London Electoral Registers

[Peter Goodey]

Has my brain finally gone?

The search page for Ancestry's "London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965" had forename and surname fields to search on didn't it? Surely?

Well they've disappeared for me! I double checked using Chrome instead of my usual Firefox and still no forename and surname fields.

I wrote to Ancestry and all they said was "I'm not aware of any display issues with the search form fields at the moment on the website" which didn't really seem to be addressing the issue.

Can someone please check - are there name fields there? If not please put me right, surely there used to be name fields?

[Pam Downes]

The good news is that you are not suffering from old age yet Peter.
The bad news is that Ancestry (as usual!) are completely missing the point.
There did used to be name fields to search on, and they are now missing.

ETA: I've just done a search for Lambeth 1938 - and got 3,039,633 results.

Pam

[Peter Goodey]

Thank you. Now I can get back to Ancestry with confidence

I noticed that if you go up a level you can do a name search on "Census and Electoral Rolls" but it's not really feasible to work that way.

[thewideeyedowl]

Well, I have just tried, too. When I went in via Card Catalogue > London Electoral Registers > Search, there was nowhere to enter the name of the searchee.

When I went in via Search > Census & Electoral Rolls, I was able to enter the name and various filters. On hitting submit, London Electoral Rolls came up at the top, with numerous entries. Clicked on it and the name I wanted was at the very top. (I was cheating a bit, because I was searching for someone I had found on those roll months ago, so I knew he was there.)

So my conclusion is that they have messed up Card Catalogue search. A pity, because that is my chosen way of searching.

Owl

[Peter Goodey]

I avoid the card catalogue. I've bookmarked all the databases I use. The database in question is number 1795.

[Peter Goodey]

Ancestry have got back to me again. They have agreed that the missing fields are indeed missing and added that...

"I will be sure to pass your feedback on that this is something you would like included going forward"

I haven't the faintest idea what that means.

[Pam Downes]

I have all the 'popular' databases (e.g. London baptisms and marriages) marked as quick links.

Thanks for the tip about searching via the 'census amd electoral rolls' link. I managed to find a friend's grandparents on the electoral rolls via that method. Though they do have one of the more uncommon surnames.

Pam

[Pam Downes]

Ancestry have got back to me again. They have agreed that the missing fields are indeed missing and added that...

"I will be sure to pass your feedback on that this is something you would like included going forward"

I haven't the faintest idea what that means.

Typical media-speak waffle. It means that they haven't a clue what they are talking about.
And neither do they have enough knowledge of the English language to say it coherently.

Pam