11 May 2007 LostCousins Newsletter
Newsletter - May 2007
CONTENTS
* Searching the census free at FamilySearch
* Free census searches at Ancestry
* Finding relatives in the US 1880 census
* Three ways to search the Scotland 1881 census
* England & Wales 1881: alternative approaches
* 30 day free trial at Ancestry.co.uk
* 400th anniversary of Jamestown
To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com
What a great way to celebrate our 3rd birthday! On May 1 more new members joined than on any previous day in our existence - which means that your chances of finding 'lost cousins' are now better than ever before.
Britain's biggest-ever family history show took place in London last weekend, but there were more people who visited the LostCousins site than attended the show - which was absolutely amazing!
The LostCousins project couldn't exist were it not for the censuses that are available online, so we're beginning our 4th year with a brief guide to how you can get the most out of the censuses that we support.
To log-in at http://www.LostCousins.com you'll need your email address and password. If you can't remember your password click the link below to get an instant email reminder:
http://www.lostcousins.com/pages/login/forgotten.mhtml
We're going to begin with tips that apply whichever census you're searching, and whichever site you're using.
* Always allow for mistakes - for example, it's rarely advisable to specify an exact year of birth, and we generally recommend allowing a margin of 2 years either side.
* Even if the age is shown correctly on the census, the year of birth can still be incorrect - that's because, by convention, the year of birth is calculated by subtracting the age from the census year. This is a very common cause of misunderstandings!
* Don't complete every box on the Search form - the LESS you enter, the MORE results you'll get. If you fill in lots of boxes then usually only one of them needs to be wrong on the census for you to completely miss the person you're seeking.
* It's often fruitful to search on first names alone, especially when one of the names is unusual for the period. At FamilySearch you can specify two members of the household (the head of the household and one other) to cut down the number of results.
It's even better at Ancestry, where you can specify the forename of a spouse, or the forenames of the parents. It's usually a good idea to search for one of the younger children as the lower the age the more likely it is to be shown correctly on the census.
By contrast the more unusual a surname is, the more likely it is to be spelled incorrectly. This is a particular problem when searching for people who have migrated from a country where a language other than English is spoken.
* Don't assume that every member of the household was at home on census night - many had to travel in connection with their work.
IMPORTANT! When you enter census information on your My Ancestors page it should be taken from the transcript, and not from the handwritten schedule. In other words if you're an Ancestry user you should click 'View Record' and not 'View Image'.
It may seem strange at first entering information which you know to be wrong or incomplete - and that's one reason why we've provided a second section on the form, where you can enter the correct information. Corrected information appears in italics.
SEARCHING THE CENSUS FREE AT FAMILYSEARCH
All of the censuses we support can be found at the free FamilySearch site with the exception of Scotland. Although you can register at FamilySearch if you wish, it isn't necessary.
A common mistake made by newcomers to the FamilySearch site is to use the 'All Resources' search. This is very unlikely to provide the best results, and our advice is ALWAYS to search each resource separately.
There's a direct link to the census on the FamilySearch home page, so click that, then select '1880 United States census', '1881 Canadian census' or '1881 British census' from the drop-down box on the Search page.
Notice that when you choose a specific census more boxes appear on the form - giving you more ways to find the right person.
A key feature of FamilySearch is the way that common alternative spellings are automatically included in the results - this is usually an enormous advantage. It's rarely wise to check the 'Use exact spelling' box - we never do!
When you search you can specify either an individual, or an individual plus the head of the household. However the results you get will be for the individual - click Household at the top right of the Individual Record page to see the entire household.
The Household Record page is ideal as the source for your entries at LostCousins. It shows everything you need to enter on your My Ancestors page, including the census references.
FREE CENSUS SEARCHES AT ANCESTRY
All of the censuses we support can be found at Ancestry with the exception of Canada, but only the US 1880 and England & Wales 1881 censuses can be searched free of charge. To search the Scotland census you need to be an Ancestry.co.uk subscriber.
