burgess rolls, parochial registers and county council registers.
- Britain, Absent Voters Lists 1918-1921
- England, Pollbooks and Directories 1830-1837
- small collections of county electoral registers.

Further information

Electoral registers 1832-1948; and Burgess rolls: a directory to holdings in Great Britain by Jeremy Gibson. Call number G 941 G358E
Poll books 1696-1872: a directory to holdings in Great Britain by Jeremy Gibson and Colin Rogers. Call number G 941 G358P (2008)

A seaside scene

[Very crowded beach, possibly Blackpool, England], H86.108/151