Newsletter - 4th May 2018
Last chance to save at Findmypast ENDS SOON
Get a free LostCousins
subscription
New family history show
launches in April 2019
Knowledge of family history is good for kids
Family history articles for your parish magazine
An insider's guide to Civil Registration
Which DNA test, and which company?
The LostCousins newsletter is usually published
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click here; to find earlier articles use the
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Last chance
to save at Findmypast ENDS SOON
Until Sunday 6th May you can
save 10% on a NEW top-level 12 month subscription at Findmypast's UK, Ireland, and Australia sites, and because Findmypast reward loyalty, you'll have an opportunity to
renew at a discount (currently 15%) in a year's time! The subscriptions listed
below all provide access to the same records even though the names are
different:
SAVE 10% on 12 month Pro subscriptions at Findmypast.co.uk
SAVE 10% on 12 month World subscriptions at Findmypast.ie
SAVE 10% on 12 month World subscriptions at Findmypast.com.au
All of these subscriptions include virtually unlimited
access to all of Findmypast's historical records and
newspapers from around the world, including the 1939 Register, their
fast-growing Catholic records collection, military records, migration records,
and parish registers for many counties in England and most of Wales (plus
transcribed records for many other counties). They also have an amazing
collection of Irish records, and an impressive collection of records from
Australia and New Zealand.
Unfortunately Findmypast couldn't offer a
discount on 12 month subscriptions to their US site, but they did come up with
a pretty good offer - 50% off the first month when you buy their top monthly
subscription:
SAVE 50% on 1 month Ultimate British & Irish
subscriptions at Findmypast.com
Note: these offers are for new subscribers only
(though I suspect that lapsed subscribers can also benefit); if you have an
existing subscription neither Findmypast's offer nor
my offer below will apply. But bear in mind that if you have an existing 12 month subscription you'll qualify for Findmypast's
Loyalty Discount for renewals (currently 15%). Finally PLEASE read the next article
BEFORE making your purchase!
Get a free LostCousins subscription
LostCousins can only benefit if you use a link that I've
provided. So I'm once again offering a free
subscription to members who go out of their way to take up Findmypast's
offer using my links and ensure that your purchase is tracked - this means that
the total savings you make can be as much as £28. But please read the terms and
conditions below so that nobody misses out - if you qualify you will get a
subscription which last for 12 months or 1 month, depending which Findmypast subscription you purchased.
To
claim your LostCousins subscription (which will run
from the date of purchase of your Findmypast
subscription, unless you already have a LostCousins
subscription, in which case it will be extended), please forward to me the
email receipt that you receive from Findmypast.
Screenshots are sufficient - I need to know the precise time of
your purchase (so write it down, in case the emailed receipt doesn't arrive).
You can use any of the LostCousins email addresses,
including the one I wrote from when telling you about this newsletter.
Terms & conditions:
your free LostCousins subscription will be funded by
the commission that Findmypast pay us; if we don't
receive any commission on your purchase then unfortunately you won't qualify,
so it's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. For example, if you use an
adblocker the link may not work; if you have disabled tracking in your browser
the link will appear to work, but Findmypast will
ignore it, so won't pay us any commission (this is the most common problem - if
you’re not sure ask for my advice before making your purchase,
afterwards is too late!). Make sure your Internet Security software doesn't prevent
tracking - in Kaspersky it is called Private Browsing, but other programs may
use different terminology. Commission isn't paid on renewals,
and may not be paid on upgrades.
New
family history show launches in April 2019
The demise of Who Do You Think You Are? Live left a
big hole in the calendar (and, I suspect, in the hearts of many ardent family
historians).
So I was delighted to hear that a new show is stepping
into the breach. Family Tree Live
will take place at London's iconic Alexandra Palace on Friday 26th and Saturday
27th April 2019 - that's the weekend after Easter.
Organised by Family Tree magazine and the Federation
of Family History Societies it promises "two days of lectures, workshops,
displays and stands - suitable for all levels of family history experience."
But let's hope that they can
manage without the stands offering orthopaedic mattresses, or
soliciting donations for charities unrelated to family history!
Knowledge of
family history is good for kids
My wife recently came across
some research published in a psychological journal in 2008 which found that
knowledge of family history "is
significantly correlated with internal locus of control, higher self-esteem,
better family functioning, greater family cohesiveness, lower levels of
anxiety, and lower incidence of behavior
problems".
