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Electoral Registers, Voters' rolls and Valuation rolls
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Electoral Registers and Voters' rolls
Early Electoral Registers provided a list of names of men eligible to vote, although some only list those who actually voted. Before 1918, they also recorded a person's occupation and details of their property. Women rarely appear in these records as only men were eligible to vote during this period.
Early Electoral Registers provided a list of names of men eligible to vote, although some only list those who actually voted. Before 1918, they also recorded a person's occupation and details of their property. Women rarely appear in these records as only men were eligible to vote during this period.
Over time, voting rights were extended until eventually everyone over 18 years of age was allowed to vote. Modern Electoral Registers list only the names of those entitled to vote at a particular address.
The right to vote - a little history
In 1800 you had to meet two criteria to be able to vote - you had to be male and wealthy. This meant that less than 3% of the adult population was eligible to vote.
Electoral reform over the next few years increased the numbers of people allowed to vote, but the largest change came in 1918 with the Representation of the People Act allowing all men over the age of 21 to vote. Women over the age of 30 were also given voting rights and women could sit in the House of Commons as MPs. 75% of adults could now vote.
Further reform took place over the years and, by 1969, the Representation of the People Act lowered the voting age for all men and women to 18 years of age.
Renfrewshire Local Studies Library has in its collection -
- Lists of electors for the years 1834 - 1857, with some years missing. Please contact the Local Studies Library for further information about these resources
- Parliamentary list of voters for the Burgh of Paisley for the years 1857 - 1879, with some years missing
- Burgh of Paisley register of persons qualified to vote in parliamentary and local government elections from 1934 - 1938
- Electoral Registers for the Renfrewshire area 1973 - date, with some years missing
Before 1855, Government had occasionally raised property taxes, usually to pay for wars (the Hearth Tax of 1691 and the Poll Tax of 1695 are two examples). The Local Studies Library has the list of names for both of these taxes for Renfrewshire.
The Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act 1854 established a uniform system of land valuation in Scotland. Separate rolls were produced for each burgh and county. The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) holds copies of all valuation rolls until 1989 when the Community Charge was introduced. After 1989, the rolls contain only information for businesses that pay non-domestic rates. NAS also holds copies of these records.
Arranged by electoral ward and then alphabetically by street name, the Valuation Rolls record -
- the name and designation of the proprietor
- the tenant or occupier
- the annual ratable value
- the Burgh of Johnstone from 1875 - 1957, with some years missing
- the Burgh of Renfrew from 1883 - 1922, with some years missing
- for Renfrewshire from 1963 - date, with some years missing
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