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How Do you Search Electoral Rolls?

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  • How Do you Search Electoral Rolls?

    How can I - or anyone - find details of recent electoral rolls in South West Surrey?

    I'm trying to help a friend in Canada with her research, as she's been of such huge help to me. She's looking for possible living relatives for her mother, and has traced someone with an unusual first name who married in 1944. She's discovered from people on GR (not sure how, as this lady may, she hopes, still be living!) that this unusual name appears a handful of times in the latest electoral rolls, and she wants to know how she/we can search the rolls in likely areas.

    I haven't a clue myself - never ventured in the ER direction - but I know someone on here will be able to help. Pretty please!

    I can PM with more details if you like. Or am I allowed to post a first name of someone living?

    Bee.
    Bee~~~fuddled.

    Searching for BANKS, MILLER, MOULTON from Lancs and Cheshire; COX from Staffordshire and Birmingham;
    COX, HALL, LAMBDEN, WYNN, from Hants and Berks; SYMES (my mystery g'father!) from anywhere near Bournemouth.

  • #2
    Before computerisation - which I think came early this century - the only way to search was to go to the relevant library and look up the street. Electors are listed by ward, and within in that by street. There is no name index, so unless they only moved within a ward, it would be a very arduous process.
    If good street directories survive, that is a far better option to search. And then cross reference against electoral rolls.
    Phoenix - with charred feathers
    Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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    • #3
      Tracing electoral rolls in the war perod of 1939 to 1945 is almost impossible as there were no electoral rolls for this period of the war. However, after this period and prior to this period I have successfully traced electoral rolls via books or microfiche at local libraries. These rolls are sadly not yet on the internet as a national item like you would access one of the census. They are usually purely local, so it will mean going to a library local to the area of your interest and browsing though either books or fiche. If you are looking for just one person then a mail to the local library of interest will often help you out but you cannot expect them to do a lot of people in this manner as it does take time. Some libraries may also be prepared to do some research for you for which they might charge.

      One exception to E R on the internet is that Ancestry now has the rights to material from LMA and I am not sure if South West Surrey will come under this umbrella. Some of LMA's ER will be available online but do not think it is online at present, but someone with Ancestry and access to LMA will be able to help there.

      If online then only name will be needed to access but if in library then you will need to know address at which you are looking so you can plot the person backwards and forwards at that address until they disappear.

      Once they disappear from that address then you either need to know another address to be able to start again or be prepared to search for many days. I have never seen a name index while I have researched poll books in London and Plymouth and I have been searching these rolls all through the 1990's and into the 2000's. If the person you are looking for had a business then try the Trade Directories first to help with addresses. If addresses cross borders as they do in London then this can also be difficult. At the LMA I found electoral rolls in West Ham Middlesex but the rest of the road was in West Ham Essex which meant a trip to Chelmsford Essex!

      Janet
      Last edited by Janet; 08-05-09, 10:54.

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      • #4
        Thanks for your replies. It doesn't sound easy!

        I think she was hoping to work backwards from the most recent ER's, in the hope that this lady will still be alive, and living in the same area. But it sounds as if it could be difficult to search, either for her or for me.

        Bee.
        Bee~~~fuddled.

        Searching for BANKS, MILLER, MOULTON from Lancs and Cheshire; COX from Staffordshire and Birmingham;
        COX, HALL, LAMBDEN, WYNN, from Hants and Berks; SYMES (my mystery g'father!) from anywhere near Bournemouth.

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        • #5
          What about Phone Books, though phone ownership was quite restricted until the 1960s? I was able to trace a well-to-do family through phone ownership in the 1920s.
          Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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          • #6
            I think 192.com has a search available for electoral roles years 2000+ or somewhere around there. You can search area and name it will give you the names of the occupants the area, rough age as well. Think you have to pay for the full details though, probably worth a look

            Lynda

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            • #7
              Thanks - I'm feeding these suggestions back, but it looks as if we need to firm up the facts so we can narrow down the search options.

              But do keep the suggestions coming - she's a lot more savvy than I am about FH searching, so I'll feed back to her and wait to hear what she'd like me to look into.

              Bee.
              Bee~~~fuddled.

              Searching for BANKS, MILLER, MOULTON from Lancs and Cheshire; COX from Staffordshire and Birmingham;
              COX, HALL, LAMBDEN, WYNN, from Hants and Berks; SYMES (my mystery g'father!) from anywhere near Bournemouth.

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              • #8
                Yes, 192.com will be her best bet for searching. You can also search on findmypast but on there you have to pay even to search, whereas on 192 the search is free, you only pay to look at the full details for a match from the list.
                KiteRunner

                Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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                • #9
                  The only problem with recent ER's is that with 192.com, not everybody will be on there, as many people now sign the electoral register cards each year with a cross in the box, which denotes that person does not wish their name to be in a public area such as 192.com. I for one sign that box every year and have done so for many years and I know many people who sign this box.

                  Janet

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                  • #10
                    If you PM me the name, I'll have a look on my ER disks.
                    Hail Spode!

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                    • #11
                      If the person you are after has an unusual first name, have you also checked the post 1983 deaths on ancestry for the first name only? (In case she has died, but not with the surname you are expecting). Do you know when she was born?

                      Sorry to be negative!

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                      • #12
                        Hi Merry,

                        Yes, I'm not sure if she's checked this out - I've asked for more info.

                        Guybrush has sent me addresses of all the Adelenes in the last ER, so that'll keep us busy for a bit.

                        Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone - and of course to Guy!

                        Bee.
                        Bee~~~fuddled.

                        Searching for BANKS, MILLER, MOULTON from Lancs and Cheshire; COX from Staffordshire and Birmingham;
                        COX, HALL, LAMBDEN, WYNN, from Hants and Berks; SYMES (my mystery g'father!) from anywhere near Bournemouth.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          A technique to find new adresses after a name disappears on an ER is to use a trade directory side by side -most wer published yearly up till the 1970's.
                          In the trade directories you will get an alphabetical name index and a street index -some single women that were head of house are entered.

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