• Only registered members can see all the forums - if you've received an invitation to join (it'll be on your My Summary page) please register NOW!

  • If you're looking for the LostCousins site please click the logo in the top left corner - these forums are for existing LostCousins members only.
  • This is the LostCousins Forum. If you were looking for the LostCousins website simply click the logo at the top left.
  • It's easier than ever before to check your entries from the 1881 Census - more details here

How You can Help Yourself to Taste Success!

Britjan said:
One of my lockdown activities has been making use of my Blue Ray DVD player to watch a lot of British films . Despite the stringent distancing conditions I can still visit the public library entrance and have my books and other items brought to me. One of the series I've really enjoyed is "Grantchester" and as a result I was encouraged to go back and look at me Grandfather Stubbing 's family connections to Cambridgeshire. I've never felt a real connection to my roots in that county and the Stubbing name is a nightmare of spelling variations but in the 10 years or so since I worked on that part of my tree there are a lot more records to consult. I've been adding some to my ancestors page and as a result I have three new contacts in the last month. Nothing very close but encouraging.
Click to expand...
I'm on a roll because I reported my experience using the library on my Twitter account and then realised they have made Ancestry accessible remotely rather than only at a library branch. I reposted to mention that I had found a new connection by marriage and improved my family tree as a lockdown activity!
 
Last edited:
Hi Everyone!

Here's a weekly update on how well people have been doing over at LostCousins.
  • 55 new members joined the LostCousins site
  • 16,836 new entries have been added and
  • 1,043 relatives have been matched.
Always good to see New Members joining. Only New Entries up this week, but all the numbers are still very high and well above the running average. Peter's end of year competition is still running, with some pretty amazing prizes.
But the best prize is making those new matches with other members researching your ancestors.
Good Luck everyone!

My match potential is still increasing over this period, how has yours been doing?

There's never been such a good time to stay safe and enter your relatives over at Lost Cousins. It's simple and quick, so enter those relatives and match with your cousins.

Thoughts go out to families who have lost loved ones too early. Remember to stay at home, social distancing and wear masks. #Staysafe

New Members mean New Entries, and New Entries mean New Matches. Everyone wins.

Good Luck Everyone!

Here's a graph showing the activity over at the Lost Cousins site
upload_2021-1-22_10-3-14.png
 
If anyone is wondering why some members of the forum are shown as Star, Superstar, or even Megastar it's not because they've posted a lot of messages, it's because they've added lots of relatives to the My Ancestors page, increasing their Match Potential well beyond the level of 1 that entitles mere mortals to join the forum.

As RedDragon has reminded us, the New Year Competition is still running - but you've only got until 31st January to enter, so now's the time to reach for the stars!
 
Tim said:
How many relatives do you need to add to become a MegaStar?
Click to expand...
It currently requires a Match Potential in excess of 30 - very challenging! But becoming a Star is much more achievable - most LostCousins members should be able to get over the threshold (4).
 
Thanks Peter, so I still have a bit to go then, but I have a target now :)
 
As a guide for those who are aiming for Star status, 400 relatives from the 1881 E&W census will be sufficient once the competition is over.
 
peter said:
400 relatives from the 1881 E&W census
Click to expand...
I'm sure there is a good reason but why are Scottish relatives excluded from the 400 required? The paternal half of my tree is Scottish, and those who had not already emigrated were based in the central belt, Glasgow through to Edinburgh in 1881.
 
CeeJay said:
I'm sure there is a good reason but why are Scottish relatives excluded from the 400 required? The paternal half of my tree is Scottish, and those who had not already emigrated were based in the central belt, Glasgow through to Edinburgh in 1881.
Click to expand...
They're not excluded. But entering 400 relatives from any other census wouldn't bring you anywhere near a Match Potential of 4 - for a long time the Scottish census wasn't free online, so proportionately fewer relatives have been entered.
 
Hi Everyone!

Here's a weekly update on how well people have been doing over at LostCousins.
  • 37 new members joined the LostCousins site
  • 10,100 new entries have been added and
  • 580 relatives have been matched.
Always good to see New Members joining. All the numbers are down this week but still very high and well above the running average. It's the last few day's of Peter's end of year competition so make sure you're in with a chance by entering your relatives.

Good Luck everyone!

My match potential is still increasing over this period, how has yours been doing? Peter has explained what you need to become a Star and a Mega Star, so improve your score by adding your relatives.

There's never been such a good time to stay safe and enter your relatives over at Lost Cousins. It's simple and quick, so enter those relatives and match with your cousins.

Thoughts go out to families who have lost loved ones too early. Remember to stay at home, social distancing and wear masks. #Staysafe

New Members mean New Entries, and New Entries mean New Matches. Everyone wins.

Good Luck Everyone!

Here's a graph showing the activity over at the Lost Cousins site
upload_2021-1-29_10-46-7.png
 
peter said:
As a guide for those who are aiming for Star status, 400 relatives from the 1881 E&W census will be sufficient once the competition is over.
Click to expand...
I have 523 but I don't know how long ago I accumulated them.
I haven't done my Irish ones yet, what do I get for that?
 
Thanks Peter for this summary of my entries , very revealing.
England & Wales 1911 710 England & Wales 1881 632 England & Wales 1841 178
Scotland 1881 20
Ireland 1911 14
Canada 1881 59
Newfoundland 1921 0
United States 1880 5
United States 1940 6
TOTAL1624
My recent additions are mainly based on a more in depth review of the 1911 census. My match potential is a paltry 8.4!!
 
At home in NZ said:
I have 523 but I don't know how long ago I accumulated them.
I haven't done my Irish ones yet, what do I get for that?
Click to expand...

I don't know what the formula is that Peter uses to calculate the Match Potential but there is not a lot of information that he can use. It is not important how long ago entries were submitted. The Match Potential is calculated from the current number of entries. For each census there is . . .

1. Total number of records contained. This is a fixed number.
2. Total number of entries made by all LC members.
3. Number of entries made by each LC member. The only figure that can be modified by an individual, by submitting entries on their My Ancestors page.

I expect the overall Match Potential for each member is the sum of calculated potential for each of the censuses, along the lines of . . .
Value 3 * (Value 2 - Value 3) / Value 1

An increase in value 2 will give rise to the small regular uplift in the Match Potential for all members, regardless of whether an individual has added new entries. There are more entries submitted by LC members for the E&W 1881 census than any other and hence that census has the biggest effect on each member's calculated potential.
An increase in value 3 is the fastest way for someone to increase their own Match Potential and is completely under their own control.

Most members will have very few entries for the Newfoundland 1921 census so anyone that does submit a lot of entries from that census will get less of an uplift to their potential than if they submitted the same number of entries from the E&W 1881 census. Similarly, don't expect entries for the Ireland 1911 census to make a big difference to the Match Potential.

Britjan said:
My match potential is a paltry 8.4!!
Click to expand...

A Match Potential of 8.4 is NOT paltry. If all members had that value then we would probably make matches every time that we submit entries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top