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Newsletter – 6th June 2025

 

 

AI and genealogy: is it a good thing?

How can AI best help genealogists?

Mixing fact and fiction

Who murdered the Princes in the Tower?

From a family history society….

Ancestors from Essex BOOK NOW

Tied up in Notts?

Save on AncestryDNA ENDS SOON

Was your ancestor a civil servant?

Don’t forget the 1915 Register!

Who Do You Think you Are?

Gardeners Corner

Peter’s Tips

Stop Press

 

The LostCousins newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue (dated 19th May) click here; to find earlier articles use the customised Google search between this paragraph and the next (it searches ALL of the newsletters since February 2009, so you don't need to keep copies):

 

 

To go to the main LostCousins website click the logo at the top of this newsletter. If you're not already a member, do join - it's FREE, and you'll get an email to alert you whenever there's a new edition of this newsletter available!

 

 

AI and genealogy: is it a good thing?

A number of members have written to ask my opinion of AI – is it a good thing for genealogists, or will it simply spread misinformation?

 

Artificial intelligence has been with us for a long time. When I bought my first computer back in 1978, one of the few programs available was a chess program – which can’t have been very sophisticated considering that it ran in just 8k of memory, but it still beat me!

 

Chess was, for a long time, the benchmark for artificial intelligence – you probably remember the explosion of publicity when IBM’s Deep Blue program beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. What makes the latest generation of AIs different is their ability to apply their skills to different types of problem: for example, back in 2022 I invited ChatGPT to write an article for this newsletter – you can see what the AI came up with here.

 

Over the past three years more general-purpose AIs have become available. A recent survey in Computeractive magazine rated Google’s Gemini the best of the current bunch, and so I set it to work writing an article for the newsletter: you can see the result here. Whilst it’s not what I would have written, I think you’ll agree that it’s much more impressive than the 2022 article.

 

However, what you really want to know is how AI can help you research your family tree…..

 

 

How can AI best help genealogists?

According to Gemini, AI offers genealogists a powerful suite of tools to enhance their research, break through "brick walls," and present their findings in new and engaging ways. However, it also comes with potential pitfalls that require careful consideration:

 

How AI Can Best Help Genealogists:

 

Possible Pitfalls of AI in Genealogy:

 

In conclusion, AI is a powerful assistant for genealogists, automating tedious tasks and offering new avenues for discovery. However, it is crucial to approach AI with a critical mindset, understanding its limitations, always verifying AI-generated information with original sources, and being mindful of the ethical and privacy implications. AI should augment human genealogical expertise, not replace it.

 

Note: this article was written by Google’s Gemini AI.

 

 

Mixing fact and fiction

It doesn’t take an AI to make a mistake in a family tree, and if there’s one thing that annoys family historians more than any other, it’s discovering an error in someone else’s tree that completely misrepresents one of their own ancestors. Either they’re shown as married to the wrong person, born to the wrong parents, or killed off before they can have children of their own.

 

But before you lambast the person who has ‘stolen’ your ancestor, try to look at it from their point of view – their interpretation might be perfectly valid given the fact available to them. For example, it took me nearly 20 years to work out who the parents of my great-great grandmother were, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of DNA (plus the co-operation of more than a dozen cousins). If all I had to rely on were the records, the solution I spotted recently in other person’s tree would not only have been perfectly feasible, it would have seemed more likely.

 

I’d much rather someone made an honest mistake than do what so many family historians are guilty of: mixing fact with fiction. I can understand why they feel compelled to do it – if you write a family history which sticks to what you actually know it can seem rather dry – but is it really necessary to intermingle fact and fiction in such a way that readers can’t be sure which is which? Accounts dotted with imagined dialogue or assumed emotions (“she must have felt…”) might be more readable, but we can’t possibly know how someone felt 150 or 200 years ago unless they left a diary or some other account – surely we can only know how we might have felt in their place?

 

Many family tree programs attempt to put people’s lives into historical context by showing the dates of historical events, and this is also a temptation for those of us writing about our own ancestors – and yet many of the events in the history books would have passed them by. We rely on newspapers, TV, radio, and (increasingly) the Internet for information but, until the invention of the telegraph, long-distance communications were fragmented and limited to visual devices with a limited range, such as smoke signals, mirrors, beacons, and semaphores.

 

Most of our ancestors existed in a fascinating middle ground between being directly affected by major historical events and remaining surprisingly insulated from them: their experience varied enormously depending on geography, social class, occupation, and the nature of the events themselves.

