Newsletter – 25th
November 2024
Is this the
lowest-ever price for AncestryDNA?
Why you shouldn’t
read my DNA Masterclass
Annual Competition:
over 1000 prizes to be won FREE TO ENTER
The LostCousins
newsletter is usually published 2 or 3 times a month (though this is the FIFTH
newsletter in November – it has been such an exciting 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!
Is this the lowest-ever price for
AncestryDNA?
Ancestry
have launched their Black Friday sale with stunning prices for DNA kits – in
the UK the price has been slashed in half from £79 to an amazing £39, the
lowest it has ever been, and whilst there is a shipping charge on top (£10 for
the first kit and £5 for each subsequent kit in the same order), this includes
return shipping – so you can give a kit to a relative without having to worry
about who pays for the postage when the kit is sent back to the laboratory.
Note:
when I bought my first AncestryDNA kit in 2016 the shipping charge was twice as
high as it is today.
In
Canada the price has been slashed to $69, and once again Ancestry reckon this is the lowest-ever price in the former dominion.
In Australia they’re billing the Black Friday price of $79 as the lowest price
of the year (that’s Australian dollars, by the way, so
it’s about $88 for New Zealanders). As for the US – well, I’m still waiting to
find out, but when I do this article will be updated accordingly.
Please
use the relevant link below so that LostCousins has a chance of receiving
commission on your purchase – it’s the commission we receive from big companies
like Ancestry that enables me to keep the LostCousins site mostly free, so that
nobody is prevented from connecting with their ‘lost cousins’.
Note: if the link
doesn’t take you to the offer page, or all you see is a banner at the top of
the screen, please log-out from Ancestry, then click my link again.
Why you shouldn’t read my DNA Masterclass
I
was corresponding with a LostCousins member this week who told me that she had
read my DNA Masterclass several times, but hadn’t
managed to digest all of the information. I’m not surprised – at around 7,500
words (plus charts and tables) it’s around the same length as my undergraduate dissertation, and took just as long to write.
The
good news is that you don’t have to digest the information – you only
need to follow the simple steps that are set out in the Masterclass. You don’t
need to understand why the system works any more than you need to know how the
combustion engine works in order to drive an
automobile.
Think
of the Masterclass as an instruction manual with a Quick Start Guide. A lot of
the information in the Masterclass is only there so that if you want to know
more, you don’t have to go searching online for answers – something that would
be extremely dangerous, because it’s possible to waste an enormous amount of
time doing things which sound wonderful in theory, but don’t work nearly as
well in practice. Which is not to say that none of them work, just that you can
achieve better results in less time and with far less effort by following the
Masterclass.
So
don’t read the Masterclass – just follow the instructions! You’ll find the
latest (March 2024) version here.
Tip:
if you’re supporting LostCousins by paying a subscription you’ll have access to
the Subscribers Only page, which has links to ALL of
my Masterclasses. They’re not designed for beginners, but anyone with an
interest in genealogy will benefit from reading them.
Annual Competition: over 1000 prizes to be
won FREE TO ENTER
Last
year I had the pleasure of awarding more than 1000 prizes to LostCousins
members who took part in my Annual Competition – and I’m anticipating doing the
same over the next three months (this year’s competition ends on 31st
January 2025). As usual here are some fantastic prizes donated by big genealogy
companies, but it’s not just about monetary value of the prizes – many of them
are unique in one way or another.
But
first of all, let me say A BIG THANK YOU to
everyone who has generously donated a prize for this year’s competition –
without you it wouldn’t be so special.
STAR
PRIZE – 12 MONTH EVERYTHING SUBSCRIPTION TO FINDMYPAST WORTH £199.99
With
an Everything subscription the world is your oyster – you can log into any of
Findmypast’s sites worldwide and access ANY of the billions of records and
historical newspaper articles in their collection. Though Findmypast are
best-known for their British records, thanks to their close relationships with
The National Archives and the British Library, they have a massive
collections of Irish and Australian records, and unique access to
Catholic records.
You
might think, I don’t have any Irish, Australian, or Catholic ancestors – well,
that’s what I used to think. But thanks to Findmypast’s Catholic baptism
records (and some clues from my DNA matches at other sites) I was able to break
down one of my oldest ‘brick walls’, proving that my great-great grandmother
was of Irish Catholic stock, even though she married in the parish church and all of her children were baptised in the Church of England.
In the process I also discovered an Australian branch that I’d previously known
nothing about.
STAR
PRIZE – 12 MONTH DIAMOND SUBSCRIPTION TO THE GENEALOGIST WORTH £139.95
If
you’re looking for records that the other big sites have missed,
mistranscribed, or ignored, The Genealogist is a great choice: they have the
most complete collection of tithe records and tithe maps that you’ll find
anywhere online, and many of the tithe maps are in colour, which makes them
easier to interpret. Map Explorer now
includes all of the England & Wales censuses from 1841-1911, as well as the
1939 Register, tithe maps, and the 1910 Land Valuation – which is exclusive to The Genealogist
(the coverage is fast-expanding, but is currently focused mainly on London and
the Home Counties).
Looking
for someone with an unusual occupation who is proving elusive in the censuses?
The keyword search at The Genealogist is one that I’ve used time and time
again.
Tip:
until midnight (London time) on Monday 2nd December you can get a 12 month Diamond subscription for just £94.95
with loads and loads of extras thrown in – please follow this link
to find out more.
EXCLUSIVE
ZOOM PRESENTATIONS
PROFESSOR REBECCA PROBERT - BIGAMY
A
great supporter of LostCousins, and the closest thing to a superstar in the
academic world, Professor Probert first came to my notice when she published Marriage
Law for Genealogists a book that should be on the bookshelves of ever
serious family historian (you can read my review here).
