This is a backup copy of the West Yorkshire Archive Service's "Off the Record" wiki from 2015. Editing and account creation are disabled.
The WYAS: Wakefield holds a set of electoral registers for the County Parliamentary Constituencies, these Constituencies are listed in the table below. Wakefield is the only Constituency that continues to deposit electoral registers each year.
The Borough Parliamentary Constituencies compiled their own electoral registers which were known as Burgess Rolls; we therefore do not hold records of places within the following Boroughs pre 1965:
- Barnsley
- Batley & Morley
- Bradford
- Dewsbury
- Halifax
- Huddersfield
- Leeds
- Rotherham
- Sheffield
- Wakefield
A list of Borough electoral registers available at other organisations is available here.
However, WYAS: Wakefield does hold a series of Borough Constituency electoral registers from 1965 to 1974 following reorganisation when these Constituencies were abolished and the whole of the the county of West Yorkshire was organised into one parliamentary electoral system. These former Boroughs from 1965 are also included in the list of divisions in the table below.
Following the Representation of the People Act c1948 some County Constituencies eg. Keighley became Borough Constituencies, meaning the series of electoral registers held by WYAS: Wakefield stops in 1949 but resumes again in 1965.
A note on electoral registers around the First and Second World Wars
There were no electoral registers compiled during either World War I or World War II, therefore registers did not exist between 1916-1917 and 1940-1944.
The County Constituency electoral registers held by WYAS: Wakefield usually record an 'A' by absent voters, signifying men who were away serving in the forces but were still eligible to vote at home. These County registers do not provide regimental details or service numbers like the official Absent Voters List. A separate Absent Voters List for the years 1937, 1938 and 1939 is available at WYAS: Wakefield (ref. WYAS934). See here for more information about Absent Voters.
Electoral Registers held by WYAS: Wakefield:
Includes County Parliamentary Constituencies of the West Riding from 1840 and West Yorkshire Constituencies from 1965-1974.
Click on the name of each Constituency to see what records we hold for that Division and the relevant document reference number. You may also find it helpful to check the Polling Districts within a Constituency to find out which Polling District a township appears in at certain dates; this will make it easier when searching through the electoral registers.
Constituency
|
Date
|
Polling Districts within this Constituency between these dates
|
Barkston Ash |
1886-1983 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1950-1974, 1975-1983
|
Barnsley |
1886-1973 |
1886-1915, 1965-1973
|
Batley & Morley |
1965-1983 |
1965-1983
|
Batley & Spen |
1984-1985 |
1984-1985
|
Bradford |
1965-1970 |
1965-1970
|
Bradford North |
1971-1985 |
1971-1985
|
Bradford South |
1971-1985 |
1971-1985
|
Bradford West |
1971-1985 |
1971-1985
|
Brighouse & Spenborough |
1965-1983 |
1965-1983
|
Calder Valley |
1984-1985 |
1984-1985
|
Colne Valley |
1886-1985 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1950-1954, 1955-1974, 1975-1985
|
Dearne Valley |
1949-1974 |
1949-1974
|
Dewsbury |
1965-1985 |
1965-1985
|
Doncaster |
1886-1973 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1965-1973
|
Don Valley |
1918-1974 |
1918-1949, 1950-1974
|
Elland |
1886-1948 |
1886-1920, 1921-1948
|
Elmet |
1984-1985 |
1984-1985
|
Goole |
1949-1983 |
1949-1974, 1975-1983
|
Halifax |
1965-1985 |
1965-1985
|
Hallamshire |
1886-1915 |
1886-1915
|
Harrogate |
1949-1974 |
1949-1974
|
Hemsworth |
1918-2003 |
1918-1949, 1950-1974, 1975-2003
|
Holmfirth |
1886-1915 |
1886-1915
|
Huddersfield |
1965-1985 |
(see Huddersfield East and West - below)
|
Huddersfield East |
1969-1983 |
1965-1985
|
Huddersfield West |
1969-1983 |
1965-1985
|
Keighley |
1886-1985 |
1886-1920, 1921-1948, 1965-1985
|
Leeds |
1965-1969 |
1965-1969
|
Leeds East |
1970-1985 |
1970-1983, 1984-1985
|
Leeds North-East |
1970-1985 |
1970-1983, 1984-1985
|
Leeds North-West |
1970-1985 |
1970-1983, 1984-1985
|
Leeds South |
1970-1983 |
1970-1983
|
Leeds South-East |
1970-1983 |
1970-1983
|
Leeds West |
1970-1985 |
1970-1983, 1984-1985
|
Leeds Central |
1984-1985 |
1984-1985
|
Morley |
1886-1915 |
1886-1915
|
Morley & Leeds South |
1984-1985 |
1984-1985
|
Normanton |
1886-2003 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1950-1974, 1975-1985, 1987-2003
|
Osgoldcross |
1886-1915 |
1886-1915
|
Otley |
1886-1915 |
1886-1915
|
Penistone |
1918-1974 |
1918-1949, 1950-1974
|
Pontefract |
1918-1970 |
1918-1938, 1939-1949, 1965-1970
|
Pontefract & Castleford |
1971-2003 |
1971-1973, 1974-1978, 1979-1981, 1982-2003
|
Pudsey |
1886-1985 |
1886-1915, 1965-1985
|
Pudsey & Otley |
1918-1948 |
1918-1948
|
Ripon |
1886-1983 |
1886-1920, 1921-1948, 1949-1974, 1975-1983
|
Rotherham |
1886-1973 |
1886-1915, 1965-1973
|
Rother Valley |
1918-1974 |
1918-1949, 1950-1974
|
Rothwell |
1918-1948 |
1918-1948
|
Sheffield |
1965-1970 |
Division 1 1965, 1967-1970; Division 2 1965, 1967-1970
|
Sheffield Attercliffe |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Sheffield Brightside |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Sheffield Hallam |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Sheffield Heeley |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Sheffield Hillsborough |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Sheffield Park |
1971-1973 |
1971-1973
|
Shipley |
1886-1985 |
1886-1920, 1921-1974, 1975-1985
|
Skipton |
1886-1982 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1950-1974, 1975-1982
|
Sowerby |
1886-1983 |
1886-1920, 1921-1949, 1950-1974, 1975-1983
|
Spen Valley |
1886-1948 |
1886-1920, 1921-1948
|
Wakefield |
1965-to present |
1965-1972, 1973-1982, 1983-2001, 2002-to present
|
Wentworth |
1918-1948 |
1919-1948
|
West Riding |
1840-1865 |
Includes all places in West Riding excluding boroughs
|
West Riding East |
1869-1885 |
1868-1870,1871-1885
|
West Riding North |
1862-1885 |
1868-1870, 1871-1885
|
West Riding South |
1862-1885 |
1868-1870, 1871-1885
|