 

Often local events would have had far more impact than a distant battle: the opening of a toll road, the collapse of a bridge, or the appointment of a new vicar. Yet it’s the battles and coronations that tend to be recorded for posterity.

 

This disconnect between historical significance and lived experience is why genealogical research often reveals ancestors whose lives seem to flow around major events rather than being defined by them. Their stories remind us that most of human experience has always been remarkably local and personal, even in times of war.

 

Note: in writing this article I drew upon ideas collected by Claude AI.

 

 

Who murdered the Princes in the Tower?

When it comes to separating fact from fiction, the story of the two young Princes imprisoned in the Tower of London by Richard III in 1483 is a prime example of how easily the boundary can be blurred. I first encountered the tale on a visit to the Tower of London in the late 1950s, where I also learned about the two skeletons found in 1674 and which were assumed by many to be those of the unfortunate Princes.

 

The first written account of their deaths was in an unfinished biography of Richard III written between 1513-18 by Thomas More, who from 1529-35 was Lord Chancellor of England. He claimed that the boys were murdered by two servants on the orders of Richard III, and it was his version of the story that inspired William Shakespeare’s retelling in Richard III. Prior to his execution in 1502 Sir James Tyrell allegedly confessed to organising the murders on Richard’s behalf, and a document found in The National Archives at Kew seems to support this story (see this article for more details and this, more academic, article for earlier research by the same historian)

 

I didn’t learn much from studying history at school (which is why I failed my O-level), but I do remember being told about Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel – even I couldn’t forget names like that! Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard, Duke of York – the younger of the two Princes – but was executed in 1499 after several unsuccessful attempts to invade England and seize the crown from Henry VII (who succeeded Richard III). Lambert Simnel had been the figurehead of an earlier insurrection, but was spared execution because of his youth, living out his life as a servant in the Royal Household.

 

Philippa Langley was involved in the discovery of the remains of Richard III under a Leicester car park, but felt sidelined by the academics from the University of Leicester – the 2022 film The Lost King puts her side of the story. According to an online article published last month she has been researching the Princes in the Tower for the past 10 years, and has come to the surprising conclusion that Lambert Simnel was the uncrowned Edward V, and Perkin Warbeck really was Richard, his younger brother.

 

Part of her argument is that if Richard III had ordered the killing of the Princes it would have made sense for him to display their dead bodies. But back in 2014, after listening to Alison Weir speak about her book on Elizabeth of York (who was not only the wife of Henry VII, but also the sister of the Princes in the Tower), I suggested that the two Princes might have died of a childhood infection, putting Richard III in an awkward position – since he could well have been accused of murdering them. Alison Weir didn’t think much of my hypothesis and nor, I suppose, would Philippa Langley – but I don’t think it’s nearly as unlikely as her latest theory.

 

Perhaps forensic examination of the skeletons discovered in 1674 will eventually reveal all?

 

 

From a family history society….

Many thanks to Elizabeth Burling, Chair of London, Westminster and Middlesex Family History Society for providing this article about her experience of presenting to LostCousins members recently

 

Way back in February my email pinged and I saw a newsletter had arrived from Peter at LostCousins. As a keen family historian, I find that these are always worth reading so I made myself a cup of tea and settled down on my sofa.

 

The third item really made me sit up! Headed ‘LostCousins to work with family history societies’, Peter said he would be giving family history societies the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits they offer their members, so that the societies can expand their membership and LostCousins members can knock down some of their ‘brick walls’. The following note said: ‘If you’re involved in running one of the larger family history societies please make sure your committee are aware of this opportunity.’

 

I am currently Chairman of the London Westminster & Middlesex Family History Society (LWMFHS) and, whilst we are not one of the larger groups, I believe we are a fantastic Society with much to offer. The chance to contact many people who might never have heard of us was too good an opportunity to miss!

 

I have been an editor with LWMFHS since 2006, writing helpful parish research guides and being part of the team who produce the journal, but I have never given a talk. Nonetheless, I contacted Peter to express my interest and booked myself in to watch the two talks already available. Although I had some ideas about what I wanted to say, I thought it would be really useful to see what other Societies did. I very much enjoyed them both. Felicity from Hertfordshire FHS used her grandmother to showcase records available to researchers whilst Andy from Suffolk FHS highlighted transcriptions members had created and unusual local sources.

