Parliamentary Constituencies

This publication lists every parliamentary constituency from the Great Reform Act when registration began to those established by the latest redistribution of seats. Constituencies are listed in a single alphabetical sequence together with variant names. The listing gives the period of each constituency's existence, the registers held by the British Library, the shelfmarks for these registers, and notes and cross-references. Appendices list pre-1832 constituencies, the British Library's holdings of Irish, Manx, and Channel Island registers, university electoral registers, poll books, and non-parliamentary registers such as burgess rolls, ward lists, parochial and county council registers, ratepayers' lists and business premises registers, valuation rolls, and jurors' lists. The publication contains an introduction with the history and background to the franchise, registration, and the redistribution of seats and it is completed with a bibliography of reference works on this topic.

This guide was compiled to satisfy a long-felt need for a comprehensive finding list of the British Library's holdings of such material but now satisfies a much wider need. Libraries and record offices should find it a useful reference work, and researchers in the area of local history and genealogy, and the libraries and societies that support such research should find it an invaluable sourcebook.