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Hampshire Genealogical Society

Family History News

 

FINDMYPAST ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF OVER 53 MILLION INDEXED ELECTORAL REGISTERS
 
  • 1920s and 30s Electoral Registers now available to search with greater accuracy than ever before
  • New and improved collection bridges the vital gap left by the destruction of the 1931 census of England and Wales
  • Important documents will enable family historians to trace ancestors between the 1911 Census and 1939 register
 
Friday August 31st 2018: Leading British and Irish family history website, Findmypast, has today announced the release over 53 million indexed England and Wales Electoral Registers covering the 1920s and early 1930s.
 
Improved access to these important documents will enable many family historians bridge the vital gap left by the destruction of the 1931 census of England & Wales. Combined with the 1911 census and 1939 register, today’s release means that Findmypast is now able provide customers with unrivalled record coverage for early 20th century Britain, allowing them to trace their ancestors across a period of history that has traditionally been problematic for many researchers.
 
The new collection, England & Wales Electoral Registers 1920-1932, has been created by reprocessing the original documents in order to improve image quality. Findmypast has also developed a new process for picking out individual names, allowing this vast bank of records to be searched with greater accuracy than ever before.
 
For the very first time, the Registers can now be searched accurately by individual names in a similar way to other indexed collections currently available on the Findmypast. Searches will now also cover all of England and Wales and matching records from the registers will feed into hints for all customers with a Findmypast Family tree.
 
Electoral Registers are listings of all those registered to vote in a particular area. The lists were created annually to record the names of eligible voters and their reason for eligibility, such as their residence or ownership of a property. Registration for voters in England has been required since 1832 and registers were typically published annually, making electoral registers and excellent resource for tracking ancestors between the census years or for uncovering the history of your home or local area.
 
These newly indexed records were taken from Findmypast’s wider collection of British Library, over 220 million of which are also available to search in PDF format.  
 
Estelle Calfe, Product Manager at Findmypast, said: The Electoral Registers 1920 – 1932 are such an important collection for family historians, as they really help you fill in those gaps and trace your ancestors’ journey between the 1911 census and the 1939 Register. Our team have built some incredible technology that has enabled us to make this collection searchable by first and last name for the first time

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