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Newsletter – 25th November 2022

 

Black Friday Special Edition

 

Save 25% at the British Newspaper Archive ENDS MONDAY

Darwin in The Autographic Mirror

Was your ancestor mentioned in the London Gazette?

Lifetime savings at The Genealogist EXCLUSIVE PACKAGE

Last chance to save 25% at Findmypast ENDS SUNDAY

Gift subscriptions now discounted

1921 Census exclusivity lasts until the end of 2025 EXCLUSIVE

The twins born at the age of 30

Evidence thought to be faked now proven to be true

17th century records believed lost have been recovered

When burning records brought down Parliament

Do you order from Amazon?

Stop Press

 

The LostCousins newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue (dated 21st November) 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!early

 

 

Save 25% at the British Newspaper Archive ENDS MONDAY

This weekend you can save 25% on any new subscription to the biggest online collection of British newspapers and magazines in the world. There are over 60 million pages within this enormous collection with (by my estimate) well over half a billion articles, and literally billions of names.

 

The primary focus is on local and provincial newspapers, so your ancestors don’t need to have been famous – or infamous – to qualify for a mention. Local newspapers specialise in ‘human interest’ stories, covering accidents, weddings, school sports days, examination results, amateur dramatics, and a wide range of sporting events – indeed, the more local people they could mention, the more copies of the newspaper they were likely to sell. All too often our research into relatives from earlier generations is limited to their interactions with officialdom – certificates, censuses, electoral registers etc – but these only tell a small part of the story.

 

The British Newspaper Archive is a sister site to Findmypast, and if you have a Pro, Ultimate, or Premium subscription to Findmypast you’ll already have access to the newspapers and magazines in the archive – however you’ll find that searching at the dedicated newspaper site is more powerful and more effective.

 

Frequent users of historic newspapers will really appreciate the more flexible searching options – for example you can restrict your searches to pages added to the archive after a certain date, so that you don't keep ploughing through the same list of results. This allows you to focus on what's new, which is important because the archive is growing rapidly – by my calculation pages are being added at the rate of 10 million a year!

 

Another very useful search option is the ability to exclude words or phrases from your search – this is a good way to cut down the unwanted search results you would get if your ancestors happened to have the same name as a well-known person. For example, my own name is hardly a common one, but were I to search without any exclusions the few results that refer to me would be swamped by those relating to the late racehorse trainer.

 

This offer isn’t exclusive to LostCousins members, but you will only be supporting LostCousins when you use the link below:

 

BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE – SAVE 25% ENDS MONDAY

 

Please bear in mind that the reduction only applies to the initial payment (and shorter subscriptions are, in any case, much more expensive per month), so it’s best to get a 12 month subscription if you can.

 

 

Darwin in The Autographic Mirror

One publication that isn’t included in the British Newspaper Archive (yet) is The Autographic Mirror, which reproduced letters and other documents handwritten by notable individuals.

 

Later today Sotheby’s in New York will be auctioning a one page document written and signed by Charles Darwin for publication in The Autographic Mirror – and trust me, if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it!

 

You can read more – and see the document – in this BBC article.

 

 

Was your ancestor mentioned in the London Gazette?

The London Gazette (and sister publications The Edinburgh Gazette and The Belfast Gazette) are official journals of record which contain, for the most part, statutory notices – notices which are obliged to be published for legal reasons.

 

There are over 450 types of notice, but you’ll relieved to know that I’m not going to write about each of them! They fall into a number of broad categories, including:

 

 

What makes the Gazette of particular interest to family historians is the fact that it has been published since 1665 (when it was named The Oxford Gazette – because at the time the Royal Court had temporarily relocated to Oxford to escape the plague that was raging in London).

 

My great-great-great grandfather George Wells was a grocer and linen draper in Stowmarket, Suffolk in the 1820s but ended up in London’s notorious Fleet Prison when he was unable to pay his debts. Were it not for a notice published in The London Gazette my cousins and I might never have known about this unfortunate turn of events, one which probably explains how the family came to be living in London at the time of the 1841 census.

 

Who will you find in the Gazette – and will it be good news or bad news?  