 

I rather envy these county societies, who have a long relationship with their local record offices and have spent many years transcribing local records. Greater London is a large and complicated city with some 34 local record offices and 8 family history societies looking after the various bits of it. Also, ‘London’ has meant different things through the ages. Another problem with research in London is that family members often came down to London for a while, perhaps as a young adult to work as a servant, and then went back home again to marry and raise a family near their support network.

 

I decided I would frame my talk on our name, explaining about London, Westminster and Middlesex in turn and showing how we can help with research in these areas. I had a lot of maps to draw! LostCousins members sent in quite a number of questions which I was able to work into my talk in appropriate places – it is our knowledge of the area which is our main selling point and I wanted my answers to demonstrate this.

 

My talk went out live to around 130 LostCousins members on 28 April (I understand from Peter that another 600 have watched the recording), and despite being a little nervous I really enjoyed telling people about who we are, what we do, and how we can help them.

 

It worked: our Society has welcomed well over 100 new members (though, of course, there is always room for more!) and already we have started to help knock down their brick walls. If you’re involved in running a family history society, why not contact Peter to book a slot so that your society can reach out to the tens of thousands of experienced family historians who read this newsletter?

 

Note: you can watch a recording of Elizabeth’s presentation by logging into your LostCousins account and going to your My Events page (where you can also book for the upcoming presentations from Essex and Nottinghamshire). If you can’t remember how to log-in please see the email that told you about this newsletter.

 

 

Ancestors from Essex BOOK NOW

It’s not too late to register for the Essex Society for Family History presentation to LostCousins members which takes place over Zoom on Monday 9th June. It begins at 10am (London time) so that members in Australia and New Zealand can attend, but anyone who can’t be at the live presentation can register to view the recording, which will be available a day or two later.

 

Please visit your My Events page to register and, if you wish, pose a question; concise general questions are most likely to be answered during the presentation.

 

This event is FREE to ALL registered members – if you received an email from me telling you about this newsletter then you’re a LostCousins member (whether you realised it or not!).

 

 

Tied up in Notts?

On Wednesday June 18th at 10am we’ll be hearing from Nottinghamshire Family History Society, who will have an attractive joining offer for LostCousins members. Please register on your My Events page whether you plan to attend live or watch the recording..

 

 

Save on AncestryDNA ENDS SOON

There are currently savings to be made on DNA tests at all of Ancestry’s major sites around the world, though you’ll have to be very quick if you live in Australia or New Zealand.

 

Please use the links below so that there’s a chance that LostCousins will benefit from your purchase (whether we do or not will depend largely on which browser you use and any extensions you have installed):

 

Ancestry.com.au – Flash Sale - Save Up to $54* on Ancestry DNA ENDS SATURDAY 7TH

 

Ancestry.co.uk – Save £30 on AncestryDNA®. Terms Apply. ENDS SATURDAY 14TH

 

Ancestry.ca – Save up to $65 on AncestryDNA®! *Terms Apply ENDS SATURDAY 14TH

 

Ancestry.com – Save 60% on AncestryDNA this Father’s Day. ENDS SUNDAY 15TH

 

 

Was your ancestor a civil servant?

You’ll find a wealth of information about civil servants and their roles if you visit the website Understanding the Civil Service created by Martin Stanley, himself a former senior civil servant. There are numerous links to documents and reports, some of which date back to the 19th century

 

One of the points Mr Stanley makes is that fewer than 10% of public employees are civil servants – but that doesn’t mean that the other 90% are completely ignored because he has set up two other websites, Understanding Regulation and Understanding Local Government, both of which I can relate to, having worked for a regulator in the late 1990s and worked in local government in the late 1960s.

 

 

Don’t forget the 1915 Register!

We all know about the 1939 Register – see my comprehensive guide here – but most people are unaware that a similar register was compiled in 1915, during the Great War.

 

Earlier this year Findmypast posted some interesting information about the 1915 Register, which you’ll find here – however, they got one thing wrong: they reckon that all of the 1915 Register returns were destroyed. Clearly whoever wrote that blog entry is too young to have read my April 2017 newsletter article about the 2409 forms that have survived in Gloucestershire Archives – you can download a spreadsheet compiled by LostCousins member David Drinkwater if you follow this link.

 

Have you come across a similar discovery in your local records office? Do please let me know!

 

 

Who Do You Think you Are?

If you missed last month’s presentation by Sarah Williams, Editor of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine you’ll find a link to the recording on your My Events page – I hope you find it as fascinating as I did!

 

Remember, if you’re in the UK you can get 6 issues of the magazine for just £11.99, which is not more than you would pay for 2 issues at the newsagent (no wonder WH Smith is closing down!).

