Newsletter Edition – 1st September 2026
The LostCousins newsletter will be published once or twice a month while we are in transition. To access the previous issue, click here.
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In this edition:
LostCousins Upgrade News
Who’s Who
JUST OUT - Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s The Dover Trunk Murder
Ancestry Offers- UK/ US/ CA/ AU – ACT NOW for these bargains!
All Who Served – a memorial to everyone who served
TheGenealogist: New Records published during August + OFFER: Diamond Subscription for less than Standard!
“The Gift” – A French couple battle to obtain DNA tests
Gardener’s Corner
LostCousins Upgrade News
While I am hoping that members have enjoyed a more leisurely August, the past few weeks have turned exceptionally busy as we plan for important upgrades. LostCousins was first launched in May 2004 at a time when many family historians were still spending more time poring over physical documents than even imagining what might be discovered online. Nearly a quarter of a century later, we are more likely to be asking why something hasn’t already been digitised, such has been the pace of change and expansion in family history research. Similarly, the systems available today are that much more powerful, faster, secure and flexible compared with those that Peter had access to back then. Moving onto better systems for email, the forum, the main website and administration will help everyone get further.
I’m absolutely delighted that Alexander Bisset and Tim Nicholls will be bringing their undoubted expertise in IT management, forum management and family history research into this project. Peter always considered them his best LostCousins allies, and having joined them over the past few weeks to map out the work I can well understand why they are the right people to rebuild LostCousins for and with our community of family historians. From my own professional experience, there is nothing worse than having talented IT experts who nevertheless have no deep understanding of what the users need from a new system. This is why we are so fortunate to have Alexander and Tim with us; at heart they are highly experienced genealogists with years of research experience between them. But we are not rebuilding or rebranding Lost Cousins itself into anything dramatically different; the overarching aim is to significantly improve how LostCousins functions at every level for all members and users.
There are some essential safeguards to get into place before we begin some of this work, and we still have the challenge of maintaining the existing systems and processes while newer ones are developed and tested. Currently we are working to improve the forum and email systems. Forum members might have already noticed that we upgraded the existing software to the latest version last week. Improvements are usually made one step at a time, so please bear with us if there are gaps in performance that haven’t yet been addressed. Believe me – they will all be on the list!
Tim and Alexander would like to encourage members to look around the upgraded forum if they have been invited to join at some point. So, if you haven’t visited the forum for a while, please do so and feel free to contribute your feedback. We hope that you will be pleasantly surprised and keen to join some of the conversations (and maybe even start one of your own!).
In the spirit of keeping everything about LostCousins affordable, there is no crowdfunding appeal or request for donations to the project. However, if you receive a reminder to renew your Friends subscription, the minimum contribution of £10 single, £12.50 joint will be very much appreciated.
Who’s Who
While seasoned members will have been aware that to some extent all three – Peter, Tim and Alexander – were active in keeping LostCousins running, we are now moving into a different era where each of us can specialise more in what we do best. Alexander will be responsible for the bulk of IT development and maintenance; Tim will continue his role as Forum moderator/ manager (noting that their roles occasionally overlap). I will be responsible for the general administrative, financial, legal and external relationship management- and for ensuring that Tim and Alexander have all the resources they need.
JUST OUT - Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s The Dover Trunk Murder
Nathan Dylan Goodwin, whose Morton Farrier novels will be familiar to many LostCousins members, has begun something completely different. The Dover Trunk Murder is the first in his new Fortress Dover series and introduces Detective Inspector Edwin Dalloway, who arrives from Scotland Yard on 3rd August 1914 — the day before Britain was to declare war. That same afternoon a boy walking on Shakespeare Beach finds a severed arm at the waterline. As war breaks out across Europe and Dover transforms into a citadel town, Dalloway begins to suspect that the case in front of him touches something older and more powerful than the war itself — and that solving it may cost more than he would be prepared to give. Although this is a detective novel, Nathan's style of writing will feel very familiar: with no name to work from, no database and, of course, no DNA, Dalloway has to hunt down the killer through workhouse and electoral registers, trade directories, rate books, hotel guest books, amongst other contemporary sources.
