Electoral Registers at FindMyPast

Trying to cite images of British Electoral Registers, hosted at FindMyPast, poses some issues for me. The registers are imaged as published works, but the indexing does not always accurately reflect the content of the imaged work. This means that, while one could locate the item-of-interest in the physical work, using the search page could cause some grief. So; while I've used the "basic book format", I've included extra detail and  notes to hopefully ease the task of re-locating the image on the host site.

Does the following seem reasonable?


Citation:
England, Copy of the register of Persons entitled to Vote at any Election… Western or Watford Division… county of Hertford… for the year commencing on the 1st day of January, 1915 (Hertford, Ware & Hodgeson: Simson & Co. Ltd,, 1914), sec. L–Kings polling district, Parish of Watford Urban (Forth or Kings Ward), p. 56, Occupation Electors (other than Lodgers), Division 1, no. L 1717, May (George Alfred); imaged in “England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1832-1932”, FindMyPast (https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/england-and-wales-electoral-registers-1832-1932 : accessed 20 February 2020), image 539; citing archival reference SPR.Mic.P.16/BL.H.59, The British Library, London, England. See also supporting images; 1 [title-page], 2 [index] and 483 [section-title]. Host website erroneously indexes record as in the polling district of “King’s Langley”.

[While I've tried to shorten the title, including the date of applicability is important in the analysis phase. George Alfred May died on 27 October 1914 and really couldn't vote in 1915. The data for the register must have been sent to the publisher prior to his death.]

Submitted byEEon Mon, 07/24/2023 - 08:51

Hello, History-Hunter. With regard to the overall citation and explanation, you've handled this well. (EE would italicize FindMyPast because it is the title of a standalone publication. I suspect this is a typo; but I'm noting it here for readers who might not be as experienced with citation as you are.)

Adding a sentence to explain an indexing problem is wise when the index has a problem of that type. With regard to shortening the title, the following might suffice. If you prefer to be more explicit in the First Reference Note, then this further shortening would be appropriate for Subsequent Notes:

Copy of the Register of Persons entitled to Vote … Western or Watford Division… county of Hertford… 1915

Submitted byHistory-Hunteron Mon, 07/24/2023 - 12:23

Thank you for your feedback. The failure to italicize the website name was, indeed, just a typo.