Electoral Registers

[Margaret in Burton]

I'm a bit confused about who had the vote and when, women I mean.

I'm back to my Edith Mary Fernyhough. I'm trying to discover if she did leave her husband John before his death in 1926.

Would she be on electoral registers before that date? She was born in 1881.

[Olde Crone]

Yes, women over 30 could vote from 1918 onwards.

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

Thanks OC. I thought that was the case. I've just emailed Stafford record office as Burton Libraries don't start until 1933. I sent the email and then had a sudden panic that I was making a fool of myself.

*wonders how much Stafford charge when you have the actual address*

[Margaret in Burton]

Thanks OC. I thought that was the case. I've just emailed Stafford record office as Burton Libraries don't start until 1933. I sent the email and then had a sudden panic that I was making a fool of myself.

*wonders how much Stafford charge when you have the actual address*

£22 an hour!!:eek::eek:

It isn't even clear if she will be listed if she is living there. This is their reply:

Thank you for your email.



I have checked our holdings of electoral registers and we do have registers for Burton on Trent for this period. However, although all men over 21 were given the vote in 1918, there was still inequality between the voting rights of men and women. Women could only vote if they were over 30 and either a local government elector through a property qualification or their husband had the relevant property qualification. Women over 21 were only given the vote in 1928. I therefore do not think that electoral registers will help you unless you think the husband may have moved away as a result of his wife leaving. If you want to check you are very welcome to visit this office to consult these records. Please make an appointment in advance on 01785 278373 or by using this email address. You will also need to bring official proof of signature and address (such as a driving licence), so we can register you as a reader. Further information to help you to plan a visit can be found on our website (see link below). Alternatively, we offer a research service costing £22.00 per hour (plus copies and postage). A research service order form can be downloaded from the research services section of our website.



I hope this will be of assistance to you and please let us know if you have any further questions.

[Olde Crone]

Actually, that's quite reasonable, my lot charge £30 per hour or part thereof...

EDIT - I wonder if she has that quite right, I thought women over 30 could vote in parliamentary elections?

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

Actually, that's quite reasonable, my lot charge £30 per hour or part thereof...

EDIT - I wonder if she has that quite right, I thought women over 30 could vote in parliamentary elections?

OC

Point is OC, it would probably cost less in fuel to get to Stafford and we could probably do other things whilst we were there. It's just Stafford Record Office wasn't very disabled friendly last time we went and OH is in a wheelchair.

Also, if she is right then Edith won't appear anyway even if she is still living with John so it could be a wasted journey.

[Merry]

I have this vision of the RO collecting up all the requests for electoral roll lookups and doing about £200 worth in an hour!

Last time I did this sort of look up at my local library it took me about two minutes to find which ward the address was in and then about one minute for each year I looked at. I don't think £20 per hour is too bad, but there should be a min of 15 mins at £5.

[Margaret in Burton]

I have this vision of the RO collecting up all the requests for electoral roll lookups and doing about £200 worth in an hour!

Last time I did this sort of look up at my local library it took me about two minutes to find which ward the address was in and then about one minute for each year I looked at. I don't think £20 per hour is too bad, but there should be a min of 15 mins at £5.

Agreed.

As I have the exact address, it will take about 10 mins to do all of the years.

[Nell]

I thought it was women over 30 and married women who could vote in 1918, and the full franchise granted to all over 21 in 1928?

[Margaret in Burton]

I thought it was women over 30 and married women who could vote in 1918, and the full franchise granted to all over 21 in 1928?

I think it's like their interpretation of the data protection Nell when it comes to electoral registers. They all have their own ideas. I was told once I could look at new registers but not old ones. LOL

Same as parish registers, libraries and record offices are very careful about recent records. We've been to churches to view present registers still in use. We saw our marriage and both my daughters baptisms. The register was still in use as it's a quiet country church. No problem's looking at them.

[Olde Crone]

Here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom

OC

[Margaret in Burton]

This bit:

The outbreak of the First World War led to a halting of almost all campaigning, but some argue that it was the competence of women war workers that led to the extension of the franchise to women over the age of 30 in 1918; providing they were householders, married to a householder or if they held a university degree. Universal suffrage for all adults over 21 years of age was not achieved until 1928.

That says that even women over 30 had to be a householder or married to a householder.

Does householder mean houseowner? Or, would being the householder in rented accomodation be the same?

[Merry]

I don't think you had to own the property, but this version says the rent had to be £5 a year:

In 1918, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Representation of the People Act 1918, granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who were: householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, or graduates of British universities.

I'm not sure what sort of property would have cost £5 a year in 1918. ??

[Phoenix]

I think £5 pa is pretty cheap. I'm looking at some bog standard terraces with rent of 8s per week in 1911 and that is over £20 pa.

NB - they may be dismissive of people asking for searches in electoral registers because many people won't know an address and they aren't indexed.

[Phoenix]

NBB rent of £20 pa. Library charges of £22 per hour.


Inflation is a scary thing!