4 November 2005 LostCousins Newsletter
Newsletter - November 2005
CONTENTS
* Mrs Beeton found on 1851 Census
* Ancestry discount offer ends November 6th
* Save with Joint subscriptions
* Find your Dutch ancestors fast
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
October was a fantastic month for LostCousins members, with almost twice as many ‘lost cousins’ found as in any month in our entire history!
So remember to log-in occasionally and click the Search button - otherwise you could me missing out. And do make sure that all the relatives you can find on the 1881 Census have been entered on your ‘My Ancestors’ page, because it’s the people on the fringes of your tree who are most likely to provide the link to your ‘lost cousins’.
As from this month we’ll be offering members the chance to pay a small annual subscription, and if you take out a subscription before the end of November you’ll get even better value for money. Keep this newsletter, because you’ll need the special code if you want to take advantage of the offer.
Ancestry.co.uk made a very generous offer to LostCousins members of a 20% discount on Annual subscriptions. Unfortunately this offer must end on Sunday 6th November, so if you haven’t yet taken advantage of this great deal, please log-on at LostCousins right away and click the Ancestry logo on our home page.
Remember that an Annual subscription to Ancestry.co.uk gives you unlimited access to six fully-indexed England & Wales Censuses from 1851-1901 (and a lot more besides), which even at the full price of 69.95 is a bargain. At the discount price of 55.96, or just over one pound a week, it’s incredibly good value.
At the end of this newsletter you’ll find details of our latest discount offer, which is once again exclusive to LostCousins members. It’s a chance to become a member of Archers Addicts, the official fan club for listeners to the world’s longest-running radio serial (or you can buy a subscription for a friend as a Christmas present).
MRS BEETON FOUND ON 1851 CENSUS
The celebrated Mrs Beeton, though a real person, was as much a creation of the marketing men as today’s Mr Kipling.
According to a new biography (“The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton” by Kathryn Hughes) she didn’t, as one might have thought, base her celebrated book on a life-time of experience – indeed she was only 28 years old when she died in 1865! Most of what she wrote was “borrowed” from other writers, and adapted just enough to disguise its origins.
If you’re wondering how she got the job, the answer is simple – the book was published by her husband Samuel Beeton, publisher of “The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine”. It was hardly a runaway bestseller when published in 1861, and the following year the Beetons were forced to give up their house in leafy Pinner to live above Samuel’s publishing business in London.
Mrs Beeton was born Isabella Mary Mayson in 1836, and on the 1851 Census she can be found living with her mother Elizabeth and step-father Henry Dorling in Epsom. Search for Henry Dorling born 1807 if you decide to look up the record – Bella’s surname has been mis-spelt by the enumerator and then written so badly that it been mis-transcribed. Searching for someone else in the household is often a good way to find someone who is proving hard to find on the census.
By 1861 Mr & Mrs Beeton, son Samuel, a servant, and a nurse, were living at 2 Chandos Villa in Pinner, Middlesex (less than a mile from where our founder would reside 120 years later).
Sadly young Samuel died in infancy, as had Bella’s first child, also Samuel, and in 1865 she herself died, after giving birth to her fourth son. The next year Samuel Beeton went bankrupt, and so the publishing business ended up in the hands of Ward Lock, who turned “The Book of Household Management” into a million-seller and made the fortune that had eluded Mr & Mrs Beeton.
ANCESTRY OFFER ENDS NOVEMBER 6TH
If you want to save 20% on an Annual subscription to Ancestry.co.uk you must be quick – the offer will end this Sunday, 6th November. Remember it’s for LostCousins members only, so you must log-in at LostCousins before clicking on the Ancestry logo on our home page.
The complete 1851 Census of England & Wales is now online, so you’ll get unlimited access to six censuses for your subscription!
While basic membership of LostCousins will continue to be free, from November 9th we’ll be offering the opportunity to become a subscriber by paying a small Annual subscription of 10 pounds for a Single membership, or 12.50 for a Joint membership (usually husband and wife).
As a subscriber you’ll not only be able to initiate contact with other LostCousins members who share the same ancestors, you’ll also be able to discover whether there are any ‘extended matches’ (this is where your family tree overlaps with that of another member, but there seems to be no blood relationship - usually you’ll be related by marriage).
All LostCousins members, whether subscribers or not, can still take advantage of the superb one-to-one research help and advice offered by LostCousins and our great team of ‘buddies’. Unlike other sites this free service is completely confidential.
If you choose to subscribe before the end of November, and enter the offer code NOVEMBER on the Subscription page, you’ll be rewarded in two ways. First, you’ll be able to buy a Joint subscription for the price of a Single subscription. Second, we’ll add an extra two months to your subscription.
This offer is open to all members, whether or not you’re already a subscriber. If you are currently a subscriber then your paid subscription will start when your existing subscription expires. For example, if your subscription is due to expire at the end of December 2005, and you take out a paid subscription before the end of November (remembering, of course, to enter the offer code), your new subscription will expire at the end of February 2007.
You’ll be able to pay for your subscription with a Visa or Mastercard credit card, or with most UK debit cards. We won’t have access to your card information and we won’t automatically renew your subscription when it expires. All card payments will take place through a secure site hosted by WorldPay, who you are probably already familiar with, as they also handle the card payments when you order BMD certificates though the official GRO site.
We will also accept payment by cheque – but it must be in pounds sterling and drawn on a bank account in the UK.
It’s much cheaper for a couple to take out a Joint subscription, rather than two Single subscriptions – and during November, it will be exactly the same price as Single membership, so in effect you get two for the price of one!
If you have been widowed you can take out Joint membership with a child or grandchild.
Whether or not you plan to take out a Joint subscription right away, we encourage you to go to your ‘My Details’ page and complete the new boxes that will appear from November 9th.
It’s essential that you complete the information in the ‘Joint Account’ section of your ‘My Details’ page BEFORE you take out a subscription, because otherwise you won’t be offered the option of a Joint subscription. You’ll need to know the ‘Personal code’ of the person you’re linking with (this is the code beginning LC that appears near the top of every member’s ‘My Details’ page), and you’ll also need to enter your relationship to that person.
FIND YOUR DUTCH ANCESTORS FAST
Do you have any Dutch ancestors? We’ve recently discovered a website that provides information about births, marriages and deaths since 1811. Not having Dutch ancestry we haven’t been able to try it out ourselves, but as Genlias is a joint venture between the regional history centres and state archives in the Netherlands it certainly has the right backing. We’d be interested to hear what you think of the site!
We’re great fans of ‘The Archers’, the world’s longest-running radio serial, so we are delighted to be able to offer LostCousins members the chance to subscribe to Archers Addicts, the official fan club, at a bargain price.
To find out more about the numerous benefits visit the special LostCousins page at the Archers Addicts website:
http://www.thearchers.co.uk/lostcousins
We’ve updated the FAQs at the LostCousins website in response to feedback from members, and we’ll be adding information about subscriptions after November 9th. So if you have a query about how subscriptions work, and what the benefits of being a subscriber are, why not check out the FAQs?
AND FINALLY. . . . . .
Remember that it’s the growth in LostCousins membership, and the number of relatives entered by members that increases the number of ‘lost cousins’ that we’re able to find.
Every person with British ancestry who joins LostCousins on your recommendation is likely to be the ‘lost cousin’ of at least one of our other members – and if that’s not enough of a reason to tell your friends and relatives about LostCousins remember that you will get a month added onto your next subscription for every person who you refer using your ‘My Referrals’ page, and who subsequently buys a subscription.
Best of luck with your research!
The LostCousins Team
http://www.LostCousins.com
info@LostCousins.com
© Copyright 2005 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?