Electroal Register

[lil growler]

Hi There

Thomas Burt Long born 1801 London. Thomas died in Dec 1848 CRDI  & was buried 14 Dec 1848 Cemetery Register, Bromptom London

On the 1841 Census Thomas is living at Little Britain St Botolph Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Middlesex, London with wife Charlotte and children John. James Katherine & Frank

On the Electoral Register Thomas is living at 48 Little Britain London

Thomas is at London St James 27-30, 32-34 St James Square and in the same years can be at 4-8 Half Moon Passage, Aldersgate Street. I’m uncertain what this means.

I don’t know if I have 2 Thomas Burt Longs. There is a son Thomas Balicourt (not Burt) Long. I’ve not found another birth or death for Thomas Burt Long


According to https://www.thelondonarchives.org/your-research/research-guides/electoral-registers#:~:text=The%20qualifying%20date%20is%20the%20most%20important,coming%20into%20force%20in%20the%20following%20February/March.
From 1832 -1949 the qualifying date when register was taken is usually from June/July each year and the Register then comes into force at the end of the year.

Thomas is on the 1849 -51 Electoral Register London St James and I am hoping someone maybe able to explain how this is possible when he died in Dec 1848.Wouldn't you need to alive to be on the Electoral Register or is this possibly properties he owns in his name still and that's why it's listed as I did note woman weren't listed on the Register.

Your help is appreciated

Regards
lil

[rosie99]

Thomas is on the 1849 -51 Electoral Register London St James and I am hoping someone maybe able to explain how this is possible when he died in Dec 1848.Wouldn't you need to alive to be on the Electoral Register or is this possibly properties he owns in his name still and that's why it's listed as I did note woman weren't listed on the Register.

Maybe they just did not update their records completely each year, it must have been a mammoth task without the equipment we have today.

I worked for a local authority doing electoral registration and I know that at that time when forms were not returned for a property the entries were often not automatically deleted.  Things have changed now though as their system can delete them quickly and easily 

[jonwarrn]

I guess it's his dad conducting business from 48 Little Britain in 1804?

[Andy J2022]

Taking Rosie's point a little further, the arrangements set out by Parliament (in this instance by the Representation of the People Act 1832, also known as the Great Reform Act 1832) were fairly complicated as they covered both Parliamentary and borough elections, where the principal entitlement to vote was based on ownership of the freehold of land/dwelling, or the tenanted occupancy of a dwelling worth over £2 or occupiers of land (real property) with a rental value of £10 per year.  1832 was the first time the franchise was standardised across the whole country.

Put simply, someone who believed that they qualified to vote applied to be put on the register once and his* name was only subsequently removed after an objection was raised and adjudicated in front of a Justice of the Peace at a special annual session of the court. During this hearing, his name would be expunged from the list when the person concerned "was proved to be dead" (section 50  (Roman L) on page 176 of the link). Bear in mind that the official registration of deaths didn't occur until after 1837.  As you can imagine it was quite possible that someone might appear on the lists of electors for some time after their death, due to the complexity of this system.

*As you note, only men over the age of 21 were entitled to vote (see section 19 (Roman XIX) RPA 1832). Women who were burgage tenants in their own right were entitled to vote in borough elections, although in practice this applied to very few females.

[hanes teulu]

From FindMyPast, I noted his residence at time of death was 15 Thistle Grove, also reflected on his probate entry.
Kelly's 1841 Directory has him at 48 and 49 Little Britain.
I've been chasing the electoral process from the '32 Act to the early1850s - plenty of notices in newspapers about the deadlines to be met to continue to qualify, whether change of residence or changes to residence (affecting qualification). Electoral lists posted publicly for a couple of weeks (or on sale at 5 bob) which could be consulted and entries challenged or lack of entry picked up. Nothing formal about keeping it updated re. deaths

Got sidetracked chasing the 1 shilling electoral registration charge (short lived).

Thanks for the post

[lil growler]

hanes teulu, Andy J2022, rosie99 & jonwarn

Thanks so much for responding and for the clarity.

hanes tewlu, i think it maybe the difference between where one sources their records. I have (ancestry) place of death at 15 Thistle Grove and couldn't decide if this was his residence or where he died - he's a builder by trade so I thought it possible, it may have been a work site. Electoral register seem to differ from how the census is taken

Jonwarn Yes, I think this is Thomas's father you refer to in the newspaper clipping. Thanks for the information. I'm still working my way back and although I know Thomas's fathers name is Thomas, it's as far as I have got.

Which newspaper site do you's recommend for research, usually a good source of information. I use our online paper often for NZ research, it is free though - thankfully.

Andy J2022 Thanks for elaborating further. Although a complicated system, your explanation makes sense and understandable now how Thomas name still appeared on the ER, even after death. Also of interest - who's entitled to vote. On the 1851 Middlesex census Charlotte (wife of Thomas) is listed as Proprietor of houses, I wonder if they may have owned the properties listed - research for another day!

rosie99, I think you might be right, now that I have read all responses.

Thank you all for you help

[hanes teulu]

I was simply noting "residence at time of death".

The FindMyPast probate entry has "15 Thistle Grove, New Brompton" under the heading "Residence" with a different address for his wife which I cannot make out - "_______ ? place ____ ?".
The undertaker's record has "15 Thistle Grove" but the address is not headed/defined.
The Brompton cemetery burial entry address is "15 Thistle Grove, New Brompton" under the column heading "Place where Death Occurred". and the column "From what Parish removed" reads "Brompton District Kensington".

Added - I think his wife's address says "Same place"!!

[lil growler]

Thanks hanes teulu