Newsletter – 8th January
2024
Highlights of 2023:
Fact and Fiction
Time to choose your
prizes NEW ADDITIONS
How to enter the
competition – and how to win!
The difference
between ‘late’ and ‘formerly’
Missing score highlights
wills conundrum
The LostCousins
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The
start of a new calendar year provides us with a chance to do things a little differently.
The older we get the more likely it is that we fall into a rut, blindly heading
in the same direction even though there are more fruitful opportunities to the
side – so a change of approach might be what is required to knock down our
highest ‘brick walls’.
There
is nobody who knows your family tree better than YOU – congratulations! But
before you get too smug, I must point out that the only people who have exactly the same family tree are your siblings, so there ain’t a lot of competition.
You’re
probably wondering what the point of this article is…. I want to remind you that
whilst you might be the world expert on your family tree as a
whole, there are bound to be people out there who know more about
certain parts of your tree than you do!
That
doesn’t mean they’re better researchers than you: it’s just that they’ve spent
more time focusing on a particular ancestral line than you have. Or they’ve
approached a problem from a different angle, avoiding the roadblocks that have
prevented you from progressing.
Who
are those people? They’re your ‘lost cousins’ – the experienced family
historians who not only share some of your ancestors, but
are also researching them.
Make
2024 the year when you reach out to your ‘lost cousins’ by entering as many as
possible of your relatives who were recorded in the censuses, ideally the 1881
censuses. And remember, ALL of your living cousins are
descended from collateral lines, so don’t expect to get matches with your
direct ancestors, it’s their siblings and cousins who are most likely to be
your ‘lost cousins’.
Highlights of 2023: Fact and Fiction
A
year ago I wrote in the first newsletter of my hopes
for 2023:
Researchers
with ancestors from Scotland have benefited from instant online access to
historic register entries for as long as I can remember, but even though the
historic birth and death registers for England & Wales were digitised 15
years ago, we’ve had to make do with PDFs – which typically take around a week
to arrive – and that’s only been an option since 2016.
Let’s
hope that things change for the better in 2023!
Of
course, what I couldn’t tell you then – because I was sworn to secrecy – was
that I’d been involved in a trial of the new Online View service since 2021. But
on 6th July last year I was finally able to reveal all – and for many
of us family history will never be the same again. A few days later I followed
up with this step-by-step guide
to ordering online images, which I know many of you found easier to follow than
the instructions on the GRO website.
Earlier
in the year Ancestry made Hampshire parish registers available online and secured
the contract to put Suffolk registers online – something that I, for one, am
looking forward to! Then in November the GRO greatly expanded the range of
death entries available through the Online View service.
I
had the pleasure of reviewing some excellent genealogy mysteries in 2023 from
some of my favourite authors, including The Irish Convict – the latest
instalment in the Jayne Sinclair series – from author MJ Lee (you can read my
review here),
and the next novel in the Esme Quentin series from Wendy Percival, The
Scourge of the Skua (reviewed here).
And to mark the 10th anniversary of the first Morton Farrier novel
there was a fascinating novella from the pen of Nathan Dylan Goodwin – one which
echoed a true story I featured in the same issue of the newsletter (you’ll find
it here).
But,
for me, the highlight of 2023 was the return of Lydia Silverstream, in DJ
Wiseman’s Old Wrongs – I found the characters, the locations and, above
all, the story so compelling that I didn’t want it to end. You’ll find my
review here.
On
1st May 2024 LostCousins will be 20 years old – just a blip on the
genealogical scale, perhaps, but we began almost 6 months before one of the biggest
events in genealogical history. I’m talking, of course, about the launch of Who
Do You Think You Are?,
the TV programme that boosted interest in genealogy in the UK and in many other
countries.
Over
the past two decades I’ve spoken many times to family history societies, but
now is the time for the roles to be reversed: in 2024 I’m going to be inviting
family history societies to explain to LostCousins members over Zoom what they
can offer to researchers who have ancestors from the county or area that they serve.
Time to choose your prizes NEW
ADDITIONS
There
are hundreds of prizes to be won in this year’s competition – which ends on 31st
January. But you’ll only be considered for prizes if you’ve completed your My
Prizes page – and, of course, if you’ve entered the competition by adding
to your My Ancestors page since the last competition end on 31st
January 2023.
I’ve
been asked by a couple of members why entries from the 1881 censuses count
double – it’s to emphasise how much more likely your cousins are to find you
when you use this census. And someone also asked why only ‘blood relatives’ and
‘direct ancestors’ count – well, that’s because the primary objective of
LostCousins is to connect cousins, people who potentially share the same DNA.
Note:
to access the My Prizes page, or any other page with a name which begins ‘My’
you’ll need to be logged into your LostCousins account – they’re personal to
you so the website needs to know who you are.
