7 July 2006 LostCousins Newsletter

Newsletter - July 2006

CONTENTS

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

Isn't it frustrating when you can't find a particular family on the census? In this newsletter we're going to tell you some of the best tips and tricks that our 'buddies' use to find elusive relatives.

It's a great opportunity to fill in some of those annoying gaps and discover more about your family tree! And if you know of a tip that we've missed, then please send it in (to info@LostCousins.com), so that we can feature it in a future article.

CENSUS TIPS & TRICKS

No matter how accurate the transcription, there are always going to be people who can't be found on the census because their surname, age, or birthplace is incorrectly shown.

In this article we're going to teach you some of the tricks and tips that our 'buddies' use to find those elusive relatives!

All of these tips relate to the England & Wales censuses, but some may also work with other censuses.

TIP #1 - Don't be too specific

When you're searching the census, don't enter everything you know about the person you're looking, because if even one item is wrongly shown on the census your relative won't be found.

Instead, enter the minimum of information - perhaps just the name - and see what results you get. If you get thousands of results, then that's the time to be more specific, but often you won't.

TIP #2 - Allow for errors

Census information is often inaccurate or downright wrong - so you need to allow for this in your searching.

This means allowing a range of birth years - 2 years on either side is usually sufficient - and perhaps specifying a county as the birthplace rather than a town or village.

If the surname is unusual, or is one that has alternative spellings, the use of wildcards often helps. Thus you might search for Lamb* rather than Lamb or Lambe.

Note that at FamilySearch common alternatives are automatically allowed for unless you tick the 'Use exact spelling' box, something we don't recommend doing, as the results are hard to predict.

TIP #3 - Search by forename only

Incorrect surnames are perhaps the biggest problem - so wouldn't it be great if you could search by forename alone? Searching for one forename would probably give too many results, but suppose you could search for two?

At 1837online you can search for two people in the same household at the same time. This doesn't mean that you have to omit the surname, but it certainly makes it more practical to do so. You can search both the 1861 and 1891 Censuses this way.

At FamilySearch you can search the 1881 Census for two people in the same household so long as one of them is the head of household. Again, it's a great way to produce a shortlist of households that might include your relatives.

TIP #4 - Search by address

Often you'll know where a family was living, perhaps from birth certificates - but surely you can't search the census by address?

Indeed you can! At 1837online you can search either the 1861 or 1891 Census by address, and you can search the 1901 Census at 1901censusonline. You can even search the 1881 Census at Ancestry.co.uk, by entering the street name in the 'Keywords' box.

It's often possible to find addresses on other censuses too. Let's assume that you've found a family in the 1861 Census, but can't find them in 1851, though you know they were living at the same address.

All you need to do is make a note of who your relatives' neighbours were in 1861, then search for those neighbours on the 1851 Census. Hopefully one of them will prove to have been living in the same street in both censuses.

TIP #5 - Search by occupation

If the relative you're seeking had an occupation other than 'Ag lab' or 'labourer' there's a good chance you'll be able to find him by searching on first name and occupation alone.

The censuses that you can search by occupation are the ones listed in Tip #4 above. Remember that some occupations can be described in more than one way, and that your relative may have started as an apprentice, or assistant.

TIP #6 - Search by birthplace

Searching by first name, birthplace, and age is a great way to find not only relatives whose surname is shown incorrectly, but also female relatives who have married.

You can search all of the censuses from 1851-1901 by birthplace. Please note, however, that the 1881 Census at FamilySearch can only be searched by county (or country) - Ancestry.co.uk is a better option unless you have the LDS CD ROM set.

TIP #7 - Search by relationship

Isn't it frustrating when one of the members of the family wasn't at home on census night? It's particularly difficult because the information for people living in institutions or boarding houses tends to be less accurate.

One way of focusing in on the right people is to specify the relationship to the head of household. In an institution this might be Inmate (workhouse), Patient (hospital) or Prisoner (gaol). In other situations it might be Visitor, Boarder, or Lodger.

A young female relative may be found as Servant, a male relative as Apprentice. Children may appear as Niece, Nephew, Granddaughter, Grandson or Grandchild - or with older married siblings as Brother or Sister (or Brother-in-law or Sister-in-law).

