6 July 2007 LostCousins Newsletter

LostCousins - putting relatives in touch

JULY 2007 NEWSLETTER - BRITISH EDITION

LostCousins members have 60,327,945 relatives in their family trees according to our latest estimate!

Two-thirds of our members live in the UK, and over 80% have British ancestry, so if your ancestors were living in Britain in 1881 we CAN find your 'lost cousins' - given the chance.

What might stop us finding your 'lost cousins'?

That's an easy one to answer: for us to be able to identify two members who are cousins, BOTH members need to have entered the same relative on their My Ancestors page.

Therefore the more relatives you're able to enter from the 1881 Census, the more likely it is that some of them have also been entered by your cousins. If so, there will be an IMMEDIATE MATCH when you click the Search button!

Once you're entered all of the relatives that you can find on the 1881 Census why not ask for help finding the others? Email us with 'Help wanted' as the subject.

We're very proud that LostCousins is one of the first British genealogy websites to expand into North America - it generally works the other way round. But we don't want to bore you with information that isn't relevant to your research.

Starting with this issue we're going to be sending different versions of our newsletter to members, depending on where you live. The newsletter you're reading now is primarily for members with British ancestry.

For the North American edition log-in at LostCousins then go to:

http://www.LostCousins.com/pages/members/0707_1na.pdf

We'll be introducing other international versions as our coverage expands. (Note: members in Australia recently received an email regarding our plans there - We'll be making another announcement in the near future.)

HOW TO LOG-IN

To log-in at http://www.LostCousins.com you'll need your email address and password. If you can't remember your password, click where it says "Forgotten your password?" on the home page.

IN YOUR JULY NEWSLETTER

10 TIPS AND TRICKS

Over the past 3 years we've added numerous features to the LostCousins website, almost all of them in response to suggestions from our members. Here's a reminder of some of the clever things you can do - thanks to those great suggestions!

#1: WOULDN'T IT BE GOOD if you could see at a glance which of your ancestors had maiden names or baptism dates recorded? Well you can - click 'More detail' near the top of your My Ancestors page, and a new window will open with more detailed information.

#2: HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO transfer the information to Excel? You can do that too - using the same display copy the information to the clipboard, then paste it into a blank worksheet.

#3: IS THERE A TICK against one of the relatives on your My Ancestors page? Did you know that when you click the tick you'll see a list of the cousins who have entered that relative?

#4: DID YOU KNOW that clicking the + symbol alongside a relative on your My Ancestors page allows you to add someone from the same household in a fraction of the time? Usually you only need to enter their first name and age - which takes about 10 seconds.

#5: WOULD YOU LIKE TO know which relatives you share with a cousin - or with a new contact? Just go to your My Cousins page and click on the entry in the 'Common relatives' column - we'll even tell you how the other person is related to each!

#6: ARE YOU UNSURE who is regarded as a Direct Ancestor? Just print out the blank Ancestor Chart we provide and fill it in - everyone on that chart is a direct ancestor of yours.

#7: ANCESTOR NUMBERS are very useful because they indicate where each direct ancestor fits on your tree - read them off the Ancestor Chart and enter in the box provided on the 'Add an Ancestor' (or 'Edit Ancestor') form. (Note: the posh name is Ahnentafel)

#8: FEMALE RELATIVES who may have married before the 1881 Census are hard to find, so try looking for them in the Index of Maiden Names - thanks to LostCousins members there are more than 100,000 entries!

#9: MAIDEN NAMES that you enter are added to the Index of Maiden Names immediately, making it easier for your cousins to find the relatives that you and they share. But please don't enter a maiden name for a spinster - that will just confuse people.

#10: CORRECTED SURNAMES are added to our Index of Incorrect Surnames at the end of the month - they also make it easier for your cousins to find you.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: 25% DISCOUNT AT ORIGINS

We've arranged discount offers at the Origins Network before, but for the very first time we're able to offer a 25% discount on all of their subscriptions!

This offer is ONLY for readers of the LostCousins newsletter, and you must enter the special code below. The offer starts immediately, and will last until midnight (London time) on Friday 20 July.

Many of the online databases are EXCLUSIVE to the Origins Network. The collections include:

- The largest online index of pre-1837 English marriages
- Wills
- Apprentice records
- Court records
- Property records
- Irish census records
- Boyd's London Inhabitants
- Passenger lists

- British & Irish Galleries
- Griffith's Valuation (Irish census substitute)
- Complete 1841 & 1861 England and Wales censuses with images

To take advantage of this offer, simply enter the code: LCJULY in the promotional code box on the sign-up page, or in the shopping cart before you check out!

For full details of how to sign up, and to learn more about what is available we suggest you visit:

http://www.originsnetwork.com

LATEST RESEARCH: TWINS HAVE FEWER CHILDREN

Research carried out at the University of Sheffield using data from old Finnish parish records suggests that a woman who has a twin brother is less likely to marry, and less likely to bear children.

