LostCousins - a great place to find your British cousins!

LostCousins is FREE for the rest of this year!

From now until midnight on New Year’s Eve the LostCousins site will be completely free, allowing you the opportunity to connect with as many new cousins as you can – and unlike some other sites you won’t be asked to provide bank or credit card details. Because this offer coincides with the start of my Annual Competition (see below) the ancestors and cousins you add to your My Ancestors page will also count as entries - it's a really great opportunity for anyone with British ancestry!

Ancestry.co.uk is Free Until Sunday May 10th

With thanks to Bob Dawes for this tip. Bob was our presenter for our first virtual meeting just this last Tues. and spoke on "Making English Connections"

"Ancestry offer free UK records ENDS SUNDAY

Although there are no parties for the 75th anniversary of VE Day, family historians can celebrate with free access to all of Ancestry's UK records (at their UK site) until Sunday 10th May. To access the records you will need to register (or log-in if you have registered previously) but you will not need to provide credit card or bank details.

Tip: if you're asked to provide payment information it’s because you’re using the wrong site, accessing records that aren't included  in the offer, or else have clicked on the Free Trial icon by mistake.

Note: this weekend's free access to UK records is only available at Ancestry's UK site, but you should be able to log into the UK site wherever you are in the world."

The article goes on to give direct links to many of the best databases recommended by Peter Calver, the owner of Lost Cousins.

You must be logged in to ancestry.co.uk to have the free access.

And if you have English ancestors and do not subscribe to the "Lost Cousins Newsletter", why not?? 

https://www.lostcousins.com/ You can set up a free account.

"The best genealogy newsletter - and it's FREE!

As a LostCousins member you will be entitled to receive our newsletter, which is full of useful tips and articles to help you knock down 'brick walls' and take your research to a new level. Here's what members say about the newsletter:

"Your letters are so informative especially for those at a brick wall and not sure where to look next."

"Thanks again for the fabulous Lost Cousins newsletters - they are crammed with invaluable information."

"Many thanks for your informative and interesting newsletters. I really look forward to them and when I spot them in the inbox they are the first thing I scroll to."

To see the latest issue click here. "

LostCousins – Free subscriptions for new Canadian members – Limited Time Offer

LostCousins is a UK website, but as Peter mentioned, many Canadians have UK cousins and vice versa. I have found a few myself as I added both Canadian and UK census records to make connections. I echo Peter in hoping that a lot more Canadians will enter data, and maybe I'll get more connections too. This site works best if you put in aunts, uncles and cousins as well as your own direct line> Nancy

by Peter Calver, LostCousins (originally posted on the OGS e-weekly update 1/7/2017)

There are over 5,000 LostCousins members who live in Canada (and thousands more who have Canadian relatives, including me), but it's not very many for a country with a population of over 35 million. So far only 55,000 of the more than 4 million Canadians recorded on the 1881 Census have been claimed!

So to encourage more family historians to join I'm offering 6 MONTHS FREE to new members in Canada who have ancestors recorded on the 1881 Canada census or any of the other censuses we use at LostCousins. To take advantage of this offer the new member should enter the code CANADADAY in the offer codes box at the bottom of the registration page. This offer is not open to existing members, but I do have a complementary offer for them - see below.

For the benefit of potential new members reading this page the address of the LostCousins website is:  https://lostcousins.com/

There's no catch - you won't be asked to provide credit card or bank details, and after your 6 months is up you'll still have access to all the information you've entered, and all the connections you have made with cousins around the world. Of course, you'll receive an invitation to renew your subscription, but you will be under absolutely no obligation to do so.
Most people who buy a LostCousins subscription do so because they want to support the LostCousins project, and help LostCousins stay independent.

If you're already a LostCousins member you won't be able to take advantage of the offer for new members, but I have an equally good offer for you. When you enter the code HALFPRICECANADA on the Subscribe (or Renew Subscription) page you'll be able to buy a 12 month subscription for half-price, which means that you too will be getting 6 months free. You can do this even if you have an existing subscription, just so long as it doesn't have more than a year to run.

This offer is to thank you for telling potential new members about the LostCousins site - which you can do using your My Referrals page or by posting on blogs or forums. Remember to tell them about the 6 months free and give them the code (or else provide a link to this page).

Both of these offers WILL EXPIRE JULY 10^TH, SO ACT NOW!

LostCousins is FREE next weekend

It's their 12th birthday, and next weekend the LostCousins site will be completely free - it's a great opportunity to contact the cousins you've already found, and to find new cousins. The offer runs from Friday 29th April to Monday 2nd May.

LostCousins identifies members who share the same ancestors by comparing the information each member has entered on their My Ancestors page. After all, if you and another member have both entered the same relative, the two of you must also be related to each other!

Once you've entered your information the rest is automatic - all you need to do is click the Search button whenever you want to search for new cousins! 

What makes all this possible? The fact that every LostCousins member is taking information from the same online censuses.

Where can you find the census data? Most of the censuses have been selected because they are available free online. Usually only the transcription is free, not the images of the handwritten census schedules - but where that's the case all the information you need will be available as part of the transcription.

There is a very good help page on the site.

Lost Cousins Website Free for the Weekend

LostCousins is completely FREE this weekend ENDS TUESDAY

LostCousins is free this weekend, and the good news is that you've got an extra 48 hours, because my offer doesn't end until midnight on Tuesday 10th February. 

As you find relatives on the 1841, 1881, and 1911 censuses it makes sense to enter them on your My Ancestors page straightaway, so that I can link you with the other members - your 'lost cousins' - who have already entered them. Simply click the Search button and the LostCousins computer will automatically check every entry you've made against the millions of entries made by other members.

Tip: it doesn't matter if your new-found cousins don't reply before midnight on Tuesday - as long as you have initiated contact during the offer period (by clicking 'Make contact' on your My Cousins page), you'll be OK.

Of course, you won't always get an instant match - somebody has to be the first person to enter a particular relative - but once you've entered your relatives your cousins will be able to find you (and you only have to click the Search button to look for matches all over again). 

Tip: the 1881 census is the one that's most likely to link you to your 'lost cousins', and you'll get most matches when you enter the members of your ancestors' extended families - their brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

Peter Calver

Founder, LostCousins

Read about this unique website here.