Prepared by Dr John Dawson of Abacus Genealogy Research.

This is a transcript of the Pollbook (record of voting) taken on 4 April 1722 in Bedford, for elections in Bedfordshire.

It must be used with care!!

It is a transcript of a printed copy of a handwritten copy of the recorders' handwritten notes, taken at a time when spelling was not formalized, and many people could scarcely write their own names. It was printed in London, probably by people who did not know the local village names.

It is undoubtedly full of errors. Just as one example, John Careless, voting in "Roston" [presumably Roxton], is noted as residing in "Gamgey Cambr" [presumably Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire].

The transcription is intended to be a letter-for-letter copy of the original, spelling errors and all. But one or two minor changes have occurred: full stops after abbreviations (especially of forenames) have been removed, so the forename "Tho" is presumably an abbreviation for "Thomas" etc. Commas have been removed between a place of residence and the county, so "Ladbrooke War" denotes "Ladbrook, Warwickshire".

My original is a large poor photocopy, folded across the middle, and information printed near that fold is very difficult to read. Words are queried if there is any doubt, and in some cases possible alternatives are shown, e.g. "Favell or Travell".

There are many instances of two men with the same name voting in the same district, usually labelled "Sen" and "Jun" (often, but not necessarily, father and son).

Cl is used for the title Clergyman or Reverend.

The document is (unavoidably) rather large, and may take some time to load.

The column headings are as follows, and it is hoped that the colouring will help in reading the table.