The book is available on Kindle and in hardback.
Kindle (worldwide): https://getbook.at/DoverTrunk
Hardback https://getbook.at/Dover-Trunk-Murder-UK
Hardback (worldwide): https://getbook.at/Dover-Trunk-Murder
Nathan has been a regular reader of LostCousins newsletters for some time. His first three books were written about his birth town of Hastings; the first was published in May 2005, just a year after LostCousins was founded. Nathan’s most popular detective Morton Farrier first arrived on the scene in 2013, and he has kept us wonderfully engaged ever since. I’d love to know whether Nathan has incorporated many of Peter’s tips into his own research – and if so, where they might feature in his books. A lot of fine research has gone into this latest novel, and perhaps at some future point Nathan might be willing to tell us more about this aspect. Not just a highly readable novel, but full of genealogical twists and turns to entertain our members. Well done and thank you, Nathan.
Ancestry Offers UK/ US/ CA/ AU – ACT NOW for these bargains!
Ancestry has some terrific special offers available, but you will have to act quickly given the short time windows. Terms apply.
Ancestry UK Membership Offers - including 14 day free trial!
AU Father's Day - save over 50% on AncestryDNA until 6th September!
Ancestry CA: Save up to $75* on AncestryDNA®. Offer ends 9/7/26.
Ancestry US Labor Day Promo '26. Up to 50% off Memberships! Sale ends 9/8.
All Who Served – a memorial to everyone who served
LostCousins member Martyn Dyer recently drew my attention to https://allwhoserved.org.uk, a website dedicated to commemorating British men and women who served in the First and Second World Wars.
The site allows families to create entries that bring together personal stories, photographs, and documents, helping others understand each person’s life before, during, and after wartime service.
Key features include:
- commemorative entries for relatives who served;
- space for photographs and supporting documents;
- personal accounts that preserve family memories;
- a growing collection that reflects the service and sacrifice of ordinary families.
The project was founded and is led by Will Costello. Contributors are encouraged to add entries for their own relatives, and the site may be of particular interest to family historians researching wartime service. Bringing these stories together in one place helps show not only individual service, but also the wider impact of war on families and communities.
Many thanks Martyn – I searched for my father and uncle who both served in the Second World War, but currently there are no entries matching their details. I will make time to add them to the database and share their stories and images, so that their memorial entries will be there for others to discover.
TheGenealogist: New Records published during August + OFFER: Diamond Subscription for less than Standard!
Still on the topic of British military records, TheGenealogist recently let me know that they had released newly digitised regimental histories, wartime despatches and Home Guard records, covering British military service from 1914 to 1950. There are detailed accounts of British regiments, artillery units and Home Guard volunteers, which can reveal where units served, the battles in which they fought, and the conditions experienced by their members. They may also include references to officers, casualties, honours and awards, unit movements and individual acts of bravery. Used alongside medal rolls, casualty lists, newspapers and other sources available on TheGenealogist, you can build a richer picture of your ancestor’s military career.
And then today I received a press release about “Over 300,000 Individuals Released in Parish Records around the Great Fire of London” - and while military history is relevant to my family’s history, my even greater interest in the Great Fire of London compelled me to take a closer look at their description of these newly available records:
TheGenealogist marks the 360th anniversary of the Great Fire of London with a major release. More than 300,000 individuals feature in newly released parish records, alongside contemporary accounts and historical publications revealing the lives of Londoners before, during and after the Great Fire. To coincide with the 360th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, TheGenealogist is releasing a significant collection of London parish and church records. These include registers from parishes devastated by the fire, together with important historical works. The Great Fire began in the early hours of 2 September 1666 and devastated much of the medieval City of London. As well as destroying thousands of homes, the fire consumed numerous churches and transformed the communities at the heart of the capital. This new collection of records covers churches situated in and around the historic City of London, including parishes directly affected by the Great Fire. Some churches were rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, while others disappeared as parishes were united during the reconstruction of the City. The newly released records enable family historians to explore the people who lived, worshipped, married and were buried in these historic London parishes. Spanning more than three centuries, the collection provides valuable evidence from both before and after the Great Fire.
