Newsletter – 25th
February 2021
Competition winners from around the world
Online tree or family tree program?
Pen friends for 50 years – it began with a
message in a bottle
The LostCousins
newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue
(dated 10th February) 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!
Run
by FamilySearch, RootsTech Connect will probably be the largest family history
event ever – because this year RootsTech is free and virtual, so you can attend
from the comfort of your own couch.
If
you are already registered at FamilySearch (and if you’re not, you should be)
it'll take just seconds to sign up – just follow this link. The
event runs from Thursday to Saturday, and you can listen to the classes at any
time of your choosing; the recordings will also be available afterwards for a
minimum of 11 months.
Tip:
less can sometimes be more: most people who have taken a DNA test will do best to stick
to the simple and easy-to-follow advice in my Masterclass
(I'll shortly be producing an updated version which gives more emphasis to the
features that Ancestry have added since it was first published).
Jab yesterday, jam tomorrow
This
week those of us who live in England were presented by the Prime Minister,
Boris Johnson, with a roadmap that will – if everything goes to plan – see restrictions
lifted in stages, with picnics allowed from the end of March, and life returning almost
to normal by late June.
Note:
although this article is primarily about England and the UK, readers in other countries
will, I'm sure, be able to apply the same logic to their
own situation.
Case
numbers are continuing to fall across most of the UK (see the updated table
below), and whilst the rate of decline has slowed in the past week, I suspect that's partly because of the increase in targeted testing.
It's sobering to remind ourselves that at the height
of the first wave there were fewer tests carried out per month than are now
being performed each day!
|
Daily cases numbers: 7-day average |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week to |
Cases |
Change |
|
|
11-Jan-21 |
57851 |
|
|
|
18-Jan-21 |
44997 |
22% |
|
|
25-Jan-21 |
33738 |
25% |
|
|
01-Feb-21 |
23732 |
30% |
|
|
08-Feb-21 |
17714 |
25% |
|
|
15-Feb-21 |
12580 |
29% |
|
|
22-Feb-21 |
11186 |
11% |
|
Source: https://worldometers.info.coronavirus
But,
like the Prime Minister, we can’t afford to throw
caution to the winds – everything depends on the vaccine roll-out continuing
apace (so far only a third of the adults in the UK have been vaccinated), and
on the population continuing to abide by the restrictions so long as they are
in force. If we relax too soon, at best it will delay the implementation of the
roadmap, at worst it will plummet us into another lockdown.
We
also have to remember that COVID-19 is something that affects
the whole world – countries which have so far avoided large numbers of
infections thanks to border restrictions will have to continue those
restrictions whilst their own population is vaccinated. Similarly, Britons
planning to travel abroad this summer could potentially face restrictions at
their destination and quarantine on their return – so my wife and I are planning
to holiday in the UK this summer. But then we always do – why miss out on the best
of the British weather?
Competition winners from around the world
Members from all over the world took part in my New
Year Competition, and the winners were similarly distributed, with prizes going
to members in the US, Canada, and Australia as well as the UK.
The two most valuable prizes, of a Findmypast Pro
subscription, and a Platinum subscription to The Genealogist went to (another)
Peter in the UK and Gwen in Canada respectively – many thanks to Findmypast and
The Genealogist for generously donating those prizes.
The next two – a British Newspaper Archive
subscription contributed by Findmypast, and an Ancestry DNA kit which I personally
donated – went to Jessica and Mary, both in the UK. The efforts of Stephen,
Barbara, and Philippa were rewarded with a copy of Family Historian v7, a subscription
to Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, and a hand-drawn portrait of an ancestor donated by the
artist Alex Halliday.
Other prizewinners
received books signed by authors Nathan Dylan Goodwin, Stephen Molyneux, and Janet
Few (whose article on 17th century resources in the latest Who Do You Think You Are? magazine is well worth reading).
The prizes would have been spread even more widely
had everyone followed the advice in the last issue to check their entries – sadly
2 of those whose names came out of the hat were disqualified because their 'winning'
entries didn’t match the census, so their prizes went
to the runners-up (both of whom came from the UK).
It's a sobering reminder that all three pillars of the LostCousins system
are equally important:
AUTOMATIC – once you've completed
your My Ancestors page the search for cousins is automatic, just click the Search button now and
again, or else wait for your cousins to get in touch.
CONFIDENTIAL – nobody else can see your entries;
even the cousins you're matched with don’t have access
to your My Ancestors page, so will only know about the relatives they’ve already entered themselves.
