LostCousins newsletter 19/11/09

Newsletter - November 19, 2009

CONTENTS

Make the most of FREE searches at subscription sites
The pros and cons of automatic renewals
London Metropolitan Archives online
Prince William's cousin is a member!
Newspaper archives online
Hospital records destroyed
deCode Genetics files for bankruptcy
Learn from the mistakes of others
Plymouth & West Devon Record Office under threat
More burial records online
Success in Australia
Peter's Tips
Have you tried….?
Stop Press

To visit the main LostCousins site please go to www.LostCousins.com or click here if you need a password reminder. It's free to join LostCousins, so if you've been sent this newsletter (or a link to this newsletter) by someone else, I hope you'll register in your own right - and take part in the great LostCousins project.

If you missed the previous LostCousins newsletter (dated 1/11/09), or would like to see it again, click here. All newsletters since February 2009 are still available online.

Make the most of FREE searches at subscription sites
None of us can afford a subscription at every genealogy site, but we can all take advantage of the free Search results they offer. True, free searches don't reveal everything - otherwise nobody would subscribe - but often they give away a key piece of the jigsaw. For example, if you're having trouble finding someone on the census, searching at a site that has a different transcription or different search capabilities might provide a vital clue.

Suppose that you have a subscription to Ancestry, but can't find your relative on one of the England & Wales censuses no matter what names you try. Why not try a free search at findmypast.com, making use of some of the features that are unique to searches at that site - such as searching by occupation, or using wildcards at the start of a field (Ancestry doesn't allow them in the first 3 characters)?

Similarly, if you have a subscription to findmypast.com, you might like to try a free search at Ancestry.co.uk using one of the features unique to that site, such as searching on forenames alone (for example, the forename of a child and forenames of its parents).

Modifying your search can reveal additional information. Suppose that you find the right person in the London Metropolitan Archives marriage registers at Ancestry, but need to know the year in which they married - something that the free search results won't tell you. In this case a 'binary search' technique will provide the solution: first you start with a wide range, such as 1820-1840, then you try the lower half of the range, and if that doesn't produce a positive result, you try the upper half. With repeated searches you'll eventually identify the precise year - and all without paying a penny!

The pros and cons of automatic renewals
Ancestry subscriptions are renewed automatically when they expire - they keep your credit card details and automatically charge your card. The ONLY way to prevent this happening is to cancel your subscription before the renewal date - and I'd recommend that you always do this, even if you currently plan to renew. Why? Because there is no significant advantage in automatic renewal - Ancestry does not offer any loyalty discounts. Indeed, as some members have found, cancelling a subscription often leads to the offer of a renewal discount of 20% or more.

Tip: you can cancel your Ancestry subscription at any time, even on the first day - you'll still get the time you paid for

At findmypast.com the situation is very different. You can choose whether or not your subscription is renewed automatically - and unlike Ancestry, findmypast offers a 20% loyalty discount for subscribers who renew their subscription, so long as there is no break. This means that there is a tangible advantage in choosing the automatic renewal option.

Tip: loyalty discounts at findmypast.com operate on a like for like basis, so you won't get the discount if you upgrade your subscription when you renew (eg by adding the 1911 census); it's therefore worth looking out for special offers, like the one they ran in October

LostCousins subscriptions are not renewed automatically - and we don't keep your credit card details because we don't have them in the first place (the payment process is hosted on a secure web page by RBS WorldPay). Subscribers receive a special early edition of this newsletter, and in the accompanying email I give the renewal date, so it's easy to keep track.

Tip: if you're not sure how much a subscription costs in your local currency, visit the site XE.com which will give you the equivalent in any currency: for example, as I write this a LostCousins subscription is £10 or $16.62 (US), $$17.73 (Canadian) or $18.15 (Australian)

London Metropolitan Archives online
Whilst findmypast.com has a wide spread of parish records (thanks to a link with the Federation of Family History Societies), for those with London ancestors the most comprehensive source is the London Metropolitan Archives, many of whose records are now online at Ancestry. Accessing the LMA records requires a Premium or Worldwide subscription to Ancestry - if you have an Essentials subscription then these and many other key records are out of bounds.