The parish and church records include:
● St Stephen Walbrook and St Benet Sherehog, 1557–1789
● The Registers of St Mary Woolnoth and St Mary Woolchurch Haw, 1538–1760
● The Registers of All Hallows, Bread Street and St John the Evangelist, Friday Street, 1538–1892
● Registers of St Vedast and St Michael, 1558–1837
● The Registers of St Edmund the King and Martyr, Lombard Street, 1670–1812
● London Temple Church Records: Register of Burials, 1628–1853
● Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars: Certificates of Membership and Marriages, Confessions of Guilt and Betrothals, 1568–1872
● Churchyard Inscriptions of London, 1624–1894, containing abstracts of memorial inscriptions from more than 50 City of London churches, recording names, family relationships and burial details that may no longer survive on the original stones.
These records can help researchers uncover baptisms, marriages, burials and other details about London’s inhabitants, allowing families to be traced across one of the most dramatic events in the capital’s history. Among the names found in the newly released records is the baptism of famed poet John Milton, who was born in Bread Street in 1608, less than half a mile from Pudding Lane, where the Great Fire would break out 57 years later. Both his birthplace and the church in which he was baptised were destroyed in the blaze, but luckily the records survived. Read his story here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/paradise-lost-9861/
TheGenealogist is also releasing a selection of historical works that can help researchers understand the streets, churches and neighbourhoods in which their London ancestors lived:
● The Old Churches of London – An extensively illustrated history of the City’s churches, with drawings, engravings and photographs exploring their architecture and appearance, including churches that stood before the Great Fire and those rebuilt in its aftermath.
● Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Volumes I–IV – Pepys’s remarkable first-hand account of life in Restoration London, providing a contemporary view of the streets, people and everyday life of the capital, together with his celebrated eyewitness account of the Great Fire.
● Old and New London, Volumes I–VI – A richly illustrated history of London’s streets, neighbourhoods, churches and landmarks, tracing how areas changed over time and frequently recording what stood there before the Great Fire and what replaced it afterwards. Used alongside the parish records, these works can help family historians move beyond names and dates to build a picture of the London their ancestors would have known and the extraordinary changes they witnessed.
Mark Bayley, Head of Content at TheGenealogist, said:
“The Great Fire is one of the best-known events in London’s history, but these records help us discover the people who actually lived through it. What makes them particularly fascinating is that they allow us to follow London families on either side of the Fire. Combined with Pepys’s eyewitness account and historical works exploring London and its churches, they really bring home the extraordinary scale of the devastation and the impact it had on the communities at the heart of the City.”
The new records and historical works are available now to Diamond subscribers at TheGenealogist.co.uk.
Get Diamond for Less Than Standard - Only £119.95!
For a limited time, save £50 and get a 12 Month Diamond Subscription for less than the price of a Standard subscription - only £119.95 with a FREE 12-month subscription to Discover Your Ancestors Online Magazine (worth £36.00).
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TheGenealogist Offer - Diamond for less than Standard!
“The Gift” – A French couple battle to obtain DNA tests
We have become so used to using home DNA kits that it might be hard to understand why some countries still don’t allow them. Private DNA testing is banned in France and Israel – even though the latter is home to 23andMe, which holds an estimated 30% market share in the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry. Germany requires explicit written consent of all parties involved for private genetic testing. Mainly these prohibitions are in place to protect the privacy of individuals, and they do not usually apply to genetic testing for medical, scientific, criminal investigation, family law or other court-ordered purposes. I now recall that when a friend and émigré to France asked several years ago if I would “pop an Ancestry DNA kit in the post” to her, Peter became very agitated and told me that “we cannot engage in criminal activity, even to please a friend.” We have always kept a small supply of DNA kits here; a request from a family member or friend was not unusual, but Peter’s reaction certainly was!
