Newsletter – 21st
November 2023
BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL
EDITION
Save 25% on Findmypast subscriptions ENDS MONDAY
Support LostCousins
and get a bonus!
How Findmypast could
knock down your ‘brick walls’
Black Friday offer at
The Genealogist BONUSES GALORE
Knocking down ‘brick
walls’ when the records are missing
Stop Press BNA
offer
The LostCousins
newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month. To access the previous issue
(dated 20th 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!
Save 25% on Findmypast subscriptions ENDS MONDAY
Although
family history is one of the cheaper hobbies, it can still be difficult to find
the money for a 12 month subscription, even though annual
subscriptions invariably provide a significant cost saving compared to shorter
subscriptions.
So I am delighted that until Monday 27th November Findmypast
are offering a 25% discount on their 3 month subscriptions as well as their 12
month subscriptions. Of course, the discount only applies to the first payment
so if you can possibly manage it, purchase a 12 month
subscription and lock in your saving for a whole year. And, as a 12 month subscriber you’ll also benefit from a 15% Loyalty
Discount should you opt to renew your subscription, as many of you undoubtedly will.
The
discount applies to all new 3 and 12 month subscriptions,
including the Premium subscription – the only one that includes the England
& Wales 1921 Census.
With
a PLUS subscription you’ll have unlimited access to ALL
of Findmypast’s billions of British and Irish records, including censuses
up to 1911, Church of England parish registers for many counties, Catholic
records, military records, ships passenger lists, historic electoral rolls, and
the modern UK Electoral Register for the UK – which can help you track down
living relatives, schoolfriends, former colleagues etc. With 25% off you’ll save
over £30*, bringing the price down to just over £101 – or less than £2 a week and
(believe it or not) less than you would have paid back in October 2009, when
there were far fewer records on the site. In those days there were no parish
registers, no Catholic records, and even the census collection was still incomplete
– so much has been added since.
The
PRO subscription includes everything in the Plus subscription, as well
as billions of records from outside the UK, and unlimited access to over 72
million pages from the historic newspapers in the British Newspaper Archive. In
fact it includes everything that Findmypast has to offer,
with the exception of the 1921 Census. With 25% off you’ll save more than £45, reducing
the cost to under £139 – less than you could have paid for Findmypast’s top
subscription in 2009, even though it would have included fewer British records
than you now get with a Plus subscription, no newspapers, and no overseas
records.
With
a PREMIUM subscription you’ll get everything that the Plus and Pro
subscriptions offer, plus virtually unlimited access to the 1921 England &
Wales Census – all for just under £150, a saving of £50. This is still less
than you could have paid for Findmypast’s top subscription 14 years ago – even
though you’re getting billions more records and around three-quarters of a
billion newspaper articles.
The
offer is open to both new Findmypast subscribers and former subscribers,
and ends at 10am (London time) on Monday 27th November – don’t
miss it! Existing subscribers can’t take advantage of this offer – but hopefully
you benefited from a special offer when you bought your first subscription. And
remember, if you’re an annual subscriber, when your subscription comes up for renewal you’ll qualify for Findmypast’s Loyalty Discount,
currently 15%.
DON’T
RUSH OFF TO FINDMYPAST, BECAUSE IN THE NEXT ARTICLE I’LL EXPLAIN
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT LOSTCOUSINS AND GET A BONUS FOR YOURSELF. YOU COULD
SAVE YOURSELF OVER £60 IN TOTAL!
Support LostCousins and get a bonus!
The
Findmypast offer isn’t exclusive to readers of this newsletter, so you’ll only be
supporting LostCousins if you use the appropriate link at the end of this article
– but don’t stop reading yet as the next bit is important!
Please
make sure that your purchase is going to be tracked – for example, if you have
installed any browser extensions with names that include the words 'ad' and/or
'block' this is a danger sign! (Beware: if you allow your children or
grandchildren to ‘help’ you with your computer they may have installed something
you don’t know about.)
I
also recommend, based on past experience, that you
don't use Firefox - I suggest you load up this newsletter in Chrome or
Microsoft Edge before clicking the appropriate link below and making your
purchase. All major browsers are free, so it makes sense to have a choice (especially
since many problems can be solved by using a different browser).
I
also recommend you use a computer rather than a smartphone or tablet, but
whatever device you choose, please stick to it, as clicking my link on one
device and then making your purchase on another definitely won't
work.
In
Chrome you'll find the 'Do not track' switch by going to Settings, then Privacy
and security, then Cookies and other site data – the default setting
is OFF, as shown BELOW, and this is exactly what you want:
The
switch should be to the LEFT and appear grey. If the switch is to the right
(and blue) then please move it to the left.
