21 October 2006 LostCousins Newsletter
Newsletter - October 2006
CONTENTS
* Are you getting your share of 'lost cousins'?
* Siblings and cousins are the key
* Free confidential one-to-one help
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
What an incredible month October has been - every record has been broken!
Amazingly, in the first 18 DAYS of October we found almost as many 'lost cousins' as in the whole of our first 18 MONTHS.
Now that we're at last starting to produce the results that our members deserve (thank you for your patience!), we're expanding beyond the British Isles, by adding support for the 1881 Canadian census.
This coincides with a major article on genealogy in Readers Digest Canada (November issue). LostCousins carried out most of the research for this article, which features the author's British ancestry.
Readers Digest has an amazing 7 million readers in Canada, many of whom will have connections to Britain, and we're looking forward to many new members joining in the coming weeks.
ARE YOU GETTING YOUR SHARE OF 'LOST COUSINS'?
One of our members in Australia wrote to us this week: "I took advantage of your free weekend offer, added heaps of ancestors and found 4 matches."
David has entered a total of 138 of his relatives from the 1881 British Census, which is far more than the 'average' LostCousins member. And as a result he's getting above average results.
We can't promise that by entering 138 of your relatives you'll immediately find 4 cousins - or any at all - because there's a random factor that only evens out in the longer-term.
But what we can say is that if (for example) you've entered 25 relatives so far, then adding another 100 will increase your chances of finding 'lost cousins' by a factor of FIVE TIMES!
In the next article we explain the simplest way to improve YOUR chances.
SIBLINGS AND COUSINS ARE THE KEY
Victorian families were typically large - it was common to have 10 or more children, and by the middle of the 19th century the chances of surviving infancy were higher than ever before.
Let's suppose that a family in your tree had 5 children who went on to marry and have children of their own. If one of those children was your great-grandparent, then the others would be your great-great aunts and uncles.
The descendants of your direct ancestor, your great-grandparent are your 1st and 2nd cousins - so you're probably in touch with many of them already, especially if they share your interest in family history.
But the descendants of your ancestor's siblings will be your 3rd cousins, and it's unusual to have maintained links across that many generations.
Each of your great-great aunts and uncles could have 10 or more descendants alive today - so there are potentially 40 'lost cousins' to be found, just through this one line.
Can you see now that whilst it's important to enter your direct ancestors on your My Ancestors page, it's the siblings and cousins who had families of their own by 1881 who are by far the most likely to provide the link to your 'lost cousins'?
Take a look at your My Summary page. How does the number of blood relatives shown compare to the number of direct ancestors? For most family trees there should be 5 to 10 times as many blood relatives as there are direct ancestors.
If the ratio is different in your case, then it's worth taking a closer look, to ensure that you aren't missing out on your 'lost cousins'.
Remember that you can always ask for help finding relatives on the 1881 Census - just email info@LostCousins.com with 'Help wanted' as the subject, and tell us what you know about the people you're trying to find.
Finding your female relatives on the census is more difficult because you may not now if and when they married, or what their married surname was.
There are now over 75000 maiden names in our index, which is available exclusively to LostCousins members. At the moment almost all of these relate to the 1881 British Census, but names from the Canadian census will be added automatically.
Please make sure that, when you enter on your My Ancestors page female relatives who were married or widowed, you include the maiden name if you know it. This could well be the clue that enables your 'lost cousin' to find the relatives that you share.
This month one of the many 'lost cousins' we found was Hilda, who is related to Jan in Australia.
Unfortunately, because Hilda's email address no longer works and we have no alternative contact details, we have been unable to put Jan and Hilda in touch.
Hilda won't be reading this newsletter, so can't rectify her mistake. But perhaps this would be a good time for you to make sure that we have some way of contacting you should your primary email address stop working?
If you have entered an emergency contact email address then it is shown below:
~10~
(Note: if this is the same as your primary email address then it won't help in an emergency!)
If you have provided your postal address then it will be shown below:
~4~ ~5~ ~6~ ~7~ ~8~
According to our records the country you live in is ~9~ (if a number is shown instead of a name, please check your entry).
Finally, here's the name that your cousins will see when you make contact with them:
"~2~ ~3~"
You can update your information at any time on your My Details page - but why not do it now?
At the same time as implementing support for the Canadian census we've also taken the opportunity to make numerous other improvements.
For example, when you're entering or updating the relatives on your My Ancestors page there's now a reminder as to the meaning of each of the relationships.
And from now on, when you want to Edit information for a relative you've already entered, all you need to do is click on their name.
You'll also notice that all of the census references are displayed on your My Ancestors page, which makes it much easier to pick up errors. If two people in the same household have different references that's something you need to put right!
You still have the option of an even more detailed display which also shows birth dates, baptism dates, and maiden names (click on 'Print format').
Until 1970 cinemas all over Britain showed Pathe newsreels. Now you can view the entire collection, over 3500 hours, online at:
It is necessary to register, but whilst there is a charge for high-resolution copies of the films you can view low resolution versions free of charge. Almost all are in black and white, and the very earliest footage is silent.
The earliest films date from 1896! Pathe display a Top Twenty on their site - the most popular when we checked was a film of the Titanic, but an early favourite of ours is the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
FREE CONFIDENTIAL ONE-TO-ONE HELP
So far as we know, LostCousins is the only site where you can get free and confidential one-to-one research help and advice. That's because we have a great team of volunteers, the 'buddies' just waiting to help... you!
All we ask is that, before asking for help, you do the simple things that could lead to a solution - like entering the relatives you've already found on the 1881 Census.
To request help, just email info@LostCousins.com with 'Help wanted' as the subject. Please include all relevant information (but never send attachments unless specifically requested).
AND FINALLY.....
We'd like to thank everyone who has helped to spread the news about LostCousins. Remember that if you use your My Referrals page it's easy to keep track of whether you friend or relative has registered, and to send them a reminder if they haven't.
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?