There are numerous search options: for example you can specify the name of a spouse, or the names of a child's parents. Surnames are very frequently spelled incorrectly, so why not try searching by first names alone?
There is an option to use Soundex, but in our experience spelling errors can be so weird that it's usually better to omit the surname altogether, or to use a wildcard character. Try searching just the first three letters of a name, eg GRE* or MAR*
When the search results are presented you'll see 'View Record' at the left, and 'View Image' at the right. Only subscribers can view the handwritten census schedules, so if you click 'View Image' you'll be asked to subscribe.
Fortunately all the information you need to enter on your My Ancestors page is in the transcript, which is displayed when you click 'View Record'. The census references are usually found under 'Source Citation', towards the bottom of the page.
If you're not an Ancestry subscriber but would like to try out Ancestry.co.uk, which has a complete set of England & Wales censuses and a complete set of Scotland census transcripts, see the 30 day trial offer below.
FINDING RELATIVES IN THE US 1880 CENSUS
You can search the 1880 Census completely free of charge at either FamilySearch or Ancestry - and whilst they both have the same information you need to adapt your search strategy to make the most of each site's advantages.
There's a wealth of general guidance about the two sites in the articles above, but there are some extra 'tricks' you can use with the US census. For example, you can specify the birthplace of the parents.
This is another feature which makes it feasible to search using first names alone - for example, in 1880 there were only 14 Williams born in California whose father was born in England and whose mother was born in Scotland.
At Ancestry the National Archives film number is referred to simply as 'Roll'. However it always begins with the prefix T9, so it is easy to spot - remember the census references are found under 'Source Citation'.
The format of the census references is slightly different at the two sites. We've standardised on the simplest version, and your entry will be converted automatically to that format, ie the page number 237.2000 (Ancestry) becomes 237B (as at FamilySearch).
The 1881 Census of Canada was taken on 4th April, and is currently available online only at the free FamilySearch site. Newfoundland was not part of Canada in 1881, so people living there were not included in the census.
The province of birth is shown for those born in Canada - otherwise only the country is given. Additional information in the census includes an individual's ethnic origin (eg Irish, French, Scottish) and religion or religious denomination (Methodist, Baptist, Church of England etc).
These can help confirm that you've found the right entry, and the religious affiliation may also help you trace church records.
Click 'Household' when viewing an individual record to display the Household Record page, which is ideal as the source for your entries at LostCousins. It shows everything you need to enter on your My Ancestors page, including the census references.
Note: if a child's age is less than one it will typically be shown in months as, for example, 3/12. Currently this format is not supported at LostCousins, so please enter it instead as 3m or 3 months.
THREE WAYS TO SEARCH THE SCOTLAND 1881 CENSUS
There are two online sources for the Scotland 1881 Census: Scotlandspeople and Ancestry.co.uk. It is also included in the CD ROM set of the British 1881 census available from FamilySearch.
Sadly none of these sources is free, nor do any of them offer images of the original census pages.
Scotlandspeople is a government website, and this is reflected in the cost of using the site - you have to pay for each record you view, with no option of an unlimited access subscription.
At Ancestry.co.uk there's an indexed transcription of the Scotland census, but you must be a subscriber to access it (as Ancestry also has transcriptions of all the other Scottish censuses it's an option worth considering - see the trial offer below).
Note that the reference described as 'Volume' at Scotlandspeople is called 'Registration Number' at Ancestry, and the format is slightly different.
There are examples of the correct format on the Add Ancestor form. For example, instead of entering 685/5 you should enter 685-5 (which is how it is shown at the official Scotlandspeople site); similarly 232B should be entered as 232-B.
An excellent feature of the Ancestry site is the ability to search by occupation or street address (or both). This also applies to other Scotland censuses at the same site.
The transcription at Scotlandspeople was provided by FamilySearch, and so there are no differences from the information on the CD ROMs. However the Ancestry transcription was compiled independently and there are occasional differences in the data.
If you discover that the information for one of your relatives has been transcribed differently at the two sites please contact us for advice.
