23 December 2004 LostCousins Christmas newsletter
Newsletter - Christmas 2004
CONTENTS
* COMPETITION DEADLINE EXTENDED
* SEASONAL CHEER FROM 1837ONLINE
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
This month’s newsletter begins with a personal message to LostCousins members from the founder…….
Over the past few weeks many of us will have been focused more on Christmas present (and Christmas presents) than Christmas past, so it’s not really surprising that the incredible surge in numbers we saw during November eventually slowed a little.
Even I have been struggling to find time for family history these past few weeks, what with presents to buy and cards to send. I was absolutely amazed when I realised that this Christmas I’ve sent nearly 20 cards to relatives who – until recently - I didn’t even know existed!
I’d love to be able to tell you that I found them all through LostCousins, but like most of you I’ve used many different websites in my attempt to fill in the gaps on my family tree.
One of my newly discovered relatives is a third cousin who was able to provide me with a photograph of our common ancestor, Robert Wells - who was born in 1815, the year of the Battle of Waterloo. His is one of the ancestor photos that appears on the LostCousins home page.
In the summer we visited my cousin’s elderly aunt, and I took charge of the camcorder while she talked to us about her recollections. It was really worthwhile - and because we had a record of the event other members of our extended family have since been able to watch the video. No doubt many more will watch it over the holiday period – and it’ll also be a good time to record more recollections, and perhaps some special moments, that future generations can enjoy.
For me one of the most rewarding aspects of researching my family tree is to be able to share my knowledge with others – not people who just happen to have the same surname, but people who I know to be related. Any information I get in return is a bonus, and I expect it’s the same for many of you.
If so, you’ll be delighted to hear that research published in the journal ‘Psychological Science’ in July 2003 found that people who focus on giving are likely to live longer than those who focus on receiving. Of course, this isn’t a new theory – nearly 2000 years ago someone very closely associated with Christmas is reported to have said that “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.
I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to make LostCousins such a wonderful site – especially our members, and the buddies who give up their time to help others! Without all of you we couldn’t possibly have achieved so much – nor could we hope to meet the challenges of the future.
I wish you all a wonderful 2005!
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
Congratulations to everyone who has won free subscriber access to LostCousins for 2005 in our competition, which was due to close on December 15th.
However, as nearly a third of our present membership joined after the start of our competition, and because there were problems accessing the 1881 Census on the FamilySearch site for much of the period, we have decided to extend the closing date until after the holidays. The new closing date is midnight (London time) on Sunday January 9th 2005 – and please note that there will be no further extensions.
Here’s a reminder of the rules – and remember, there are an unlimited number of free subscriptions on offer (remember too that even if you don’t win, you can still be a LostCousins member without paying a subscription or joining fee):
All you need to do is add up three numbers, and if the answer is 50 or more, you are guaranteed free subscriber status for the whole of 2005. What could be easier?
The three numbers are the number of DIRECT ANCESTORS and the number of BLOOD RELATIVES on your ‘My Ancestors’ page, plus the number of REFERRALS shown as registered on your ‘My Referrals’ page.
All these numbers are conveniently totalled on your ‘My Summary’ page, and when you reach the target you’ll see a message there confirming that you are a winner!
It doesn’t matter if most of your ancestors weren’t living in Britain in 1881. If you email us a list of their names, stating the country each was living in, we’ll allow you to count up to 30 of them towards the 50 target. (To keep things as simple as possible for our hard-working staff, please send just one email, and send it to competition@LostCousins.com – not to our usual address).
Note: only send an email if you need to add in 'overseas' ancestors to get your total up to 50. Everyone else who qualifies will be awarded free subscriber status for 2005 automatically – you don’t need to claim your prize.
We recently attended the Family History days organised by BBC Radio Suffolk and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. A lot of new members joined after hearing our founder talk about LostCousins on Radio Suffolk, but his interview on Radio Cambridgeshire made much less of an impression – because the next person to be interviewed had such a fascinating story to tell!
The lady had been looking for a postcard of the church where her great-grandparents had married - on the stall of Bill Bennett, a postcard specialist. That she found such a card was not surprising, because Bill has an enormous stock, and his cards are very well sorted and organised. The real surprise came when she turned the postcard over – for the card had been written and signed by her great-grandmother nearly 100 years earlier!
If you’re looking for postcards to illustrate your family history it’s worth looking out for Bill Bennett at fairs you attend – or write to him at 152 Boroughbridge Road, York YO26 6AL. His email address is postcardsuk@yahoo.co.uk and you can phone him on 01904 790826. By all means mention LostCousins.
SEASONAL CHEER FROM 1837ONLINE
Last month we told you about a special offer 1837online were running for LostCousins customers. It must have been successful because they’ve now extended the offer to all their customers for the holiday period. Log-on at http://www.1837online.com to find out more.
Your ‘My Links’ page has changed again, and now shows 10 of the 11 sites that have achieved the highest scores (out of 21 sites that have been featured so far). We’ve left out LostCousins as there didn’t seem much point linking to our own site, though we did appreciate – and take note of - the comments that were posted.
This one’s so obvious that you just might have forgotten to try…. Have you ever used Google (or your search engine of preference) to find websites with information about your ancestors?
Not long ago one of our buddies knocked down a brick wall that had held back one of our members for 4 years – and it took less than 30 seconds using Google! Many thanks to the member who reminded us of this simple, but incredibly useful tip!
Here’s what we plan to do in 2005:
* Find at least one more ‘lost cousin’ for every member who has entered 50 or more ancestors
* Expand our census coverage, and look for new ways of helping our members to connect with their relatives
* Continue free registration and free membership indefinitely; delay introducing subscriptions as long as possible
* Encourage more members to take advantage of the free ‘buddy’ scheme
* Continue listening to you, our members, about what it is that you want!
All of us here at LostCousins wish all of you the very best for 2005!
The LostCousins Team
© Copyright 2004 Peter Calver & Lost Cousins Ltd
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?