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  1. #1
    Retlaw
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    Default Absent Voters list of 1918

    I have been web surfing and found a web site which included the Absent Voters list for 1918. It states that by an act of parliment pased 6th Feb 1918, all men age 21 or over, serving in his Majesty's forces will be entitled to vote.
    The following list was compiled from information supplied by the men themselves.

    That is barnyard confetti. I have two men in my patch, in our Absent Voters list of 1918, who were killed in action, long before Feb 1918, one of them at the battle of the Somme July 1st 1916. Several men are well under 21 years of age. Several have more than one address, some with wrong numbers and regiments.

    What I want to know is who filled in the papers of dead men, prisoners of war, men at sea, and men missing in action.

    Then there was the big push by the Germans in early 1918, when they regained a large propotion of their prevously held areas. (hang on jerry I've forgot my voting paper)

    I think that in 1918 as the battles raged to and fro, no one would be interested in filling in voting forms.

    From the number of mistakes, wrong serial numbers, wrong regiments, and sometimes the wrong address. I think several hundred were filled in, from information supplied to town hall pencil jockeys, by relatives and friends

    During my years of research I've read several personal diary's of men who served in WWI, not one has ever mentioned I got my voting papers today.

    Also spent time going thro the burnt and unburnt records, found over 250 men in my patch, started at Abbotts, and I'm only up to Broadley's yet. None of them mentions a voting paper.

    Retlaw.

  2. #2
    leamington
    Guest

    Default

    The AVL is effectively just a sub-set of the Electoral Roll for the area. You raise some interesting questions about how it was compiled.

    I have never heard of the soldiers being asked to provide their own details for the Electoral Roll - so where did those details come from?

  3. #3
    Retlaw
    Guest

    Default Absent Voters list

    I have never heard of the soldiers being asked to provide their own details for the Electoral Roll - so where did those details come from?
    Thats what I would like to know, our local studies library also quoted, that the list was compile by the men themselves, when I showed them the errors and explained my doubts, they had no answer.

    Retlaw.

  4. #4
    Geoffers
    Guest

    Default

    Might there possibly be something about the mechanism within the first two hits (CAB37/158/11 and HO45/10550/162307) on this TNA search? - Absent Voters - or within the legislation of the later (1918?) Act?

    I have two men in my patch, in our Absent Voters list of 1918, who were killed in action, long before Feb 1918, one of them at the battle of the Somme July 1st 1916.
    In this case, do you know if the bodies were recovered and identifiable? Could these be forms filled in by relatives who just retained a feint glimmer of hope that a mistake had been made and their relative was actually still alive and might return home?

  5. #5
    Retlaw
    Guest

    Default Absent Voters List

    In this case, do you know if the bodies were recovered and identifiable? Could these be forms filled in by relatives who just retained a feint glimmer of hope that a mistake had been made and their relative was actually still alive and might return home?
    Charles Cox. 15927. 11th E.L. K.I.A. 01-07-16. Queens Cemetery A. 29

    Joseph Delaney 2365. R.L. K.I.A. 08-05-15. age 18. Menin Gate Memorial
    Parents notified in June 1915.

    Both the above are well outside the statement,
    By an act of parliment passed 6th Feb 1918, all men age 21 or over, serving in his Majesty's forces will be entitled to vote.
    The following list was compiled from information supplied by the men themselves.

    Relaw

  6. #6
    Geoffers
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Retlaw
    Both the above are well outside the statement,
    By an act of parliment passed 6th Feb 1918, all men age 21 or over, serving in his Majesty's forces will be entitled to vote.
    The following list was compiled from information supplied by the men themselves.
    Fair enough, I was just trying to think of possible explanations. Presumably the 1918 Act includes a schedule providing for the mechanism by which names would be collected? I don't know how many such errors were made, but a certain allowance might be made for clerical errors in dealing with mass slaughter on a scale previously unknown.

    From the incorrect serial numbers, regiments, etc that you have found; have you been able to determine if this might be from transcription error? - e.g. clerk has a pile of papers which he is copying into some draft version of the register, writes down one entry correctly and then duplicates the regimental no. , or regimental name into the next entry as well by mistake?

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