If you have relatives who lived in London between 1813 and the end of the 19th century I would thoroughly recommend taking out a subscription for one month: marriage register entries from 1837 onwards give exactly the same information that you'd get on a marriage certificate, and as certificates cost £7 each, this makes the one month cost of a Premium subscription to Ancestry (which gives access to all of the UK and Ireland records at the site) look a bargain at just £12.95.

Tip: remember that, as with all Ancestry subscriptions, they will keep charging you UNLESS you cancel before the end of your month

Although Ancestry have not transcribed and indexed all of the information in the registers - for example, the names of marriage witnesses haven't been indexed - it's much easier to search the LMA records than the GRO BMD indexes. For example, if you are trying to find a wedding you can specify the name of the bride's father; similarly, if you are searching for baptisms you could specify the names of the parents, but leave the child's name blank.

Prince William's cousin is a member!
In the last issue I provided a link to an online family tree for Prince William, who will one day be King of England - but the last thing I expected was to receive an email from one of his cousins. It seems that Prince William and LostCousins member Val in Australia share late 16th century ancestors Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp, and his wife Lady Honora Rogers.

Many people have royal connections that they don't know about, and this article from Who Do You Think You Are? magazine might inspire you to discover connections of your own.

Newspaper archives online
Local and national newspapers can be a great source of information for family historians, as they often tell us far more than the bare facts that we find on certificates and censuses. Now that many newspapers can be searched online it is a lot easier to track down articles - and often the findings can be quite unexpected, because newspapers don't just cover disasters, court cases, and scandals (although these days you'd be forgiven for thinking that they did), they also cover sporting events and flower shows, and publish letters from readers.

Your local library may well provide free access to newspaper archives - often at home, as well as in the library. For example, here in Essex anyone with a library card can search The Times (1785-1985), the Guardian and Observer (1791-2003), and the 19th Century British Library collection from the comfort of their own home. I know that many other libraries offer similar facilities - why not check what is available in your area?

Hospital records destroyed
In the last newsletter I mentioned that I had made an application under the Data Protection Act to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust to discover what records had survived of the time I spent in hospital as a child. Ten days later I received a response which stated "We very much regret that your medical records are no longer available. We only keep medical records for 8/9 years."

I've now written to ask whether my records were destroyed, which seems to be most likely - or passed to another agency. Perhaps some of the LostCousins members who work in the NHS can enlighten me as to the practice in their parts of the system?

If records are being destroyed, and duplicates are not kept, then as family historians we surely need to be more proactive in seeking out the information held by the organisations that we deal with. Or perhaps organisations who keep records should be forced to hand them over to us, rather than being allowed to destroy them?

Should 'data protection' be about protecting data against loss, as well as misuse? I'd be interested to know what you think.

deCode Genetics files for bankruptcy
This week deCode Genetics, a pioneer in the field of genetic research, filed for bankruptcy. Since 2003 the company has been trying to identify the genetic causes of common diseases using the uniquely detailed genealogical and medical records of Iceland, but it transpired that the task was more complicated than was first thought.

This business failure doesn't have any relevance to the use of DNA testing in genealogical research, although readers of this newsletter will know that I have considerable reservations about the way in which DNA tests are marketed to family historians, many of whom do not understand their limitations. Over the coming months I'll be writing more about how DNA tests can and can't be used, and plan to add an extensive new section on this topic to the Help & Advice page.

Learn from the mistakes of others
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the 1911 Census is the way that we can learn from our ancestors' mistakes. For example, Angela told me how her great uncle had listed all of his children on the census form, even the ones who had died before the census - though he later crossed them out.

But you can also learn from mistakes made by enumerators, or vicars. If your ancestor's name is wrongly spelled on the census, or in a church register, it may be because it was written as it sounded - which would tell you a little about the way they spoke (for example, in 18th century parish registers my own surname - Calver - is often spelled Carver, because that's the way people spoke in Suffolk and Norfolk). Knowing how somebody spoke may not seem important - but if you're having trouble tracking down their birthplace it could be a vital clue.