ACCURATE –
because each entry precisely defines an individual on a specific page of a
particular census the matching system is 100% accurate.
These three pillars are like the legs of a milking
stool – take one away and it falls over. Confidentiality is only possible if matching
is automatic, but automatic matching only works well if there is conformity in
the data, ie everyone enters
the same information for the same individual. That's
why LostCousins members are asked to accurately enter what appears in the census,
even when they know that it’s wrong or incomplete.
Interest
rates for savers are so low that the return on Premium Bonds has begun to look
attractive, even though it has also been trimmed back. For the benefit of those
who don't come from the UK, I should explain that Premium Bonds pay no interest,
but instead have a prize draw once a month (all the prizes are paid in cash, and are tax-free). So it’s a
cross between putting your savings under a mattress and buying lottery tickets –
except that the capital you invest is guaranteed by the government, and the
lottery tickets are effectively free.
In
a sense buying Premium Bonds is like entering relatives on your My Ancestors
page: there's no risk, but there's the chance of generous
payback, and the more you invest the greater the payback.
But
that's not where the analogy ends: the sooner you buy
Premium Bonds the sooner your bonds go into the prize draw; similarly, the sooner
you complete your My Ancestors
page the sooner you'll connect with the other members who are your 'lost
cousins'.
However,
there is one BIG difference: when you invest in Premium Bonds it doesn’t make it less likely that others will win prizes
(because the Prize Fund increases proportionately), but nor does it improve
their chances. However, when you add relatives to your My Ancestors page
it not only increases your own chances of getting a match, it
helps your cousins as well – so everyone benefits.
That's why the real winners of the recent competition
weren't the few who won prizes, but the many who found matches with 'lost cousins'
as a result of the additional entries going into the LostCousins database.
You
can add relatives to your My Ancestors at any time of the year – but the
best time by far is now!
Pasteurise your research
The
saying "Fortune favours the prepared mind" is usually attributed to
the French biologist Louis Pasteur – but what does it mean for family historians?
When
we're researching our tree we frequently come across snippets
of information that don't immediately fall into place – indeed, they might
appear to be irrelevant to our research. And yet, it’s
remarkable how often they turn out to be pieces of a bigger jigsaw than the one
we're working on.
Whether
it's the barely decipherable signature of a marriage
witness, or the surname of someone who was lodging with your ancestors, these
snippets of information can turn out to be vital clues. In my case the marriage
witness and the lodger were one and the same – and this led me to the marriage
of one of my ancestor's sisters.
But
more importantly it enabled me to confirm that the Smith household I found in
the 1851 Census was actually mine, even though my
ancestor's occupation had apparently changed from 'carpenter' to 'rag merchant'
- an unlikely change of career - and the names and ages of the children weren't
a perfect match for the baptisms I'd found. It might sound like a small thing,
but as my great-great-great grandparents are missing from the 1841 Census, and died before the 1861 Census it was crucial to
find the right entry in 1851, otherwise I'd have no idea of their birthplaces.
My
great-great grandmother Rebecca Smith wasn't living
with the family in 1851 (she'd have been a few months under 16 at the time);
but she may have been working as a maid for a Moore family in Shoreditch. Intriguingly
her future husband's first wife was a Moore, and whilst I've yet to find a connection,
this is another snippet that I'm going to store aware for future use..
Online
tree or family tree program?
Online
trees are usually free, often convenient, but always limited in their
capabilities compared to the best programs you can get for your computer.
With
an online tree you have a conundrum – do you make it public or private? And what
do you do with information that is questionable, confidential, or simply doesn’t fit into the format that online trees allow?
My
family tree is on my own computer: I can record any information I want because
nobody else is going to see it. This might include family stories that are yet
to be proven, or the contact details of a cousin, whilst for cousins who are DNA
matches I also note the amount of DNA shared, the
number of segments, and the length of the longest segment. If they match with
other relatives of mine whose tests I manage, or have access to, I record the
details of those matches too.
I
also make use of colour, to highlight the cousins I've been in contact with, as
well as the cousins who are DNA matches – I can’t possibly hold all that
information in my head, and keeping it separately
would not only be less convenient but more of a chore. It's
also very handy to be able to see at a glance what DNA matches I have in a particular
part of my tree.
But
one of the biggest advantages of having a tree on your own computer is that you
can export the tree, or part of it, in GEDCOM format - which is not only compatible
with other tree programs, but also with online trees. So
you can have the best of both worlds!