In
Edge you'll find a similar switch in Settings under Privacy, search and
services and it works in the same way. If it is set to the rightt, move it to the left. I also recommend turning off
Tracking Prevention, at least temporarily.
Once
you are satisfied that your purchase is going to be tracked, click the link and make your purchase, noting the EXACT time of the transaction
(to the minute!).
Provided
that we receive commission on your purchase of a new 12 month
Findmypast subscription under the offer above you’ll receive a free LostCousins
subscription worth up to £12.50 – you’ll get 6 months for purchasing a Plus subscription
or 12 months when you purchase a Pro or Premium subscription. To claim your bonus forward the email receipt you receive from Findmypast,
ensuring that the time and date of your purchase is shown. Alternatively send
me an email stating the precise time and date of your purchase (to the minute),
and the amount paid. As usual, my email address was in the email you received telling
you about this newsletter.
IF
IN DOUBT PLEASE CHECK WITH ME BEFORE MAKING YOUR PURCHASE - AFTERWARDS
WILL BE TOO LATE!
Findmypast.co.uk - Save
25% on 3 and 12 month subscriptions – ends 10am Monday
27th November
Findmypast.ie - Save
25% on 3 and 12 month subscriptions – ends 10am Monday
27th November
Findmypast.com.au - Save
25% on 3 and 12 month subscriptions – ends Sunday 26th
November (10am London time on Monday 27th)
Findmypast.com - Save
25% on 3 and 12 month subscriptions – ends Monday 27th
November (10am London time)
The
Ultimate subscription at the US site is equivalent to a Pro
subscription at other sites, but the Essential subscription is a
cut-down version of the Plus subscription – so probably not suitable for
an experienced researcher like you. The Starter subscription is equally
unsuitable.
Tip:
it’s usually best to purchase from your local website, even if you prefer to
use one of the other sites for your research. Once you have your new subscription
you can log into whichever site you wish (they all have the same records).
How
Findmypast could knock down your ‘brick walls’
If
you’re one of those people who thinks that the big genealogy websites are all
much the same, and that it’s a matter of personal preference which one to
subscribe to, I suggest you re-read this article.
And
if you’ve tried Findmypast before, but didn’t like it, see this Masterclass
– which will explain why your experience was so much different from mine.
I
use all of the major sites, but I use them differently.
So should you!
Black Friday offer at The Genealogist BONUSES
GALORE
You
know what they say about buses – you wait ages at the bus stop, and then three
come along at once. Well that’s how I feel right now, as
The Genealogist has come with a special Black Friday offer which is the best I
can remember – not only are they offering a ‘lifetime discount’ on their top
subscription, there are so many extras thrown in that the total savings add to
over £100.
If
you are in the UK you can choose between either of the offers
below – if you’re outside the UK please choose the Overseas offer, which
is all-digital. Both offers include a 12 month Diamond
subscription (full price £139.95).
UK
residents: save over £123 with The Genealogist (includes show tickets) –
pay just £98.95
Overseas:
save
over £105 with The Genealogist– pay just £98.95
I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that The Genealogist has the most
comprehensive collection of tithe maps and tithe records, an ever-growing
collection of Lloyd George Domesday records, and Map Explorer, which not
only links to those records but also to the England & Wales censuses.
Knocking down ‘brick walls’ when the records
are missing
What
do you do when the records are missing, or you suspect that there is an error
in the records that have survived? See this newsletter
for the surprising (to some people) solution!
Stop Press – British Newspaper Archive offer
On Monday I explained how the newspaper search at Findmypast has
been upgraded so that it comes close to matching the search at the British
Newspaper Archive, the dedicated website that Findmypast run on behalf of the
British Library. However, if you don’t have a Findmypast subscription, or the
subscription you have doesn’t include newspapers, you might like to know that there
is also a 25% discount on subscriptions to the British Newspaper Archive – just
follow this link.
Another potential advantage of having a separate subscription is
that you might not need access to newspapers for 12 months of the year – there’s
nothing stopping you having a 12 month Plus subscription at Findmypast,
together with a 1 month or 3 month subscription to the British Newspaper Archive. The offer ends at
10am, London time, on Monday 27th November.
Apologies for such a short newsletter – and for sending it out so
soon after the last one, but - like it or not - Black Friday always springs
surprises! I’m off now to listen to Professor Probert’s talk on bigamy…..
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2023 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?
Many of
the links in this newsletter and elsewhere on the website are affiliate links –
if you make a purchase after clicking a link you may be supporting LostCousins
(though this depends on your choice of browser, the settings in your browser,
and any browser extensions that are installed). Thanks for your support!