Neighbours - a new way to research your tree!

9th February 2008

It's now possible to search for the descendants of your ancestors' neighbours using the LostCousins family history website.

Why? Because finding out who your ancestors were is only the start - most of us also want to find out how they lived, where they worked, where their children went to school, and what the area was like. That's the stage when it can be useful to make contact with researchers whose own ancestors lived in the same village, the same street, or even the same building.

The chances are that you'll each have a unique perspective on the locality and it's likely that you have each found resources that the other has missed, whether they are parish records, tithe maps, employer or union records, coroner's records, local newspaper archives… the list goes on and on.

You may discover where the children went to school, which church they attended, and where they were buried. And you'll have the option of co-ordinating your future research - after all, there's little point two people with similar interests scouring the same parish registers or other records.The LostCousins website has a unique system that matches people with a common interest automatically, confidentially, and with virtually 100% accuracy. But what makes the LostCousins really special is this - you'll know how you're connected to the other member even before you get in touch!

All this is achieved with a very simple system that utilises census data as a 'key' to open the door to new contacts, new information, and new opportunities. Once LostCousins members have entered their information from the census it takes just one click to look matches with the data entered by other members, and you can repeat the search as often as you like.

Because the LostCousins system is fully automatic the information members enter remains hidden - there's no chance that anyone else can see your entries. At a time when concern is increasing over the disclosure of confidential personal data it's reassuring to know that, from the very beginning, the LostCousins system was designed to protect members' privacy.

To complement the 'Neighbours' feature, LostCousins are also introducing a facility that allows those conducting One-Place Studies to connect with descendants of the people who lived there. A One-Place Study typically covers all of the inhabitants of a village or other small community, and provides a link between local history and family history.

For the latest LostCousins member newsletter click here