I am just curious how many forum members are using lostcousins to help them find distantly related living cousins.
For those who dont know, www.lostcousins.com is a free site when you put in census details of anyone you are related to (not just ancestors) from the 1861, 1881 and/or 1911 census british census (and others like USA). If any other members have put in the same person then it notifies you and you can then buy a subscription to the site (which I dont think is very expensive although I havent done it), and then make contact with the person through the site so it is still confidential until you want to give them your personal info. Every 6 months or so they let people make contact with matches for free and I have just waited for those in the past.
From the site:
"LostCousins is the ONLY family history website able to match you with cousins researching the same ancestors
AUTOMATICALLY, ACCURATELY & CONFIDENTIALLY
Simply enter the relatives on your family tree who were recorded on selected US, Canadian, British, or Irish Censuses - then click the Search button!
Our automated matching is close to 100% accurate, so nobody else needs to see your information - and when you do find a 'lost cousin', you can be certain you're related!"
Im not trying to sell it! Im just curious who else is using it and how successful you have been, aswell as letting other people know it exists.
I personally have found 3 lost cousins who I am in regular email contact with. We have been able to share so much amazing information because in one case our mutual ancestors were brothers with 6 other siblings and we both had information on 2 or 3 different siblings.
Amy from Oz