13 February 2006 LostCousins Newsletter
Newsletter - February 2006
CONTENTS
* LostCousins helps solve 30-year mystery!
* AOL censorship hits Rootsweb & LostCousins
* FamilyRelatives offer - ends 28th February
* Updates
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
In January LostCousins members found more ‘lost cousins’ than in any previous month in our history!
But what’s so important about finding a ‘lost cousin’? What can you learn from them that you couldn’t find out by searching the censuses and parish registers?
An awful lot, as it happens. For example, they may have inherited photographs of your ancestors, the family bible, a scrapbook, or even diaries. Copy birth and marriage certificates are OK, but the originals are really special.
You'll also get a different perspective on family legends and other stories, and the two of you will not only be able to exchange your research to date, but also collaborate on future research, should you wish.
And, given all the time we spend hunting down long-dead ancestors, there's something really special about finding living relatives - people who are our own flesh and blood!
LOSTCOUSINS HELPS SOLVE 30-YEAR MYSTERY!
Following our last newsletter month one of our members asked for help tracing the origins of her grandfather, a 'brick wall' that she'd been trying to knock down for 30 years.
Just 5 days later we received an email that began: "You guys are amazing! I've had a breakthrough and I'm so excited (it's still sinking in). This is after 30 years.......".
All it had taken was a fresh pair of eyes and an open mind. We and our 'buddies' can help you too - if you only ask. We may not know all the answers, but we do know the right questions, and that's usually the key to finding a solution.
AOL CENSORSHIP HITS ROOTSWEB & LOSTCOUSINS
Both Rootsweb, the Internet's oldest and largest free genealogical community, and LostCousins, one of the newest sites, have been affected by the unilateral decision of AOL to block email from certain servers. This has meant that new LostCousins members who have AOL addresses have not received their log-in details in the normal way, nor have they been able to request a password reminder.
Fortunately our newsletters and general emails are sent from different servers which have not, so far at least, been affected by AOL's action.
We fully support efforts to eradicate junk mail, but believe it should be done responsibly.
If you are an AOL user we encourage you to request a password reminder (click on "Forgotten your password?" on our home page), then complain to AOL if it does not arrive.
There are three key sources of information for family historians with British ancestry: censuses, certificates, and the International Genealogical Index (which can be found online at the free FamilySearch site).
To order a certificate means looking up the entry in the indexes of births, marriages, and deaths - and for England & Wales these indexes are available from many sources. Perhaps best known is the FreeBMD site which is a fantastic effort by volunteers to transcribe all of the entries from 1837 to 1983. However it has become apparent that many people search the FreeBMD indexes thinking that they are complete - which they are not.
To find out more about FreeBMD's coverage visit:
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/progress.shtml
Here you can access charts showing the proportion of entries from each quarter that have been transcribed. Note that even where 100% coverage is indicated, there could still be gaps, and after 1910-12 coverage is virtually nil.
There are two ways to search the complete indexes. One is to browse through the indexes quarter by quarter looking for the person you're seeking. It's time-consuming, and until recently it could be an expensive exercise, particularly if looking for a marriage or death (it's usual to have a better idea of when a birth occurred).
It's now possible to browse scans of the index pages free of charge at the Ancestry.co.uk site. There are a few pages that are inadvertently missing, or which have been misindexed, which is why it's described as a 'Beta' version. Over time these anomalies will be ironed out.
To browse the complete BMD indexes at Ancestry click on the top link on your 'My Links' page (or click here: http://tinyurl.com/87byx).
By far the quickest way to search the BMD indexes for the period 1866-1920 is at the FamilyRelatives site. Although it's not free, it is extremely cost-effective, and we use it all the time!
A search across a 10-year period that would take 15 minutes, and cost you upwards of 2 pounds at other sites, can be carried out in seconds at FamilyRelatives, usually for no more than 20p. And as a LostCousins member you can get 1 pounds' worth of units absolutely free - see the offer below.
However you choose to search the indexes, make sure you know whether you're searching the complete indexes or a partial index. Partial indexes are fine when you the entry you want is there - but if it isn't you've really got to check the complete indexes.
Finding an index entry is often sufficient - you may not need to spend 7 pounds for the certificate. So even if it costs 20p to find the entry, it's going to be money well spent.
FAMILYRELATIVES OFFER - ENDS 28TH FEBRUARY
Here's a chance to try out the best BMD site - bar none. And it needn't cost you a penny!
1. Go to http://www.FamilyRelatives.org and click on New Registration (or Login if you’re already a member).
2. Once registered or logged in go to the Purchase page
3. At the top of the page enter the Offer Code: LC2005 but leave the password box blank. There is no password for this offer.
4. Press the top Continue button to display the exclusive offer of 10 free units for LostCousins members.
5. Select 10 units and press the Continue button at the bottom of the page.
6. That’s it - the free units have been added to your account and you can start using this great site!
We understand that free access to the 1901 Census index at Ancestry.co.uk will end on or soon after February 17th.
If you're used to the 'original' 1901 site you'll know that whilst you can search the index there for nothing, it gives you so little information that you usually can't tell if you've found the right entry.
At Ancestry you can not only find out who else is in the same household, but also discover the precise census references so that you can look up the census image at your local records office.
Click below to go straight to the 1901 Census page at Ancestry:
Everybody knows that they have 2 parents and 4 grandparents. But did you realise that if you go back 10 generations there are 1024 ancestors to find?
Here's another interesting statistic - each of those 1024 ancestors has on average 16000 descendants alive today, or around 8 million in all (allowing for the fact that it takes two to tango). And we're just talking about your ancestors, and their descendants - no wonder compiling a family tree is a never-ending task!
Even more amazing, recent statistical analysis suggests that between 2000 and 3500 years ago there lived an individual who was the ancestor of every single person on the planet today. So ultimately we're all related to each other!
Last month we mentioned that a new 6-generation Ancestor Chart would be available from the LostCousins site. This new chart is now available for download, either from our home page, or from your 'My Ancestors' page.
Also last month we mentioned the Surname Profiler site (http://www.surnameprofiler.org) but didn't mention that the maps on the site show the relative preponderance of a surname in a given area, not the absolute number. Thus even though a surname appears much rarer in London than Lincolnshire, there might be many more people of that name in London.
You may be interested to know that Archer Software sells a Surname Atlas on CD ROM which shows the distribution of surnames in 1881, and allows you to view the results in either absolute or relative terms:
http://www.archersoftware.co.uk
AND FINALLY.......
Have you ever wished there was a quicker way of entering relatives on your 'My Ancestors' page?
There is! Once you've entered the first person from a household you can click the + symbol at the end of the line to enter other members of the household in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Usually all you need to enter is the first name and age!
The LostCousins Team
http://www.LostCousins.com
info@LostCousins.com
© Copyright 2006 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?