Her next book will be on the subject of bigamy, so I’m
delighted that she has agreed to give a sneak preview to LostCousins members.
There
will be two presentations at different times so that nobody need be prevented
from attending on account of their time zone: the first will be on Saturday 15th
February 2025 at 10am (London time), and the second will be at 5pm the
following week (Saturday 22nd February). Please put these dates in
your diary in case you’re lucky enough to be invited to one or the other.
SIMON FOWLER –
VISITING THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Simon
Fowler is a prolific author and a professional genealogist who previously spent
20 years working for the Public Record Office and The National Archives (as it
later became). He was also editor of Ancestors magazine from 2004-2010,
but you can find a more detailed account of his experience and achievements on
this Wikipedia page.
If
you haven’t been to The National Archives before there is nobody better to
explain how to make the most of your first visit – and ensure it isn’t a wasted
journey. The date for Simon’s exclusive talk has yet to be arranged,
but will be announced in the newsletter as soon as it is fixed.
DJ WISEMAN – NOVELIST
For
years I’ve been hoping to interview the author DJ Wiseman, whose genealogical
mystery novels are not just great stories, but great pieces of writing. At last I’ve managed to persuade him to talk to talk to
LostCousins members about his writing and his interest in family history, and
I’m looking forward to it just as much as you are.
The
date has yet to be arranged, so watch this space!
TALKS
ON DNA
I
will be giving two exclusive talks on the subject of genetic genealogy: one
will be for those who have yet to test, and will look
at what you can and can’t find out using DNA. The second talk will be for those
who have already tested, and will focus on how to make
the best use of your DNA results.
.
PRIZES
DONATED BY AUTHORS
This
year there’s something for everyone
GSI
Superstition Mountains (donated by Nathan Dylan Goodwin) provides a chance for
you to solve three murders using the latest techniques in investigative
genetic genealogy. You’ll be able to work through the case at your own speed
with expert video guidance from Diahan Southard, a DNA guru with 20 years
experience, and Nathan Dylan Goodwin, author of the Venator series of genetic
genealogy mysteries (as well as the incredibly popular Morton Farrier series of
genealogy mystery novels). You can find out more about this intriguing
opportunity here.
The
latest book in the Venator Cold Case series is out now – please use these links
if you’d like to find out more:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
The Mourning Brooch is a trilogy of
historical novels by the author Jean Renwick, inspired by a mourning brooch
inherited from her godmother. The first book in the series was recently the
subject of discussion by the Society of Genealogists Book Club, and it has
received high praise from reviewers since its release in 2021. The author has
kindly agreed to donate a signed copy of Book One to the lucky
prize-winner.
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
Blood-Tied was the first book
in the Esme Quentin series of genealogy mysteries from Wendy Percival and if,
like me, you have problems with your sight (or simply want to give your eyes a
rest) you’ll be glad to know that it is now available as an audio book. Many
years ago I used to buy audio books on cassette, but I
gather it’s a little more sophisticated these days. Wendy has generously
donated two certificates, each of which entitles the holder to a free audiobook
version from Audiobooks.com
If
you’ve yet to discover the Esme Quentin series, they’re also available as
paperbacks and as Kindle books: please follow the relevant link below:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.com.au
There
will be more prizes announced in the near future – yet
another reason to make sure that you are on the mailing list by logging into
your account now and again.
If
you’ve added relatives to your My
Ancestors page since midnight on 31st January 2024, when the
last competition ended, the chances are that you’ve already entered this year’s
competition – every direct ancestor or blood relative added counts as an entry,
and you’ll get double credit for relatives from the 1881 Census (because that‘s
the census most likely to connect you to your ‘lost cousins’, so by using that
census you’re doing them a favour).
Of
course, I’m hoping that now you’ve seen some of the prizes on offer this uear
you’ll be encouraged to enter even more relatives between now and the close of
the competition at midnight on 31st January 2025. Not because I’m
interested in your data – it’s of no value to me – but because I need that
information to identify the other members who are your ‘lost cousins’. The more
relatives you enter, especially from the 1881 Censuses, the more cousins you’ll
find.
Why
would you want to find your ‘lost cousins’? Because you don’t have time to
research all of your ancestors on your own – nobody
does.
Perhaps
the worst thing about researching on your own is that you are likely to be
duplicating research that one of your cousins has already carried out already
done – and if you’re short of time, you don’t want to waste it, do you?
The
point I’m trying to make is that whilst it might take you a couple of hours to
enter all of your relatives from 1881, it’s going to
save you far more time in the future.
There’s
only thing worse than not winning a prize, and that’s winning a prize that you
didn’t want. So this year we’ll once again be using
the My Prizes page at the LostCousins site to allow you to tell me which
prizes you’d most like to win – it’ll be active very soon.
Here’s
how it will work – you give each prize that interests you a rating, which can
be anything from 1 (not very interested) to 10 (very interested indeed). Remember,
these are ratings, not rankings, so you can give more than one prize the same
rating. There’s no need to do anything for prizes that don’t interest you at
all.
There’s
also a space for comments. Often I’ll ask members who
are invited to a presentation to submit questions in advance using the Comments
box, but you’re welcome to leave other comments.
Although
Findmypast has by far the biggest collection of historical British newspapers,
the biggest collection globally is found at Newspapers.com – they recently
passed the 1 billion page mark! From tomorrow (26th
November) you can save 40% on a 6 month subscription,
which brings the price down to just £5 a month in the UK (prices in other
countries will vary, but the 40% discount applies worldwide).
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 2024 Peter Calver
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