Hello all. I am researching my late Grandfather, Daniel, and have his birth certificate giving the address where he was born in July 1925 as 5 East Street, Holborn, London, England. Parents are given John Alfred and Elizabeth Sarson, formerly Parfitt, who married in 1910. However, on the Electoral Registers at 5 East Street, I cannot find John Alfred with Elizabeth or Eliza as she was sometimes called. Instead he is listed with Maud Haggerty Sarson between 1920 and 1926. I am confused. I know that in 1930, the family had moved to 15 Langham Road Edgware. Elizabeth now starts appearing with her husband on the Electoral Register at this address. Any help would be appreciated in finding Elizabeth and figuring out who Maud is. Thank you. Lucy
Women were given the vote in Britain in 1918 (although there were some who could vote long before then but with stipulations ) However, at this time, they qualified via their husbands - either their occupation or residence - as shown in the table below: Things changed again in 1928: The 1925 Electoral Register shows John Alfred SARSON with a wife by the name of Maud Haggerty SARSON when it should be Elizabeth...
Maybe it's a mistake, not sure how though, as from the 1918 Electoral register there is Jas Wm and Maud Haggerty living at the same address.
Thank you Daft Bat for all the really interesting information. I am only now looking at the Electoral Registers having got my head around the Births, Marriages & Death information! It is helpful to understand what all the little codes mean. It is just really odd as I know that Daniel's younger brother, Alfred, was also born at 5 East Street to John Alfred and Elizabeth Parfitt.
I know...it is really strange, particularly as it is also listed on Electoral Registers like that up until 1926. I wonder how this information was collected?
I think I may have been thinking of persons not listed other than the main rent payer in the house, who knows these days with me? The lady Maud Haggerty may have been the house owner, & Jas Wm the rentor.
I'd been wondering on the same lines - is she really just Maud Haggerty, and Sarson got added on by mistake? Alternatively, could she be a relation who happened to be living there, such as John Alfred's sister, mother or aunt?
Well, I know that it is not John Alfred's mother, who was Francis Sarah Fisk. I think that it is most likely to have been an error, I guess. Still does not resolve the mystery of why Elizabeth, his wife, was not listed. I guess it will remain so. Thank you all for your insights and help.
Well, I have been having a rummage this morning to see if any of the censuses or marriage records could shed any light on the subject and have found the following: James Wm HAGGERTY married Maud STOREY in 1912, just a couple of years after John Alfred and Elizabeth, so they would be about the same age. In fact, James was born in 1878 and Maud in 1887. They had 4 children - all boys. I did wonder if Maud Haggerty SARSON was James' sister, but looking back through the censuses, there is no sister named Maud - and his mother was called Bridget. The house was one of multiple occupancy - more than one family living there: BOSTON, HAGGERTY, HOARE, RYDER and SARSON. As Maud Haggerty SARSON is recorded with a surname of someone in that house before the surname of SARSON, I reckon that whoever was transferring the details from the returns to the register misread the name and so Maud Haggerty appeared instead of Elizabeth - and the mistake was carried on for a few years, no-one actually checking in full. This would explain how children of John Alfred and Elizabeth were born at number 5 during this time. So, no mystery woman but just a clerical error that would have repercussions nearly 100 years later! That's my take on it...
Thank you for all of this information! I guess it would make sense. On my first year living in Taunton, my name on the Electoral Register was given as Parson rather than Sarson! It was not until I went to vote, as my polling card never arrived, that the error was noted...
