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                  What is the difference between a voters’ roll and a valuation roll?

                  There are several differences because they were compiled for different purposes:

                  Valuation Rolls (1855-1989): Voters’ rolls (electoral rolls):
                  ·        Record owners and tenants of property who were liable for local taxation in a particular place.

                  ·        Are arranged by local authority area (county/district/burgh/parish/ward) and address

                  ·        Are no longer compiled for domestic addresses (the last domestic valuation roll was for 1989)

                  ·        Were usually published each year on 15 May until 1974, then 1 April from 1975 until 1989.

                  ·        List more addresses than corresponding voters’ rolls, but (since the 1880s) fewer people

                  		 ·        Record all those eligible to vote in a particular place.

                  ·        Are arranged by parliamentary constituency, polling district and (in most cases) address.

                  ·        Are still compiled annually

                  ·        Were, and are still, usually published in February each year

                  ·        List more people than the corresponding valuation roll (at least since the late 19th century), but the valuation roll will mention more properties (since it will include commercial and government property which contain no residential voters).

                  Do valuation rolls tell you who owns land?

                  Land tax (cess) rolls compiled by the Commissioners of Supply from the early 17th to the early 19th century record the names of owners of property worth more than £100 Scots worth of annual rent in each parish. Valuation rolls compiled by county and burgh Assessors, for the period 1855-1974, and by Regional Assessors, for the period 1975-1989, do not include details about the ownership of land directly. They record, on the whole, the ownership of occupied buildings. However, they also include details of shooting and fishing rights on sporting and agricultural estates, some commercial grazing land, and some land used for commercial purposes (for example coal yards).

                  How do I find the valuation roll for an island or a property on an island?

                  For the period 1855 – 1974 you need to find out which county and civil parish(es) the island was in. You can do this by closing this box, going to the Knowledge Base home page, and selecting the Gazetteer in ‘Places’.

                  Why do some valuation rolls have separate lists of ‘service voters’ at the end of the rolls for each parish?

                  From 1946 onwards ‘service voters’ have been defined as members of HM Armed Forces and their spouses, plus crown servants and British Council employees and their spouses residing abroad. They do not register in the same way as residents and may not necessarily reside in the area of registration. Armed forces’ spouses have the option of registering as residents while in the UK. There were 18,686 service voters registered on the 1999 register.

                  However, prior to 1946 ‘service voters’ were individuals who occupied properties as part of their conditions of service (e.g. some categories of agricultural employees and domestic servants, such as gamekeepers), and who were enfranchised under the Representation of the People Act, 1884. Separate lists of these appear in the valuation rolls for some counties in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, as laid down in the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889, viz.:

                  Special provisions as to service franchise occupiers – Notwithstanding section nine, sub-section (5), of the Representation of the People Act, 1884, there shall be entered in such column and with such heading as the deputy clerk register may approve, in the valuation roll of each county in the manner and subject to the provisions of the Valuation Acts, the annual value of every dwelling-house, the situation or description of which is entered in the said roll under the provisions of section nine, sub-section (2), of the Representation of the People Act, 1884. No person shall be liable to be rated in respect of such an entry, but the person rated in respect of the occupancy of the lands and heritages which include such dwelling-house shall be entitled to relief against the person (in this Act referred to as a service franchise occupier) occupying the same under him by virtue of any office, service, or employment, in respect of so much of the occupiers consolidated rate paid by him as is applicable to the amount entered in the valuation roll under the provisions of this Act as the annual value of such dwelling-house: Provided that where an arrangement has been made under which a deduction is expressly made in name of rates from the wages or emoluments of any service franchise occupier, this section shall not confer any right of relief as hereinbefore provided.

                  Why are photocopies of valuation rolls sometimes more expensive than copies of other records?

                  The cost of photocopying extracts from valuation rolls is sometimes set by Assessor’s offices which deposit the valuation rolls in the local authority archives and library services.