Did your ancestor live and vote in Portsmouth in the south east of England? Explore electoral registers from six different parishes and discover where your ancestor lived or search for your home address and reveal who lived there over a century ago.
Did your ancestor live and vote in Portsmouth in the south east of England? Explore electoral registers from six different parishes and discover where your ancestor lived or search for your home address and reveal who lived there over a century ago.
The transcripts will include information found in the original electoral registers. The registers recorded a small number of details about your ancestor. The main objective was to record your ancestor’s address in order to determine if he was eligible to vote. In each transcript you may find the following facts:
Electoral rolls were registered annually, which means that you may find multiple entries for your ancestor. The Portsmouth electoral roll wasn't published in 1836 and 1837, and those from 1866, 1870 and 1871 have not survived. The electoral registers are from six parishes of Portsmouth: All Saints, St George, St John, St Mary, St Paul and St Thomas.
The registers include the names of those who were eligible to vote in local and parliamentary elections. In 1832, the Representation of the People Act, extended the vote to both the £10 householder who occupied property, either as owner or tenant, worth £10 per year and to lodgers, as long as the value of the occupied property divided by the total number of lodgers exceeded £10 per year. Furthermore, in the English counties, £10 freeholders (henceforth the basic qualification), £10 copyholders or long leaseholders (for 60 years), £50 tenants or short leaseholders (for 20 years) and joint tenants whose separate interests amounted to 40-shilling freehold or £10 leasehold were all given the right to vote. The Representation of the People Act 1867 succeeded in doubling the electorate and created more votes for those living in industrial centres. Voting was closely linked to property ownership or tenancies, which meant that women and poor men were denied the right to vote.
Portsmouth is the second largest city in Hampshire on the southern coast of England. Today, the city is the most densely populated city in England. Most of the city is located on Portsea Island and separated from mainland Britain by the Portsbridge Creek. It is the only island city in the United Kingdom.
By using the keyword field you can search for your home address and discover who lived in your house before you. Or you can search a street name and discover the neighbours who lived alongside your ancestor. For example, the records show that in 1869, James McKee lived at 39 Albert Street. After searching for Albert Street, we find that there were 44 other voting residents on the same street including Joseph Waldron at house number 37 and Edward Puntis at house number 41, both living on either side of James McKee.