Monday, November 28, 2011

The LostCousins Website - use it for "Cousin Bait"

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I don't think I've ever written about the LostCousins website (www.lostcousins.com) but I should have.  If more people used it, some distant cousins might be found and perhaps some brick walls would be broken down.


The site is FREE to register on.  It offers hints to find "lost cousins:"

  • Why focus on just a few family lines? We can look for cousins from all of your lines simultaneously.

  • Have you entered the brothers and sisters who had families of their own by the time of the census? They are the relatives most likely to lead us to your 'lost cousins'.

  • Ancestors proving elusive? Read the article "Key Tips for Census Success" on the Help & Advice page - it's full of useful suggestions.

  • Ask us for help if there are relatives you still can't find on the census.

  • And finally.... encourage your friends and relatives to join - the more members we have the more matches there will be


  • A user can sign up for a FREE bi-monthly newsletter at http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/ :


    I was particularly interested in adding some of my English families to this website, so I clicked on the "My Ancestors" link and saw this page:


    A user can add information about a family from these census records:

    *  1841 England and Wales
    *  1881 England and Wales
    *  1911 England and Wales
    *  Scotland 1881
    *  Canada 1881
    *  USA 1880
    *  Ireland 1911

    For each census, the user has to add information for the census page on which the ancestor appears.  For instance, I chose to add data from the 1841 England and Wales census, so I had to enter this data for the specific census page for my Richman ancestors:

    *  Piece:  HO107/1282
    *  Book:  2
    *  Folio:  25
    *  Page: 9
    *  Surname:  Richman
    *  Forename: Ann
    *  Middles names or initials: [blank]
    *  Age:  59

    Of course, I had to find the required information above - and found that it was on the image of the 18410 England census that I collected some time ago on www.ancestry.com.  It's also on another subscription site, www.findmypast.co.uk.  

    I could then choose the type of relative this was - in my case, Ann (Marshman) Richman is a "Direct Ancestor."  I also added her maiden name in the field provided.  Here is the completed form:


    I did this for two families in the 1841 England and Wales census - for the John Richman and John Rich families, both in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England.  The "My Ancestors" page looks like this:


    Now, the idea is that with these names in the database, someone else might search for the same persons and be able to commiserate with me about the parents of John Richman, Ann (Marshman) Richman, and John Rich. 

    I did a Search for these persons that I've added, and came up empty.  But now I've thrown this "cousin bait" out into the genealogy pool, and perhaps a lost cousin will find my post, or search the database and find my entries, and contact me!  I hope so. 

    If you have 19th century English or Welsh ancestors, this is a good site to determine if there are lost cousins already registered and using the site.  It's also a good site to leave your "cousin bait" for others to find.

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