England, Norfolk Register of Electors - FamilySearch Historical Records

England Norfolk

This collection consists of electoral records from the county of Norfolk for the years 1832-1915.

What Is in This Collection?
This collection contains electoral registers, which were started in 1832. These registers kept track of the individuals who qualified to vote in the national and local elections every year. Before 1884, registers were arranged by polling district and then alphabetically by surname; after 1884, they were arranged by polling district and then by street.

Electoral registers historically did not have the most widespread coverage. Even by 1867, they included only about 11 percent of the population. Women do not appear on these records at all, as they did not receive the right to vote until 1918.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Electoral Registers contain:
 * Township of registration
 * Full name of voter
 * Voter's place of residence (abode)
 * Why qualified to vote
 * Name and location of property

How Do I Search This Collection?
You can search the index or view the images. Before searching, it is helpful to know: As you search, compare your results with this information to find a match.
 * Name of the person
 * Date of the record

Search the Index

 * 1) Go to the 
 * 2) Fill in the search boxes with the information you have
 * 3) Click Search to show possible matches

View the Images

 * 1) Go to the 
 * 2) Click on the correct County link
 * 3) Click on the correct Division link
 * 4) Click on the correct Year link to go to the image viewer
 * 5) Use the onscreen controls to move between images as you look for a match

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy down all the information in the index entry.
 * Look at an image of the original record. The online index entry only lists the most basic information found in a record; the original may contain further information which was not included in the index. Save or print a copy of the image whenever possible.
 * Cite the index entry or record image. See below for help citing records in this collection.
 * If in the appropriate period, use the information you have found to find the individual in other records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and civil registration records.
 * Use the location of the land and the information listed under the “nature of qualifications” to locate land tax assessments and probate records.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for an individual with a common name, look at all the search results before deciding which is the correct person. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to help with this decision. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Try variations of given names and surnames. An individual might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, expand the date range or search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of search results.
 * Search the records of nearby locations. While a person in this period rarely lived more than 20 miles from their place of birth, moves within this range were common. For this collection, nearby locations could include parishes in the bordering counties of Suffolk to the south, Cambridgeshire to the west, or even Lincolnshire to the northeast.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org.] Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Proper citations make it easier to get back to sources that you have found, so citing sources properly can help you keep track of research. Correct citations also allow others to check completed research by giving them a way to find and examine records for themselves.

Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records and images within it:

Collection Citation

Record (or Index) Citation

Image Citation