The research paper itself is
behind a paywall, so I can’t link to it, but this article
from the New York Times draws on the
same research, as does this follow up article
on the Huffington Post site. Of
course, trying to persuade children to research their family tree isn’t
practical when there so many other competing demands for their attention, but
telling them about the family's history - both the ups and the downs - is all
that's needed.
Tip: the Huffington Post article includes a
questionnaire - I wonder how many of those questions you could have answered before
you began your research?
Family history
articles for your parish magazine
I've started writing a series
of short articles about family history for the Stansted Mountfitchet
village magazine (you can see the first one here
- it’s on page 37). Based on the Beginners
Guide on the Help & Advice
page at the LostCousins site it's designed to
introduce people gradually to the wonderful hobby that we all find so
fulfilling (even if we are sometimes spotted tearing out hair out!).
I'd be happy to supply the
same articles to other parish magazines - just pass on my contact details to
the editor. There is, of course, no charge.
An insider's
guide to Civil Registration
Former deputy registrar
Anthony Marr, now a professional genealogist and frequent contributor to family
history magazines has a 7-page article in the latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine which
looks at the history of civil registration and gives an insider's view of the
topic.
I found this sentence
particularly revealing: "…I had the opportunity to work as a part-time
deputy registrar in the county of Buckinghamshire, and
was amazed to discover more about registration in the four weeks of my GRO
training that I managed to learn in 20 years of research."
A useful tip to bear in mind
is that for registration purposes a woman's name is the name in which she first
contracted a marriage, which is not necessarily the name she acquired at birth.
Later this month, on 22nd
May, Anthony Marr will be talking to West Surrey Family History Society in
Walton-on-Thames - non-members are welcome (there is a suggested donation of
£2). There are more details here.
Tip: you can save 40% on an annual subscription to WDYTYA
magazine if you follow this link
(if you live outside the UK the best value is a digital subscription, also
available through the same link).
Another article in the May
issue of Who Do You Think You Are?
magazine looks at Industrial and Reformatory schools. Both Ancestry and Findmypast have records for some of these schools, but if
you want to know more about why these establishments existed, and what their
role was I'd recommend an article which has just been posted on the Essex
Record Office website - you'll find it here.
Which DNA
test, and which company?
If you’re considering using
DNA to solve mysteries in your family tree read this article carefully - it
could save you a lot of money!
There are three types of DNA aimed
at genealogists: Y-DNA, mtDNA, and atDNA. Y-DNA and mtDNA tests look
at just one out of your thousands of ancestral lines - the paternal and
maternal lines respectively.
Note: sometimes people gain the mistaken impression
that Y-DNA tests can help solve any mysteries on their father's side of the
tree, and mtDNA tests can do the same on their
mother's side. This is wrong: Y-DNA is only passed from father to son, and mtDNA is only passed from mother to child.
Y-DNA
Y-DNA tests can sometimes
help, not least because Y-DNA is inherited in the same way as surnames. This
means that even if you can’t figure out how you’re related to the people you
match with, just knowing their surnames might be useful. But Y-DNA tests are
relatively expensive, and to pay so much for so little is hard to justify now
that autosomal tests are available.
Note: I tested my Y-DNA in 2012 but even after 6 years
haven't managed to figure out how I am related to ANY of the people I've been
matched with, despite upgrading to the 111 marker
test.
mtDNA
Harder still to justify is
the cost of an mtDNA test. Even if you get an exact
match the chances are the common ancestor lived so long ago that it was before
parish registers began.
Note: I tested my mtDNA in
2012 - it was a waste of money, because I've learned nothing
and I don't expect I ever will find out anything useful.
The time to resort to Y-DNA
and mtDNA tests is when you have someone to compare
against - but even then it's usually possible to
answer the question using autosomal DNA, and you'll find out lots more besides!
atDNA
Autosomal DNA tests are now
the cheapest as well as the most popular tests - even though the test is more
comprehensive. For example, whereas my top-of-the-range Y-DNA test looked at just
111 markers, autosomal DNA tests typically look at between 650,000 to 700,000
pairs of bases.
But the real value for money
comes from the large number of matches you'll get. Why so many? Partly because
more people have taken atDNA tests, but primarily because
you can potentially get a match with any cousin on any line.