Mothers in the study who produced twins of the opposite gender had on average 19% fewer grandchildren than mothers whose twins were both boys, or both girls.

Are there any twins in your family tree? It would be interesting to know whether the data that LostCousins members have collected supports the published research.

FEATURE: THE INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX

One of the most valuable resources for family historians is the International Genealogical Index (usually referred to as the IGI).

Compiled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), it is online at the free FamilySearch site. The British Isles is very well represented - not just England & Wales, but Scotland and Ireland too.

http://www.familysearch.org

There are two types of entry, and it's important to distinguish between them. Many were transcribed from baptism and marriage registers by volunteers as part of a systematic project. These entries were carefully checked and are almost always accurate.

Other entries have been submitted later by individual members of the Church, and usually appear with the note "Record submitted after 1991 by a member of the LDS Church ".

Such entries are sometimes no more than speculative guesses, and this is most obvious when no precise date and location are given, or a place name appears instead of a church name. In these circumstances it is best to completely disregard the entry.

It is very important to note that the IGI is a partial index - some parishes are not covered at all, perhaps because the registers were lost, or otherwise unavailable, or because permission was not granted for them to be copied.

Other parishes are included only for certain periods. For many parishes the transcriptions end when civil registration began (1837 in England & Wales, 1855 in Scotland).

The easiest way to find out whether the parish you're interested in is included for the relevant period is to visit Hugh Wallis's site (see your My Links page). However, even if the parish is included the entry you're looking for may have been omitted.

Occasionally over half of the entries for a year are missing, so the fact that you can't find your ancestor in the index doesn't necessarily mean that the record isn't in the register (though it is usually a strong indication).

Once you have found an entry in the IGI it's always a good idea to get a copy of the source record if you can - which may means a trip to the records office or archives holding the relevant register.

But there are also hundreds of LDS Family History Centres around the world which can usually obtain microfilm copies of registers on your behalf at a very low cost.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp

These centres are open to all researchers, not just members of the church and wherever you are in the world there's a good chance you'll find one near you!

Once reason for checking the source is that the IGI doesn't usually give the entire register entry. For example, after 1813 baptism registers for England & Wales show the father's address and occupation - but you won't see this information in the IGI.

Similarly, from 1753 onwards marriage registers in England & Wales show the signatures of all the participants, including the witnesses. Knowing if someone could sign their own name can be a valuable clue, especially when the surname is a common one.

The IGI is an incredibly valuable resource, one that it's well worth getting to know. (We'd recommend reading the help information - click "Tips on How to Search the International Genealogical Index" on the IGI Search page.)

For example, when you've found the baptism of one of your ancestors, it is very easy to search for other children of the same parents. Do bear in mind, though, that the mother's maiden name is only shown in a minority of entries.

Last, but not least - when you're using FamilySearch always search the resources individually. Though tempting, the "All Resources" Search never delivers the best results.

NEW SOFTWARE: ONLINE FAMILY TREE GOES LIVE

The best online family tree software we've ever seen is now available at the Findmypast site - and it's free! Check it out now at:

http://www.findmypast.com

NEW DATA: OUTGOING PASSENGER LISTS 1920-29

Also new at Findmypast are the Outgoing Passenger Lists for 1920-29. This brings the total number of entries from 1890-1929 to over 15 million, from an amazing 97,614 lists.

Can you imagine what it must have been like trying to search them before they were digitised and transcribed? Now, thanks to the collaboration between the National Archives and Findmypast it takes just seconds.

CHARITY OFFER: LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS

Last year we raised hundreds of pounds for local and national charities with our LostCousins Christmas cards, so we've decided to use the exclusive 'Peace' design again this year.

There is a limited supply of cards, so please get your order in now (unfortunately because of the cost of postage we can only despatch to UK addresses). Full ordering details and a picture of the card are on our website at:

http://www.lostcousins.com/peace.htm

We will commence despatching cards in the week commencing 16 July. All profits from the cards you buy will go to the charity you select.

REMINDER: ONLINE COURSES FROM THE EXPERTS AT PHAROS

Last month we introduced you to the experts at Pharos Tutors, who offer the leading online courses for those researching their British ancestry.

If you book and pay for a Pharos course before the end of July, then provided you quote your personal code (on your My Summary page) you'll get a free 12 month subscription to LostCousins worth 10 pounds.

To find out more about the range of courses on offer visit:

http://www.PharosTutors.com

If you don't have a copy to hand, please ask for a copy of our Midsummer newsletter, which also included an article by Sherry Irvine, one of the senior tutors at Pharos.

AND FINALLY....

We mentioned at the beginning 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.

What we didn't say is the relatives most likely to lead to 'lost cousins' are the ones just off your direct line - typically your great-great aunts and uncles, and great-great-great aunts and uncles. Let us know if you need help finding them!

The LostCousins Team

Converted in September 2026 from the PDF edition of this newsletter (0707_1.pdf), the only copy that survives.