Note:
the program I would use if I was starting now is
Family Historian – you can download a 30-day free trial here.
In November I published June's story of her search for her birth family; I
thought you'd be interested in finding out how June got on when she took a DNA
test:
"Reading Caroline's story in the last newsletter
inspired me to write to Peter with some comments about the fact Caroline hadn't
undertaken a DNA test to find her birth father, because she believed he would
not be alive. I fully respect her decision. However, I believe that DNA tests don't
just find long lost relatives and add another name to your family tree, but can
also give you an insight into how our ancestors lived.
"Following the
publication of my book in September last year I decided to take a DNA test with
Ancestry - and it is the best thing I have done since I started out on my quest
to find my birth family almost 20 years ago. Whilst I have still not found out
who my birth father was, through my DNA matches I have discovered the most
amazing facts about other members of my birth family. For me this has opened up a window on the world, in particular, Australia
and New Zealand.
"My DNA matches
included several 2nd to 3rd cousin matches, and when I
messaged Toni in Australia we discovered that her great-great grandmother, Mary
Ann Eales, was the sister of my great-great grandfather Henry Eales. Mary Ann
married young – she was just 17 years old when she married 19-year
old Thomas Chapman at St. John the Baptist, Woking in 1862.
"Toni informed
me that Mary Ann and Thomas embarked on a journey to Australia in 1873. The
reason appears to be that Thomas's mother had married a man called Charles
Wells, who was convicted of a crime, and transported to Tasmania when Thomas
was a baby. Thomas wanted to find his father.
"I discovered
that when Mary and Thomas left for Australia they had already lost three
children who had died infancy - their three remaining children were 12, 10 and 1.
Here was a young couple with three children embarking on a dangerous journey on a ship where
conditions would probably be horrendous by modern standards (many people lost
their lives undertaking similar trips).
"I am pleased to
say that the family all arrived safely and did find Charles Wells, who had remarried
and had further children. I discovered that another baby, George, was born to
Thomas and Mary in Tasmania, but sadly he died; then in 1875 the family set
sail again, this time to Dunedin, New Zealand.
Although it was not as long a journey as their first one, it could be
just as treacherous. Two more children were born: Emily lived until 1947, but
her younger brother William died when he was only 3. Following the death of William the family moved again, this time to Wellington
where another son, Ernest, was born.
"Their final destination was Hokianga,
which is about 120 miles from Auckland and situated on the north-west coast of North
Island. I had never heard of Hokianga, so I did some
research – I found out that Hokianga has a harbour
which years ago attracted settlers to travel there. Huge forests covered this
part of the island and from the 1830's to 1900 tree-felling was the main
industry. Ships would dock in the harbour and transport timber around the world,
but by 1900 all that was left in the area was top soil
which they decided to use for dairy farming to make butter.
"In all Mary and
Thomas had 16 children during their marriage, but sadly 5 of the children died in
infancy. Mary herself died in 1895 aged just 48 years, and Thomas lived to age
of 75, eventually dying in 1919. Next time I travel to New Zealand I will go to
Hokianga and visit their grave.
"I would like to
say a huge thank you to Toni who has spent a large part of her life collecting
information, about our ancestors, from various sources: Findmypast, other
family history web sites, newspaper articles, and photographs. I am so glad we
found each other through our DNA match.
"The story of
Mary and Thomas Chapman only came to my attention because I decided to take a
DNA test, but Toni is just one of many matches. Who knows what other stories I
will uncover?"
There are always stories
to be discovered and, as June has found, taking a DNA test is a great way to find
out more about the branches of our family. But perhaps she should be focusing
more on tracking down her birth father – what do you think?
Pen friends for 50 years – it began with a message in a bottle
As
a 12 year-old boy I had a pen friend in France, but
the correspondence didn't last very long. Whether it was my French or her English,
or simply the cost of postage, I can’t remember now.
Nevertheless, the memories came flooding back when I saw this wonderful story
on the CNN website
– how about you?
I've just fixed the cost of my phone line and
fibre broadband at £21.99 a month for the next 18 months – a substantial saving
compared to the £36.62 I would have paid when my current deal runs out. Who did
I switch to? Nobody – I just phoned up my current provider and told them what I'd been quoted elsewhere.
It's
true that I could have saved a little more by switching, but the convenience of
staying with the same supplier and having an 18 month
deal was sufficient to persuade me to stay put.
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….
I'll be back soon, but until
the next time, stay safe!
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2021 Peter Calver
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