Electoral Registers

Electoral registers are simply a list of people eligible to vote, either in county and/ or parliamentary elections. They generally provide the name of each elector (i.e. each person eligibile to vote), and an address that qualifys them the vote. Electoral registers are initially split into constituency divisions and then can be arranged either alphabetically by name of elector (this is common pre World War II) or by address (this is the usual format after 1945).

History of:

The Representation of the People Act 1832 required the quarter sessions Clerk of the Peace to compile a register of electors comprising those entitled to vote for members of parliament in the county constituency from the lists returned to him by revising barristers (ref. QE14). The first surviving registers for the West Riding date from 1840. Each entry gives the full name of the elector, place of abode, the nature of his qualification and details of the property that established his right to vote. These registers replaced the Land Tax returns which had previously been compiled.

Initially the right to vote was based on a property qualification. As only a small percentage of the population met this qualification very few people were eligible and so early electoral registers are much smaller than twentieth century ones and were compiled on a county basis. The first registers contain the whole of the West Riding arranged alphabetically by constituency over two volumes. The county was then split into the North and South divisions in 1862, until a third division, the Eastern (or Mid division) was created in 1867.

From 1868 the voters in each township were divided into two lists. The first contained owners of property of a value not less than £5 a year and owners of property leased for £50 or more a year. The second contained those newly-enfranchised by the Representation of the People Act of 1867 who occupied property rated between £12 and £50 a year; this was the first time tenants and not just the owners of property were eligible to vote).

In accordance with the provisions of the Registration Act 1885 electors were divided into three groups; owners, occupiers and lodgers. This greatly increased the number of electors; in the West Riding alone the number of electors rose from 33,863 in 1843 to 210,150 in 1886.

Boroughs were obliged to compile their own electoral registers which were commonly known as Burgess Rolls. Ripon, Knaresborough and Pontefract were parliamentary boroughs before 1832 and continued to be so after that date. Other borough constituencies created in the West Riding in 1832 were Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield. Dewsbury was created a borough in 1867.

Please note the WYAS does not hold any Burgess Rolls for the borough constituencies of:

Barnsley Batley and Morley Bradford Dewsbury Halifax Huddersfield Leeds Rotherham Sheffield Wakefield

These can usually be found in the appropriate local studies library. For further information about Burgess Rolls and electoral registers held outside the WYAS see here.

Important Dates:

• 1832 Representation of the People Act formalised the election process and instigated the compilation of the first electoral registers

• 1885 Registration Act saw the right to vote extended to tenants as well as owners of property (although this still restricted the poorest from being eligible)

• 1918 Representation of the People Act gave all men over the age of 21 and all women over the age of 30 the right to vote

• 1928 Representation of the People Act was the first time all men and all women over the age of 21 were given the right to vote

Other useful information can also be found in Absent Voters.

For a guide how to the use electoral registers held by the WYAS see here.