 

To take advantage of this offer please follow this link

 

 

Gardeners Corner: more drama from your cannas!

As usual this column is written by my lovely wife, Sian….

 

With their tall tropical foliage topped with colourful flame-like flowers, canna lilies bring vibrant, exotic drama to borders and containers from midsummer until the first frosts. Tender perennials native to the American tropics, they need plenty of sun, nutrients and water. Although the gigantea and musifolia varieties reach an impressive 10-12 feet, most are 4-6’ in bloom and dwarf varieties are half this height.

 

Canna are easy and economical to grow. After the last frosts, plant the rhizomes out in free-draining nutrient-rich soil or container mix; add a generous handful of slow-release fertilizer, and dig in some grit if the soil is heavy. Each rhizome needs a large space in the border, or a 15” container which won’t easily blow over.

 

Water in, ensuring that the rhizome buds (or “eyes”) are an inch or so below the surface. Keep well-watered; use a plant saucer under cannas in pots and watch for slugs and snails damaging new growth. Inadequate nutrient levels will limit re-blooming; apply a liquid feed regularly to avoid this problem. But your canna will best continue to rebloom if you resist the temptation to tidy it up- so don’t deadhead or prune the flowering stalks!

 

Cannas die back with the first frosts; remove the foliage, lift those in borders into pots of spent compost, and store the pots in an unheated frost-free shed or greenhouse. Importantly, canna rhizomes still need to be kept moist throughout the winter. I grow mine in large black pots and overwinter them under the greenhouse staging. By May, the rhizomes are pushing up new foliage; they usually need dividing with a pruning saw before repotting in fresh, nutrient rich medium and hardening them off. A few rhizomes can easily multiply over the years to provide enough garden drama to keep and to gift.

 

Where to buy

Crocus have a good selection of canna rhizomes at keen prices, including this collection. Currently they have a 10% offer on all plants.

 

J Parker – a very wide variety of rhizomes and affordable collections to grow from scratch.

 

Gardening Express – currently there are some great offers on standard roses, magnolias, Japanese acers and many more shrubs, and some £1 ornamental and vegetable plants. I use their bargain twist n’ lock grow pots for patio trees and canna; they keep the plants hydrated and are remarkably stable. This year’s cannas won’t be available until probably mid-June onwards, but they will have 2 litre individual garden-ready plants at very affordable prices (as well as collections of rhizomes to pot up and grow on).

 

 

Peter’s Tips

Early-bird prices for the Secrets and Lies conference in September have ended, but LostCousins members can still save £30 using the code that you’ll find on the Peters Tips page of the LostCousins website.

 

Money for nothing? If you were living in the UK on 6th September 2016 and for at least 3 months between 1997 and 2008, you can get a share of the compensation being paid by Mastercard – even if you have never had a credit card of any type! The absolute maximum payout will be £70, but it could be a LOT less as it depends how many people submit a claim. You can find out more here.

 

Something we all have to use is electricity, and because I have an electric car I’ve signed up for an EV tariff with EDF – this provides me with electricity at less than 9p per kilowatt hour between midnight and 5am, and that’s more than enough given the mileage that I do.

 

However, the main reason I’m mentioning EDF is their innovative Sunday Saver scheme, which provides up to 16 hours of free electricity on a Sunday, just for reducing usage between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays. Monday was washing day when I was growing up, but now we do as much as we can on a Sunday!

 

While my wife supervises the laundry I’m in the kitchen preparing casseroles and other meals that can be quickly reheated in the week – last Sunday I cooked up six servings of chicken and mushroom casserole and four servings of liver and onions, whilst the previous week it was four servings of duck confit (which ideally needs to be cooked at a low temperature for 4 hours or more). And the Sunday before it was unseasonably cold, so we switched on a couple of electric heaters rather than starting up the central heating.

 

Anyway, if you want to save money on your electricity bill take a look at what EDF offer – and if you sign-up using this link we’ll each get a £50 bill credit.

 

Note: I should mention that EDF also offer gas – however we aren’t connected to mains gas here, so I can’t comment one way or the other on their gas prices.

 

Finally, just to mention that my wife has been buying lots of things from Dunelm in their Summer Sale to spruce up the spare bedroom. Sadly in her excitement she forgot to use my link so LostCousins isn’t going to benefit from those purchases, but perhaps you can do better? Thanks!

 

 

Stop Press

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Peter Calver

Founder, LostCousins

 

© Copyright 2025 Peter Calver

 

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