You can search any of the censuses from 1851-1901 by relationship (with exception of the 1881 Census at FamilySearch).

FROM ABBA TO ZURHOOD

We recently counted well over 20,000 different surnames that had been entered by LostCousins members, an amazing number. The most common surname is of course Smith, which appears over 370,000 times in the 1881 Census.

There are a few names that appear only once - Zurhood is one of them - but we were surprised to discover that the surname Abba, at the other end of the alphabet, appears as many as 82 times in the census (we thought it was just the name of a pop group).

But no matter how commonplace the surnames of your ancestors, your chances of finding 'lost cousins' are just as good - because we don't match on surnames, but by census page.

Since there are only 25 lines on each census page it's very easy to match your relatives with those of other members - so simple, in fact, that even a computer can do it. And that's why our matching is virtually 100% accurate!

Of course we can't offer 100% success - yet. Whilst statistically it's overwhelmingly likely that we have 'lost cousins' of yours amongst our membership, we can only identify who they are if you have both entered the same relative.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES

Still waiting to find your first ‘lost cousin’? Here’s what you can do to help yourself (and help others at the same time):

* Enter as many as possible of your relatives who were on the 1881 British Census - a reasonable target to aim for is 100, though some members have found 1000 or more.

* Print out the blank Ancestor Chart, fill it in, and see what gaps remain.

* Remember that whilst it's important to enter your direct ancestors, experience has shown that most 'lost cousins' are found through the brothers, sisters, and cousins who by 1881 had their own families

* Don’t bang your head against a brick wall – ask for help! The LostCousins 'buddies' are members who give their time and experience to help others, and they do a really great job.

* Tell you friends and relatives about what LostCousins is trying to achieve, and how they too can help. Remember, the faster the LostCousins community grows, the sooner we’ll all find our ‘lost cousins’!

ORIGINS OFFER - 20% DISCOUNT

The Origins Network services include subscription access to exclusive genealogy related collections on British Origins and Irish Origins, plus expert Scottish Old Parish records research on Scots Origins.

A wide variety of datasets are available dating as far back as 1267 (on British Origins) and up to 1915 (Irish Origins) including Griffith's Valuation (the Irish Census substitute), and the 1841 and 1871 England & Wales Censuses.

In the last newsletter we focused on British Origins, and this time we're going to take a closer look at Irish Origins, where the collections include:

* Griffith's Valuation plus maps & plans (1847-1864) - regarded by many genealogists as the "census substitute" for mid-19th century Ireland

* Dublin City Census (1851)

* Dublin City Census (1901): Rotunda Ward

* Census of Elphin 1749

* William Smith O'Brien Petition 1848-9

* Irish 'strays' in England & Wales Census (1841 and 1871)

* Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858

* Militia Attestations Index 1872-1915

* Irish ports to USA 1890

* Dublin City 1847 Ordnance Survey Town Plans

Also available on both Irish and British Origins are image galleries showcasing rare and vintage photos, maps and images from the 18th and 19th centuries. To find out more about the datasets and about subscription prices, visit www.originsnetwork.com

Origins Network is offering an exclusive 20% discount to LostCousins members. Simply go to http://www.originsnetwork.com and click on Sign Up to choose a subscription and register.

Enter LC2006 in the promotional box on the registration page to activate the discount (note: this offer is valid until 31 July 2006 and applies to new monthly and longer subscriptions).

GENUKI - AN AMAZING FREE RESOURCE

One of the most useful free sites for those researching their British ancestors is the GENUKI site at http://www.GENUKI.org.uk

An article about GENUKI by Peter Christian appeared in the March 2005 issue of Ancestors magazine, and the full text of the article is available at http://www.genuki.org.uk/org under the heading "Published Papers about This Service".

We'd recommend reading the article and then exploring the site, especially the pages for the counties of interest to you. With around 55,000 pages it really is an amazing resource, especially since it is compiled and maintained entirely by volunteers!

AND FINALLY......

Don't forget that there are many other useful links on your My Links page. Unlike links on other sites, these are links that have been suggested and rated by members. You too can rate the sites and leave your comments!

The LostCousins Team
http://www.LostCousins.com
info@LostCousins.com

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?