Kathy Chater’s guide to recent releases

Somerset Electoral Register: East and West Divisions 1832 (S&N Genealogy Supplies £9.95) is a digitally enhanced copy of the list of those entitled to vote in 1832, following the great Reform Act which considerably extended the franchise. This is therefore valuable in locating Somerset ancestors who rented land (only landowners could vote before 1832) and the less well off, as the value of the property qualification was reduced. Because tenants of the land had to occupy it to qualify for the vote, this can also help locate people. Each section is searchable by name, using the Find facility, a great bonus to

those who are uncertain about their acnestors' exact whereabouts before the General Registration in 1837. Alas, the original compilers did not include how the electors voted, as some poll books did, so it is not possible to discover an ancestor's politics. Nor, of course, will all men and women be included as the universal franchise was not introduced until 1928.