 

Tip: the Gazette website is a fantastic source of articles on topics related to the notices carried, for example What is a deceased insolvent estate?, What happens if a will is lost or missing?, What you need to know about mirror wills, Can you legally access someone's phone when they die? and many more.

 

 

Lifetime savings at The Genealogist EXCLUSIVE PACKAGE

Ancestry and Findmypast are in the news so much that it’s easy to forget that there’s another subscription site which offers online access to hundreds of millions of (mostly) British records.

 

The Genealogist has the most comprehensive collection of tithe maps and tithe records – enabling me to pinpoint the cottage my great-great-great-great grandmother had moved to when she grew too old to run the Three Compasses at Patchetts Green. An important ongoing project is the 1910 Land Valuation – known to many as ‘the Lloyd George Domesday’; the focus on maps is also evident when you search the censuses. This 3 minute video demonstrates how the Map Explorer feature works – I’m still getting to grips with it, but the potential is enormous.

 

And whilst you might wonder whether we really need another source for the England & Wales censuses when we already have Ancestry, Findmypast, and FamilySearch it’s important to remember that FamilySearch source their census transcriptions from Findmypast – even, ironically, for the 1881 Census which (as most of you will know) was originally transcribed in a volunteer project co-ordinated by FamilySearch.

 

But it’s not just about having another transcription – there are different ways of searching. For example, when I was helping Berry research her ancestor Williams Adams alias Green (see the article in the last issue) I wasn’t sure whether the occupation ‘Hair Dresser’ had the same meaning in the 19th century as it does today, so being able to search for that occupation in the 1851 Census was very useful.

 

Interested? If you are, then the good news is that I’ve negotiated a special offer for LostCousins members which includes:

 

 

You get all this for just £94.95, a saving of almost £100 compared to the list prices.

 

But that’s not all: should you decide you want to continue your Diamond Subscription you’ll pay just £94.95 for the second year, and the same in the third year – indeed the price will never go up so long as there is no break in your subscription. Think of it as a Lifetime discount!

 

To take advantage of this offer just follow this link.

 

Tip: you can find out more about The Genealogist in this presentation which Mark Bayley gave to LostCousins members in March – it’s entitled ‘How The Genealogist can knock down brick walls’.  

 

 

Last chance to save 25% at Findmypast ENDS SUNDAY

You’ve still got a couple of days to save 25% on Starter, Plus, and Pro subscriptions at Findmypast’s sites in the UK, Ireland, and Australia; at their US site the offer applies to Essential and Ultimate subscriptions.

 

Findmypast offer a Loyalty Discount to subscribers who purchase 12 month subscriptions, and this currently provides a useful 15% discount on automatic renewals. This means that if you do decide to take up the offer, you’re unlikely to be faced with a big increase in a year’s time. There’s no absolute guarantee, because with inflation at the current rate it would be foolish to predict what will happen to prices, but you can always cancel the renewal – just don’t leave it until the very last minute!

 

The 25% discount on offer now will only apply to your first payment, so rather than buy a 1 or 3 month subscription I would suggest getting a 12 month subscription if you possibly can – this not only locks in the savings for a full year, it gives you the opportunity to claim a 15% discount in a year’s time.

 

To take advantage of this offer please use the relevant link below:

 

Findmypast.co.uk – SAVE 25% ON 3 & 12 MONTH STARTER, PLUS & PRO SUBSCRIPTIONS

Findmypast.com.au – SAVE 25% ON 1 & 12 MONTH STARTER, PLUS & PRO SUBSCRIPTIONS

Findmypast.ie – SAVE 25% ON 1 & 12 MONTH STARTER, PLUS & PRO SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

Findmypast.com – SAVE 25% ON 1 & 12 MONTH ESSENTIAL & ULTIMATE SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

Note: this offer is aimed at new subscribers and those whose subscriptions lapsed some time ago; if your Findmypast subscription has expired very recently you won’t be able to take advantage of this offer (but you might find that you can still claim a 15% Loyalty Discount).

 

 

Gift subscriptions now discounted

You can not only save on Findmypast subscriptions for yourself, you can currently save 25% on selected Gift subscriptions for friends and relatives – and this offer lasts until 9th December, so you don’t have to rush into a decision.