Here
are the wonderful prizes you can win in this year’s competition (you’ll find
the newest additions at the end of the list):
12
MONTH FINDMYPAST PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION – NORMALLY £199.99
A
Findmypast Premium subscription offers exclusive online access to the 1921
England & Wales census, as well as billions of other records from Britain
and around the world – including Catholic records that you won’t find anywhere
else. The winner will also be able to search more than 70 million pages from the
historic newspapers in the British Newspaper Archive – by far the largest online
collection of British newspapers.
Tip:
Findmypast have recently upgraded their newspaper search
12
MONTH DIAMOND SUBSCRIPTION TO THE GENEALOGIST – NORMALLY £139.95
With
the biggest online collection of tithe maps and tithe records, and a growing
collection of maps and records from the ‘Lloyd George Domesday’ survey of
1910-15, The Genealogist offers the opportunity to discover records that you
won’t find anywhere else. It’s also a
great place to find missing ancestors in the England & Wales censuses,
because not only does The Genealogist have better quality images of many census
records, there are search features that you won’t find
elsewhere.
Tip:
try the Map Explorer
12
MONTH UK SUBSCRIPTION TO WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? MAGAZINE
I’ve
read every single issue since the magazine was first published, and I always
learn something new. If you live in the UK this is your chance to get a free 13-issue
subscription – like many modern magazines WDYTYA? is published at
4-weekly intervals.
ANCESTRY
UK DNA KIT (RRP £79 plus shipping) – donated by Peter
If you’ve yet to take
a DNA test, or tested with a different company – as I did
back in 2012, long before Ancestry began selling their test in the UK – this is
a chance to discover just how much difference it can make. Whether your aim is
to knock down ‘brick walls’, or simply to verify your
records-based research using evidence that cannot be falsified, you will be
amazed by the results – provided, of course, you follow the advice in my DNA
Masterclass.
Or
perhaps you’ve taken the test yourself, but would like
to enlist the help of one of your cousins. With DNA the real challenge is
figuring out which of your matches share each of your ‘brick walls’, and
comparing your matches with those of a cousin who shares a particular ‘brick wall’
helps enormously. But don’t make it a close cousin as they share too many of
your ancestral lines – 3rd and 4th cousins are ideal.
Note:
If you live outside the UK please nominate a cousin in the UK – should you be lucky
enough to win.
EXCLUSIVE
ZOOM PRESENTATIONS
As
in previous years I have secured the services of some extremely-knowledgeable
speakers who are experts in their field. Attendance at the talks is limited to
ensure that members of the audience who wish to ask questions are able to do so – whether or not you are invited will
depend partly on how highly you have rated the talk on your My Prizes
page, and partly on how many entries you’ve made.
Zoom
software can be downloaded free of charge, or you can view the presentation in
your browser. You don’t need a camera (or even a microphone)
but you need to have a screen and speakers.
Put
it another way, if you can watch a YouTube video and hear the sound, you have
everything you need.
Allow
an hour to an hour-and-half for the talk and questions.
Professor Rebecca
Probert
will be giving an exclusive Zoom presentation entitled Why EVERY family
historian needs to know the history of family law at 10am (London time)
on Saturday 10th February.
As
the author of Marriage
Law for Genealogists Professor Probert is the leading expert in a field
that is incredibly important to everyone with English or Welsh ancestry.
Understanding why our ancestors married when and where they did, or why they
didn’t marry, is fundamental to our research. Although I have had the privilege
of hearing Professor Probert speak on many occasions over the past 10 years, I
can honestly say that I learned something new every time – it is such a fertile
field of study.
Dave Annal worked for The National Archives for
many years, and is now a professional genealogist and author
– but he’s also known to many as the presenter of Setting the Record
Straight, a series of short YouTube films which take a new look at old
records.
At
10am (London time) on Thursday 15th February Dave will be leading a Zoom
seminar on the subject of Misinformation
and What YOU Can Do About It.
Incorrect
information whether in trees, books, are even parish registers presents a
problem that we all have to face, and after showing a
brief video we’ll be opening the discussion up to the audience – we want to
know what problems misinformation has caused for you, and how you dealt with
them. Were you able to persuade someone to change their tree?
I’ve also secured the
support of another very popular speaker, Jackie Depelle,
who is going to be talking over Zoom about Ideas for Researching
Non-conformist ancestors (one of many topics listed on Jackie’s website).
Did
you know that the religious census of 1851 found that around half of those who
attended church were non-conformists? For many of us this could explain why we haven’t
found our ancestor’s baptism.
Jackie
will be speaking over Zoom at 4pm (London time) on Friday 1st March,
and there will be an opportunity for those attending to ask questions. I’ll be
there – but will you?
NEW
TALKS ADDED
For
the first time prize-winners can choose from talks given by the husband and wife team behind LostCousins – I’ll be talking
about DNA and answering questions from the audience, whilst Siân will answer
questions about gardening. Please submit your questions in advance,
and keep them short – there is a space for comments against each entry
on your My Prizes page.
