UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893

Source Information

Ancestry.com. UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Original data: London, England, UK and London Poll Books. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library. Images produced by permission of London Metropolitan Archives (City of London Corporation). The City of London gives no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB via – www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma. Infringement of the above condition may result in legal action.

About UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893

This database contains poll books and other documents listing names of voters in various elections in England.

Historical Background

Poll books trace their origins to a 1696 act of Parliament designed to curb disputed election results and fraud. The remedy included requiring sheriffs to make a list of voters and the candidate they voted for in county elections. These could then be published as poll books. Poll books continued to be used for various elections until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872.

Poll books will not list all residents of an area. Until 1832, most voters were freeholders and others who could meet property requirements for the franchise, and poll books list only those who actually cast a vote. And while the majority of books in this database are poll books, some are registers, indexes, lists of liverymen, and similar records that will include names and other details, but do not record votes.

What You May Find in the Records

Besides names and details on the election itself-when it took place, who was running and for what-poll books may list address, occupation, qualifications for voting, and a place where the property that qualified a voter is located.