 

Gift subscriptions don’t renew automatically – so you’re not entering into a commitment for yourself or the recipient, though they do have the option of renewing if they wish (at their cost, not yours!).

 

Whoever you’re buying for, and wherever they live, please use the relevant link below so that LostCousins has a chance to benefit from your purchase:

 

Findmypast.co.uk – SAVE 25% ON 3 & 12 MONTH PLUS & PRO GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

Findmypast.com.au – SAVE 25% ON 3 & 12 MONTH PLUS & PRO GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

Findmypast.ie – SAVE 25% ON 3 & 12 MONTH PLUS & PRO GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

Findmypast.com – SAVE 25% ON 3 & 12 MONTH ULTIMATE GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

 

1921 Census exclusivity lasts until the end of 2025 EXCLUSIVE

One of the most frequently-asked questions about the 1921 England & Wales census has been “How long do we have to wait before it starts appearing on other websites?” – but until now I couldn’t give a precise answer.

 

This week I was researching the Library Edition of Findmypast when I came across this page, which states definitively that the 1921 Census is “Exclusive to Findmypast until end of 2025.” In other words, it will be January 2026 before any other provider can provide access to the census: 4 years from the January 2022 release date, and over 3 years from now.

 

Note: although the 1921 Census is available as an add-on to the Library Edition not all libraries have chosen to purchase the add-on, which is perhaps not surprising given the budgetary constraints that local authorities are under.

 

 

The twins born at the age of 30

There are numerous riddles which involve – or appear to involve – someone who is an ancestor of their own ancestor, so I was intrigued to discover that there is a possibility that something like this could actually happen.

 

This story from the US is quite thought-provoking……

 

 

Evidence thought to be faked now proven to be true

As any experienced family historian knows, evidence is not always what it seems – for example, most online trees are replete with errors, many the result of the wrong records being used. Even when the correct record is found it can be misinterpreted, and even if the interpretation is faultless, it may transpire that the entry was incorrectly recorded or deliberately faked.

 

On rare occasions evidence previously thought to be fake is later assessed as real, as in the case of a Roman coin bearing the head of an Emperor whose very existence had been called into question. You can read all about this fascinating story here.    

 

 

17th century records believed lost have been recovered

It’s not often that historical documents turn up unexpectedly, so this tale of recovered manorial records is heart-warming – congratulations to all involved!

 

 

When burning records brought down Parliament

Many important historical records have been destroyed by fire, including the 1931 England & Wales census, and most of the service files for British soldiers who fought in the Great War.

 

It’s much rarer for records to be burned intentionally – paper records no longer required were usually pulped – and rarer still for the burning records to destroy a major institution. But that’s what happened in 1834, when it was decided to burn tally sticks, many of which dated back to medieval times, in two underfloor stoves in the Palace of Westminster.

 

You can read about the fire in this article on Parliament’s own website. Incidentally, one of the few buildings to escape the fire was Westminster Hall, where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state before her funeral on 19th September.

 

Note: last week it was reported that experts working on the restoration of the Victorian replacement for the Palace of Westminster had found sections of the medieval river wall below the House of Lords.

 

 

Do you order from Amazon?

One of the most common scam emails doing the rounds at the moment is sent by hackers to everyone in the address book of a person whose email account they have hacked. Because LostCousins is in thousands of address books I see quite a few of these emails, and whenever possible I warn the member whose email account has been hacked – though I only do this if they have provided a secondary email address on their My Details page.

 

Tip: please ensure that you have provided a secondary email address – simply log into your LostCousins account and click My Details in the menu. If you’ve forgotten your password you can get an instant reminder sent by email (but note that it may not arrive immediately, especially if you have a Yahoo or Hotmail address – indeed, it may not arrive at all, so that’s another reason why providing a secondary address is so important).

 

Sadly all too few people whose email has been hacked bother to write to the people in their address book to warn them – in some cases this may be because they no longer have access to the address book, but in others it’s because they don’t realise what danger their friends and relatives are in. Something that looks like obvious spam to you or I might well convince someone else.

 

 

Stop Press

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Peter Calver

Founder, LostCousins

 

© Copyright 2022 Peter Calver

 

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