8 June 2004 LostCousins Newsletter

Newsletter - June 2004

CONTENTS

* CAN’T FIND YOUR ANCESTORS ON THE CENSUS?

To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com

If so, then you could one of the people we’re looking for!

Over the next few weeks LostCousins will be trialling a ‘Buddy’ system whereby experienced family historians give up a little of their time to help others who are finding it difficult to locate their ancestors on the 1881 census.

If you would consider giving up an hour of your time to help a less experienced member by email, please contact info@LostCousins.com using the words ‘HELP OFFERED’ in the subject.

Privacy: please note that you will not be expected to reveal your email address or name to other members.

CAN’T FIND YOUR ANCESTORS ON THE CENSUS?

If you’re struggling to find your ancestors on the 1881 Census the following tips may come in useful:

- people with two forenames were often known by their middle name, especially when their first name was shared with a parent
- the enumerator may have misheard the surname, so try searching for sound-alikes
- the enumerator may have misread his own writing, so try searching for look-alikes
- enumerators often got the birthplace wrong if the family had come from another county

Still baffled? Perhaps you would like to be one of the first users of our new ‘Buddy’ system (see the previous item). If so, please contact info@LostCousins.com using the words ‘HELP WANTED’ in the subject.

DOWNLOAD A FREE ANCESTOR CHART

At last month’s Family History Show several stands were selling blank family trees or ancestor charts. You can now download a free Ancestor Chart from the LostCousins site – just click on the link below:

http://www.lostcousins.com/pages/info/lostcousins_chart.pdf

Tip: this chart shows the Ancestor/Ahnentafel numbers for your ancestors

REFERRALS

Have you told your friends and relatives about the LostCousins site? Do you realise, that if each member encouraged just one more person to join, it would double the number of members overnight! And the more members we have, the more matches there will be between members who share the same ancestors!

Tip: when you refer a relative to LostCousins you can ‘send’ them the information you’ve already entered about the ancestors that you share.

WHAT IS A BLOOD RELATIVE?

Someone asked our helpdesk recently “What is a blood relative?”. Very simply, a blood relative is anyone with whom you share a common ancestor.

Tip: if you enter your blood relatives as well as your direct ancestors we will be able to find your ‘lost cousins’ far more quickly!

That’s all for now – we’ll be writing to you again when there is more news of improvements and updates to the site. If you would like to receive more frequent newsletters please go to ‘My Details’ and ensure that you have selected the ‘Yes’ button against ‘Receive our email newsletter’.

Best of luck in your researches,

The LostCousins Team

Please do NOT copy or republish any part of this newsletter without permission - which is only granted in the most exceptional circumstances. However, you MAY link to this newsletter or any article in it without asking for permission - though why not invite other family historians to join LostCousins instead, since standard membership (which includes the newsletter), is FREE?