More recently, a young couple in France found themselves unable to legally use DNA kits to establish whether, as children who were both donor-conceived in Paris, they were siblings or not. This mattered because they desperately wanted to marry. The identity of sperm donors is also legally protected in France, and as only two sperm banks existed in Paris at the time when they were both conceived, the risk of them being closely related seemed significant. The story of how they managed to discover the truth and whether they could marry is covered in some detail in this BBC News article or (for non-UK readers without a BBC subscription) you can read a shorter version here: whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine "The Gift".
The laws prohibiting the use of private DNA kits were introduced in 1994 in France, and in 2000 in Israel - long before these kits became so popular in many other countries. The BBC article reports that through their sustained efforts, Audrey and Arthur contributed to changes in French donor-conception laws which now enable people conceived after April 2025 to access identifying information about their donors when they reach adulthood.
Gardener’s Corner
I am not going to write a gardening article every month in a newsletter for family historians! But perhaps you can indulge me on this very special occasion when it rained in Essex, UK for the first time in weeks on end as I was starting to write this newsletter last Thursday. And as luck would have it, this coincided with roof replacement work over the main kitchen/ breakfast room, where the breakfast bar is now my office. The roof directly above me was completely stripped and then covered in weatherproof sheeting ahead of a truly biblical downpour and subsequent showery days. As well as rescuing many of my older shrubs, the rain has also saved me the effort of car washing - mindful that we still have a hosepipe ban in force which only permits one bucket of water for washing and another for rinsing.
But I do have one key tip about what we can all do to make our gardens more sustainable wherever in the world we are. The most crucial realisation for me this summer was that the twice-yearly mulching of my shrub beds that I started a few years ago has tipped the balance towards recovery instead of desiccated disaster. This is not simply a matter of preventing evaporation – there is a “deeper” purpose. The clay soil common to my area of East Anglia becomes a sticky sump in winter which can freeze or rot roots during plant dormancy; in the summer it bakes hard, can crack wide open and expose roots to hot, dry air. Once it dries out, it can take weeks to rehydrate. Similarly, soil that drains too easily can be difficult to keep moist enough during heatwaves even if that drainage is more helpful during cold, wet weather.
The answer for both extremes is to apply 2” layers of mulch in Spring and Autumn, so that it breaks down into the soil to create a better balance between too-dry and too-wet while adding vital nutrients. When applied over several years, the result is a better-balanced soil which will protect and nourish your plants for longer during weather extremes. Mulch can be bagged or homemade compost, bark or wood chip (season it for a year before applying if homemade), shredded card/ paper, straw – any combination. Two thin layers are better than an annual dumping of too much, which might raise nitrogen or acidity levels uncomfortably high. And never pile mulch close to the base of your plants; leave a 2-3” circumference clear of mulch to prevent infection or rot. The same principle applies to container gardening; these days I even use giant pot saucers under bigger containers in summer and then remove them in winter.
For UK based gardeners, Gardening Direct has an offer to help fill the borders and containers for Autumn colour- which sounds very tempting after weeks of sand coloured grass. The offer runs until 4th October -ample time to reimagine, order and plant up!
Gardening Direct Voucher Codes to apply at checkout:
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Code & Promotion |
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AF10GDQ3 |
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AF12GD50Q3 |
And finally….
Thank you for continuing to support and engage with Lost Cousins, especially while we make the website and forum more user friendly and exciting to use. We are looking forward to providing more newsletter updates as the project unfolds – so remember to check for our Latest Newsletter on the home page on or around 1st of each month!
Siân Lloyd
LostCousins
© Copyright 2026 Siân Lloyd
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