Electoral registers

As of list of who lives at what address, compiled annually, electoral registers are a useful source for tracking individuals or families.

Who will appear?

Only people registered to vote will appear:

Up to 1884, the property requirements needed to vote excluded most of the population. Even after the 1884 Representation of the People Act, 40% of men still did not have the vote. Most of the remaining male population got the vote in 1918.
Until 1918, only men were entitled to vote. From 1918 until 1928, only women over the age of 30 could vote. From 1928 onwards the voting age was the same for men and women.
Up to 1969 the voting age was 21, at which point it was lowered to 18.

How are they arranged?

Electoral registers are grouped into divisions (parts of the county), and then have a separate section for each ward/district, which will usually be an individual village, or part of a town.

Within each ward/district, voters are usually listed either alphabetically by surname, or in alphabetical order of street name, and then by house name or number.

You will therefore need to know (or be able to make an educated guess) at where an individual or family you are looking for was living, as there is no index to people listed in electoral registers.

Registers held at the Dorset History Centre

Registers for 1833-1922 are on microfilm, for which we have complete set for the historical divisions of Dorset (which includes Poole, but not Bournemouth or Christchurch).

Registers after 1922 should be requested as original documents in our searchroom.

North division, 1922-2003

East division, 1922-2000, 2009

South division, 1922-1975

West division, 1922-2000

Bournemouth, 1974-1994 (with gaps)

Christchurch, 1975-2010 (with gaps)

Mid Dorset, 1999-2001

Poole, 1969, 1972-2001

Purbeck, 1975-1989, 1995-1996

Weymouth & Portland, 1965, 1975-2008

Wimborne, 1975-1987