RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: MarieC on Saturday 18 August 07 10:00 BST (UK)
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For all of us who are just freebie members with limited rights - it will be worth logging on and doing a thorough search while we can!
Happy searching, folks! (Unfortunately I feel quite certain there won't be any lost cousins waiting for me. Still, you never know!)
MarieC
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Hi MarieC..just had the same email from them,just to let everyone know it finishes on the 27th August,just had 4 1/2 free days on Ancestry,now this offer..christmas has come early 8) ;D
Steve ;D
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Lost Cousins is free for a week:
http://www.LostCousins.com
Has anyone actually found any "cousins" through this site?
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For all of us who are just freebie members with limited rights - it will be worth logging on and doing a thorough search while we can!
Happy searching, folks! (Unfortunately I feel quite certain there won't be any lost cousins waiting for me. Still, you never know!)
MarieC
But can you do a SEARCH of surnames without having to input information first? As I can't find a Search button!
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bitty matriarch,
The way it works is that you have to input all the ancestors and blood relatives that you can who appeared in the relevant census (eg the 1881 census for England and Wales), together with the census references. Then their computer will match yours with the same ones inputted by someone else - if anyone else has inputted the same people! You check this by going to your My Cousins page to see if there are any matches or any new contacts.
There is plenty of information about all this on the site. Have a read! It's a good idea but you'll only get a match if someone inputs the same people that you do.
MarieC
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The trouble is that you could have ancestors or relatives in common with someone else on the site but both parties have to list the common relative. That's okay if you don't have many family members but with large families or large family connection it's a lot of work for a possible match.
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It IS a lot of work putting them on there. But once they are there, they are there for ever - you don't have to do any more. And as Lost Cousins themselves say, the more people you put on, the more chances you have of getting a match. And if you DO get a match (which I haven't :( :'( ), it's immediately clear that it is the same person. You don't have to do any more to clarify that you are both looking at the same person.
MarieC
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I've been a member for about two years'. All the rellies I can find in 1881 have been entered but i have had no matches whatsoever.
I don't bother with the site any more
dinie
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I do like the concept of this site. It is easy to use, though time consuming to enter everyone on your tree, and they do (thoughtfully) use the (free) 1881 census as their census of choice, but I do wonder what the odds are of finding a match. It has an American bias too. I think more people have found distant relatives by chance on rootschat.
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I think the odds will improve as more people join. It's a matter of scale. Just for the record, I haven't found any rellies on Rootschat either. Of three distant cousins, one was found on Genes Reunited, one found me because of my webpage, and one was discovered by pure chance at the dinner table of a mutual friend, during a conversation!
I suspect that GR is probably the best site for finding people, but still think one should put one's names "out there", wherever possible!
MarieC
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I've been taking advantage of the free week to add lots of more distant relatives. So far I've added 235 relatives, and have found 3 'lost cousins', only 1 of whom I was already in touch with (via GR). I think the reason not many people are finding any cousins is because most people only enter their direct ancestors. If more people added more distant relatives, there would be more 'hits'. Of course, the 'cousins' would be fairly distant ones, but they would still be researching the same ancestors. I do agree, it's a lot of work, for not much reward, but I just wanted to show that it is possible to find 'lost cousins'.
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Welcome to Rootschat, klewis! I hope you have a happy and fruitful time here, and that you find lots of help and are able to help others - that's how this site works!
And thanks for making a very good point. I agree, it's important to enter rellies other than direct ancestors. Really pleased that this has brought success to you! The practice hasn't brought me any success yet, but I continue to live in hope!
MarieC
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I do like the concept of this site. It is easy to use, though time consuming to enter everyone on your tree, and they do (thoughtfully) use the (free) 1881 census as their census of choice, but I do wonder what the odds are of finding a match. It has an American bias too.
I'm not sure why you think the Lost Cousins site has an American bias? It started years ago with the England & Wales census, and the US census was added only recently.
Pete