ENGLAND & WALES 1881: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES
You can search the 1881 Census of England & Wales completely free of charge at either FamilySearch or Ancestry.co.uk
Both sites use exactly the same transcript, but you will probably find it easier to find your relatives using Ancestry, because of the wider range of search options. In particular you can search for a specific birthplace, rather than simply by county.
By contrast, when searching by birthplace at FamilySearch you're limited to specifying a county, and you can run into unexpected problems if the county was omitted in the census record.
Birthplaces often vary from one census to another. Sometimes this is because a mistake has been made, but often it merely indicates a different degree of precision - a town rather than a village, a parish rather than a hamlet.
When a child leaves home the birthplace on the first census that follows is often incorrect - sometimes the town or village where they grew up is given by mistake.
Another common problem is to find that the birthplace has been entered as the town or village where the person is living - even though they were born somewhere else entirely. Census enumerators can be over-enthusiastic users of ditto marks!
If you prefer to use FamilySearch then the Household Record page is ideal as the source for your entries at LostCousins because it shows everything you need to enter on your My Ancestors page (including the census references).
However, some people find the way in which the references are presented confusing because the piece number is shown on the same line as the folio number, for example:
Piece / Folio: 1969 / 47
In this example the piece number is 1969, and the folio number is 47. By the way, a 'piece' is a bundle of documents (enumeration books in this case) held in the National Archives, and a 'folio' is a single leaf.
The census references are a little harder to find at Ancestry. First you need to click View Record (rather than View Image, which displays the handwritten schedule if you're a subscriber); then look under Source Citation.
A quirk of the Ancestry site is that ages of less than one year are usually omitted from the transcript - so if you search for someone born in 1881 you probably won't find them!
If the age is blank enter it as 0 on your My Ancestors page (or, if you prefer, get the correct age from FamilySearch).
Finally, an excellent feature of the Ancestry site is that you can specify an occupation or street address - enter it in the 'Keywords' box. Sadly this feature doesn't work with the other England & Wales census at Ancestry.
30 DAY FREE TRIAL AT ANCESTRY.CO.UK
If you've got a credit card you can take advantage of the 30-day free trial we've arranged with Ancestry.co.uk - but you must use the special link below, which will take you to a special page on the Ancestry site.
http://www.kqzyfj.com/t3121c-7w36LNTVPTMNLNMQTNQSU
Whilst you WILL need to provide your credit card details, so long as you telephone Ancestry to cancel before the end of the trial, your card will NOT be charged. If you live in the UK even the phone call is free!
During your trial you will have UNLIMITED access to ALL of the Ancestry.co.uk databases including England & Wales censuses from 1841-1901, indexed transcripts of Scotland censuses from 1841-1901, historical telephone directories, and much much more!
It's great opportunity to extend your family tree and find more relatives to enter on your My Ancestors page. Remember that most 'lost cousins' are identified through the brothers, sisters, and cousins who had families of their own by 1881.
400TH ANNIVERSARY OF JAMESTOWN
It's nearly 400 years since 104 colonists from England landed in America at Jamestown, Virginia. Though less than half the colonists survived the first year, Jamestown was England's first successful colony in the New World.
One of the first tasks for the settlers was to build a triangular fort as protection against the indigenous peoples, but it is only in the 1990s that archaeologists discovered the site of the fort. Since then over one million artefacts have been discovered.
We're glad to say that LostCousins' venture into the New World has been less hazardous - indeed the 'natives' have proved extremely friendly. We look forward to welcoming many more new members from the US and Canada in the coming months.
AND FINALLY....
Remember that your chances of finding 'lost cousins' are directly related to the number of relatives that you enter on the My Ancestors page. Twice as many relatives means, on average, twice as many cousins.
If we can double our membership then that also DOUBLES YOUR CHANCES - so wouldn't it be great if every existing member could encourage just one new member to join?
The LostCousins Team
http://www.LostCousins.com
info@LostCousins.com
© Copyright 2007 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?