How many matches you get
depends mainly on how many results there are in the database of the company you
test with. Ancestry have by far the largest database - over 7 million according
to the last reported statistic, but probably closer
to 10 million today. Only 23andMe come anywhere close, but many of their
customers tested for medical purposes and aren't interested in genealogy.
You can see figures for all
of the major providers in this table
on the ISOGG wiki. As the prices of tests have fallen an increasing number have
been bought as gifts, so don’t expect all of your
genetic cousins to have a family tree - nor should you assume that just because
they haven’t linked a tree to their results they don't have one.
DNA testing is all about
finding cousins in order to knock down 'brick walls', and
the more matches you get, the more 'brick walls' you'll be able to knock down -
and the easier it will be. This means that you ideally need access to
Ancestry's massive database of results - and the only way to do that is to buy
the Ancestry DNA test. Don’t make the mistake of buying another test because
it's cheaper - if you’re price-conscious wait for the next Ancestry sale and
buy your test then.
Tip: if you test with Ancestry you can transfer your
results to other sites to find more cousins and make use of additional tools; but if you test with a different
company you cannot transfer your results to Ancestry.
Next weekend it will be
Mother's Day in North America. Ancestry have announced a sale in Canada
starting today, 23andMe have an offer in the US and Canada, whilst Family Tree
DNA are discounting prices worldwide on Family Finder and mtDNA
tests.
Save $30 on Ancestry DNA in Canada when you click
here (starts Saturday, ends 8th
May)
Save $30 on Ancestry DNA in Australia & New Zealand when you click
here (ends 13th
May)
Save 20% or get 3 for 2 with 23andMe in the US and
Canada - click here
(ends 13th May)
Save on Family Finder and mtDNA
with FTDNA when you follow this link
(ends 14th May)
I'll update this article if
any more sales are announced before the next newsletter is published.
As mentioned in the last
issue, I've decided to mark the 14th Birthday of LostCousins
on Tuesday 1st May by giving away a free Ancestry DNA test to a lucky member.
At the end of May I'm going
to pick ONE of the readers of this newsletter - but to be chosen you need to
have supported my work by doing ALL of these things:
· Logged-in to your LostCousins
account at least ONCE between 28th April and 31st May
· Entered on your My
Details page EITHER a secondary email address that I can use to get in
touch if your primary address fails OR your full postal address
· Added at least ONE relative to your My Ancestors page between 28th April and
31st May
· Purchased at least ONE LostCousins
subscription since first joining
(Members who live in France
are excluded as DNA testing is illegal there.)
If you’ve already tested your
DNA you can give the kit to a family member or cousin.
Subtitled "The Great Myths, Lies, and Blunders on
Maps" this lavishly illustrated book by Edward Brooke-Hitching looks at
the multitude of mistakes that were made by map-makers and explorers, some of
which were only corrected quite recently. One non-existent island in the Coral
Sea was only removed from the charts in 2012, whilst polar explorers were
reporting discoveries of territories that didn't exist in the early 20th
century.
Having admitted in the last
issue that I failed O-level History, I now have to
admit that I didn't even get as far O-level in Geography - which might explain
why I was somewhat underwhelmed by the stories. Nevertheless
it was interesting to see how misconceptions and miscommunication led to so
many of these misapprehensions, and in that respect I was very much reminded of
the pitfalls and pratfalls we experience during family history research.
But don’t listen to what I
say - look at the reviews on Amazon, where 93% of the 57 reviewers give it 5
stars, and the primary complaint of the only person to give it less than 4
stars was that the dust jacket was on round the wrong way when he received it!
The retail price of the
hardback is £25, but I'm sure I didn’t pay that much for my copy - and indeed
as I write, you can buy it at Amazon.co.uk for less than half that price
(excluding shipping). If you’re not in the UK, try The Book Depository as their
prices include worldwide shipping.
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca The
Book Depository
Did you know that if you
registered a Power of Attorney in England or Wales between April 2013 and March
2017 you are entitled to a partial refund of the fee paid? You'll find out more
on this government web page,
and for the background to this welcome news see this article at the Which? website.
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 2018
Peter Calver
Please do NOT copy or
republish any part of this newsletter without permission - which is only
granted in the most exceptional circumstances. However,
you MAY link to this newsletter or any article in it without asking for
permission - though why not invite other family historians to join LostCousins
instead, since standard membership (which includes the newsletter), is FREE?