Plymouth & West Devon Record Office under threat
Since 1982 the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office has been occupying a temporary building described by the National Archives as fundamentally unsuitable, and unless action is taken the valuable archives will be removed and stored elsewhere - a matter of some concern to the Devon Family History Society, who are holding a public meeting in Plymouth on November 27. See the DFHS website for more details.

More burial records online
In the last issue I wrote about the free index of burial and cremation records offered by Manchester City Council; since then a number of members have written to tell me about similar facilities for Exeter, Wakefield and St Helens, although the latter's website wouldn't work with Firefox - and in Internet Explorer v8 it would only work in compatibility mode (in the Tools menu).

Success in Australia
Jeff in England was very pleased with the service he received from Marilyn Rowan, whose New South Wales transcription service I wrote about in the last newsletter. When she sent him a transcript of his uncle's 1975 death entry she also gave him the current phone number of someone with the same surname living in the same road - and minutes later he was talking to his cousin, who he hadn't seen in over 50 years!

Peter's Tips
"You've been quangoed" was the headline of a recent Daily Mail article in which Janet Street-Porter lambasted the ineffectiveness of quangos, notably Consumer Focus - a taxpayer-funded body which is supposed to protect the interests of British consumers. Her specific focus was on gas prices, and she drew attention to an announcement to British Gas shareholders that the company expected to make 43% more profit, even though wholesale gas prices have fallen by two-thirds.

One of the problems with quangos (or quasi non-governmental bodies) is that they tend to attract worthy people, rather than activists, and as a result they can be rather tame. I was once interviewed for a committee position with PostWatch, one of the organisations that was folded into Consumer Focus, and was amazed to discover that their policy was to support the closure of local post offices! As you can imagine, I wasn't offered the role.

A much stronger advocate for consumers in the UK is the Consumers Association, which like LostCousins is funded by subscribers and advertisers, not taxpayers. If you have been disappointed by the small reduction in gas prices, or are concerned that your electricity bill is too high, then I'd recommend that you visit their Which?Switch site, where you should be able to find a cheaper supplier and fill out the necessary paperwork in just 10 minutes! Do it NOW, because it usually takes about 4 weeks to effect the change, and I'm sure you will want to save money during the peak months of January and February.

By the way, switching gas or electricity ISN'T like switching your supermarket, or your telephone or broadband supplier. There are no reliability issues to worry about because you get the same gas, and the same electricity, and have the same meters whichever company you choose. All that changes is the name on the bill - and (of course) the price. Make sure that when you switch you choose the monthly direct debit option, because this invariably offers the lowest prices - and it has the advantage of spreading the cost equally over the year.

Christmas is an expensive time of the year, so wouldn't it be good if somebody else paid for some of the presents you give? Tesco are generously giving away 500 bonus clubcard points - potentially worth £20 off your next holiday or any of their other 'clubcard deals' - with the online purchase of certain CDs and DVDs, including the new Harry Potter film. As many of the films and CDs on offer cost less than £10, this is a fantastic opportunity to pick up Christmas gifts for less than nothing - but you must be quick, because the offer finishes on Sunday November 22. Make sure you read the small print detailing the conditions!

If there's somebody who wants to buy you a present, but doesn't know what to get, why not suggest a subscription to one of the family history magazines? You can save £££s and make a small contribution to the running costs of the LostCousins site if you take out a subscription after clicking on one of the adverts below:

Have you tried….?
Everybody reading this newsletter has British ancestry, but most of us have relatives who migrated. By searching the US censuses I recently discovered that two families from one branch of my tree migrated there in the early 20th century, information that wasn't apparent from passenger records because their unusual surname had been mistranscribed (the handwriting on passenger lists can be quite appalling!).

Have you ever considered taking out a one-month Worldwide subscription to Ancestry, which for £18.95 gives access to ALL of Ancestry's databases around the world, including US censuses up to 1930? Just make sure that you cancel your subscription well before the end of the month, otherwise it will be renewed automatically.

Stop Press
This is where updates or amendments will appear.

That's all for now - I hope you've found some of it relevant to you and your family tree. Please do keep sending in your comments and suggestions for future issues.

Peter Calver

Founder, LostCousins