Genealogy Chat

Apart from checking the actual register in a library, are there any sites that list all the electoral registers for the UK for all recent years, or is there a CD that I can buy? Thanks Sophie

Hi Sophie Try http://www.electoralrolluk(.)co(.)uk - remove brackets Penny

Hi Barry I have just nudged to the top on Records Office a topic entitled For those who don't know... Hopefully this might explain it better - that's where I got the idea from :-) Penny

I am rather surprised to learn that it is possible to look at and search current Electoral Registers. I was told in no uncertain terms by the lady at the Council Offices that it is now ILLEGAL to search the current Register. You are only allowed one "look" to see if your OWN details have been correctly entered. Can someone comment on this?

Marjorie My Comment on this is: It is very annoying that we can look up people at current addresses and or phone numbers yet they won't let us see the 1911 census??? the only rellie I have that appears on that census is a distant one who is living in a nursing home at 95 years of age and does not know her own son???? Pathetic is my answer to the whole situation, privacy? what privacy? Pat x

The magazine Your Family History issue 14 came with a cd containing the complete electoral rolls for 2002/2003, so they must be readily available for searching.

Electoral registers are available on CD from 192(.)com. When filling in your annual electoral roll form, you are given the choice as to whether you want your information available on the published version or not, if not, then you should put a "x" in the relevant box, and your information will not be found on these disks. 192(.)com CDs carry a licence and the information is copyrighted, look ups should not be publicly advertised and addresses should not be given out in full public view. To use my electoral roll disks I became registered with the Data Protection Act who set guidelines as to how this information is dealt with. You can do look ups but there are guidelines to be followed, remembering the person found may not want contact with the person looking for them. Also not finding a person does not mean that they are not on the electoral roll, they may have elected not to be on the published version. Anyone using such disks should check the terms and conditions that came with their disk. However, you can carry out your own searches online with 192(.)com who charge a fee, this way you have searched for the person and it is up to you if you make contact. BT also have telephone/address information on their website also. You will find that CDs that come with magazines only contain minimal information with only a handful of entries for each area, and also do not show the full address (that applies to the YFHM disk, however you can sign up and pay for the full version from these free disks). I hope this helps.

The Electoral Roles have to be available under the Representation of the Peoples act. This is ensure that democracy is overt and there is no vote rigging. This is more important than someone knowing your name and address. (which is surely no great secret) There are now restrictions on who can access the role for other purposes but the right to view it is a cornerstone of democracy. I think the lady in the library has it wrong as it is also to check that fictitious names are not there. Pat, your quite right about the census they don't contain much more info and 99% of the people are dead !! Happy, the magazine disks I have had have only been limited by the number of search returns. I have used both the free ones and the full ones. Bob

Hi, If you are someone whose physical safety is deemed to be at risk your name and address do not appear on the electoral register. This is to prevent violent men tracking down battered wives or criminals searching out informants. It isn't easy but it can be done. Gwynne

Hi Robert and Gwynneth, you are both right in what you say. As long as your electoral roll form is filled in correctly your details will not be published, although, unfortunately there are other ways of finding out where a person lives whatever their circumstances. As regards the Data Protection Act, there is a procedure to be followed regarding doing look ups from disks for other people outside of family, this is information that was relayed to myself: "the correct procedure for using information gained from using a Disk in order to find a missing relative or friend etc. would be for you to make contact with the “match(es)” that might be found, then for you to make contact with that person(s), and, if the contact did not want to be put in touch with the person that was looking for them, then, notify the enquirer of this decision, and respect the privacy of the person being looked for." The Freedom of Information Act, makes everything quite confusing. I agree that the 1911 Census should be released early. Living persons information can be found easily enough, I am sure our deceased ancestors would not mind their info being researched. Apologies for not signing off properly, Pat (not Pat going round in Circles who posted earlier).

Just had a search and I was wrong. Seems about 99.9% or more on 1911 will be dead! Bob

Still puzzled! I wanted to look at the current Electoral Roll in order to track down someone who owed me some money. I had a vague idea of the area and obviously I knew the name. I went to the Council Office and asked to see the Roll for that area. The Lady asked me if I lived there, I said No, (not knowing what was coming) and she said, sorry, under the Data Protection Act, and as a result of a recent ruling by the EEC, I was only allowed to look at my own entry. Apparently, a man who was being chased by a Mortgage Company had been successfully traced on the Electoral Roll. He took his case to the EEC, who ruled in his favour and awarded him damages against the Mortgage Company! The EEC then issued a Directive to all Authorities who hold copies of the current Rolls forbidding them to be used "for the purposes of tracing individuals" I think this is quite barmy, however, armed with the knowledge this thread has given me, I shall start my search again, but in a more cunning way! Thankyou everyone, I'll buy you all a drink should I be successful in getting this debt repaid.

Marjorie, if you want to email me with your enquiry, I will take a look for you. However, it is possible the person you are looking for is not on the electoral roll Pat

Thank you for this extremely interesting thread. I am registered with 192 dot com. I have found it useful but my subscription will only allow me to see older electoral rolls and not the two most recent.

All Have subscribed to the website that Penny posted details about. Am posting details on how effective it is on the thread on the records board entitled "For those who don't know" in case anyone is interested on the information/ service provided before deciding to take out a subscription. At the moment its too early to advise as to whether its a success or failure - I've successfully subscribed however it looks like the site does not allow you access to their records and you have to e-mail requests to them. Karen

I would love to see the 1911 census released early but I suspect that the authorities might be concerned that there would then be a campaign to release 1921 even earlier etc. MB

It is well worth asking your local history librarian if old electoral rolls are available. At Sevenoaks a complete set (minus the war years) from about 1910 to 1970 was on display, free for anyone to consult. It proved an absolute goldmine for me in tracing the development of several branches of my family tree, as it showed when children reached voting age and gave clues to when folk died or moved away. The books have now all been relegated to the store room, as they took up a lot of shelf space and, strangely, weren't used very much. Apparently they can still be produced on request; luckily I had more or less completed my research by the time they went. They cover all of Sevenoaks town and the outlying villages, including some that are now in the Dartford and Tonbridge and Malling districts. I'm sure many other libraries must have similar rolls in their archives.

Hi Karen, You say that you have subscribed to the website that Penny mentioned above, why do that when there are offers of help from members on this website who also have the electoral roll, they only have the same information, and the members here are offering their services free? Pat (must change my signing in name)

Hi Pat Registered because the lifetime registration also covers death and marriage information. As I need some blanket searches done I thought it would be cheaper than using 1837 and I know the information isn't on freeBMD or family search. By subscribing it will also allow me to offer lookups to other people and it won't take up much of my time - I'll simply mail the request to someone else to do the work. Don't know how well the service works yet - still haven't had a response to my first 3 requests sent yesterday although I think they do not provide the service on public holidays. With kind regards Karen