DNA for Beginners means just that – it’s
primarily for those of you who are still wondering how DNA might help your
research, as well as which test would be the best one to take, and why (the
test that looks best in theory may not be the one that works best in practice).
However if you have already tested, but don’t have a
clue what to do with the results, you will also find it useful.
I’ll
be speaking at 10am (London time) on Wednesday 14th February.
Gardening
Question Time
provides you with an opportunity to put your gardening questions to Siân. As with
the radio programme with a similar name, questions should be submitted in
advance, so that the best use can be made of the time available.
Sian
will be speaking at 10am (London time) on Friday 16th February.
Remember,
unless you log into your LostCousins account and indicate on your My Prizes
page which of the fantastic prizes on offer are of most interest to you – you
won’t be considered for any of the prizes!
How to enter the competition – and how to win!
LostCousins
was founded in 2004 to do one thing, and one thing only – provide family
historians around the world who were researching the same ancestors with an
opportunity to connect and collaborate. Making those connections requires both
parties to have entered the same relative from the same census – and to have
entered the same data for that relative (which is why it’s so important to
follow the advice on the Add Ancestor form!).
Adding
relatives to your My Ancestors page doesn’t help me, but it does help
your cousins. So a few years ago I started running
annual competitions over the Christmas and New Year period in order to
encourage members to connect with their cousins during the season of goodwill.
To
enter the competition simply add your ancestors, their siblings, and their
cousins to your My Ancestors page, ideally using the 1881 Census – since
that’s the census your cousins are most likely to have used. Even if your own ancestors
migrated long before 1881, you can still enter the
relatives who stayed behind (and/or their descendants).
Every
direct ancestor and blood relative you enter between now and the end of this
month will count as a competition entry, as will the relatives you have added
since January last year. Relatives from the 1881 censuses will count double, to
reflect the increased chance of these entries matching your cousins’ entries.
A
good strategy is to start with all the relatives you know about in 1841,
whether you have found them on that census or not, then follow each branch and
twig through to 1881 (typically you’ll end up with 3 or 4 times as many
relatives as you started with). Enter the relatives you’ve found in the 1881
Census and click the Search button on your My Ancestors page to make
the connections with your ‘lost cousins’.
In
the January 2024 issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine there’s an
interesting article about the GRO. It begins with news of the expansion in death
records available through the Online View service, and as this is something you
will have read about in my newsletter dated 15th November you might
have decided to skip the second half of the article. Fortunately I didn’t…..
It
appears that in 2020 the Home Office (of which the GRO is part) carried out an
Impact Assessment which looked at the costs and benefits of providing an Online
View service – you’ll find the document here.
Included in the document is a figure of over £40 million for digitising historic
registers, and since the historic birth and death registers have already been
digitised (up to 1934 and 1957 respectively) one might assume that most of that
figure is for the digitisation of marriage registers.
The
super-sleuths at Who Do You Think You Are? have found another
interesting document online, a tender for scanning and transcription services
with a stated value of £38m – you’ll find it here.
So can we look forward to marriages going online? Perhaps – but not
just yet, because the contract lasts for 5 years.
The
difference between ‘late’ and ‘formerly’
Suppose
that the mother’s name on a birth certificate is
shown as Doris White, late Brown, formerly Black – would you know which, if any,
was the surname she was ‘born’ with?
In
this example, White is her current surname, so probably her husband’s surname; Brown
is a surname she used previously, perhaps during previous marriage; Black is her maiden
surname – the surname she was using immediately prior to her first marriage (but
not necessarily the surname she acquired when she was born).
When
you see three surnames like that it’s fairly easy to
work out what they mean, but if you came across this birth entry you might not
find it so easy:
Recorded
in the first year of civil registration the word ‘formerly’ doesn’t appear, but
‘late’ does. Does this mean that they weren’t married? In fact
they were married – they married at Preston in 1833 – but when this birth was
indexed by the GRO (or, more likely, by contractors) the maiden surname field
was left blank.
Examining
other entries from the same register office at around the same time shows that
Thomas Green, the registrar, routinely wrote ‘late’ rather than ‘formerly’ –
and he probably wasn’t the only one. As I’ve demonstrated in previous articles,
the early days of civil registration were like the Wild West – there was a lack
of consistency.
So when you see an entry in the GRO’s new online birth
indexes which doesn’t show a mother’s maiden name, don’t assume that the mother
wasn’t married to the father!
Missing score highlights wills conundrum
This
article about
the search for a missing Gilbert & Sullivan score highlighted the
importance of original documents, something that has been thrust into the
spotlight by the proposal
to digitize post-1858 wills and then dispose of them.
This is where any major updates and corrections will be
highlighted - if you think you've spotted an error first reload the newsletter
(press Ctrl-F5) then
check again before writing to me, in case someone else has beaten you to
it......
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2024 Peter Calver
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