Our Goal

LostCousins is about bringing people together, not just people who share an interest in family history, but people with a shared interest in the same families, people who share the same DNA.

There was a time when the only people who were interested in genealogy were those who came from 'noble' families. The sequencing of the human genome and advances in DNA testing have underlined the fact that we all of us, no matter how humble our origins, inherit many of our characteristics from our parents and grandparents, as they did from their own parents and grandparents.

So far as we know, the LostCousins team do not share any genes. But we do share a common goal: to enrich the lives of as many people as possible, by putting them in touch with their 'lost cousins'. Everyone who registers with LostCousins is helping us to work towards that goal, and we welcome your suggestions for additions and improvements to the site.

Management

Peter Calver provided the original inspiration for LostCousins, and is currently Managing Director of Lost Cousins Ltd.

In 1978 he founded one of the first companies to publish software for home computers, and this grew to become one of the UK's leading developers of sports simulations - and the world's leading developer of cricket games. One of Peter's most prized possessions is a cricket bat signed for him by Brian Lara - and his proudest moment was when he shook hands with Sir Stanley Matthews for the first time.

After selling the software development business Peter studied at the Open University Business School, gaining an MBA in 1999. Since then he has been running Innovations Unlimited, a creativity consultancy, and researching his family tree. Peter has been interviewed on radio or TV many times, and occasionally gives short talks on family history.

Fintan Lambe is IT Director of Lost Cousins Ltd, and the Founder and Managing Director of Popcorn Web Design Ltd which developed and maintains the LostCousins site.

"The first thing that struck me about the Internet was its immediacy. I was bowled over by the idea that you create an image, post it on the Internet and within an hour it could be seen and used by anybody in the whole world. My immediate thought was: I could do that for clients. The LostCousins project takes this several steps further and puts real people in touch with relatives they didn't know existed!"

Siān Lloyd is a non-executive Director of Lost Cousins Ltd. Formerly UK Director of Operations for a Los Angeles-based investment bank, she has an MBA, and is a Master Practitioner and Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming.