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Welcome to the second issue of Discover Your Ancestors. Once again, our mission is to bring past lives to life, and to help you explore your personal heritage.

If you’re new to the publication, you’ll find a friendly approach to social and family history, with guidance for beginners on how to explore your family tree and a host of features on helping you to imagine what your ancestors’ lives were like. If you’re with us again, thanks for coming back – you’ll fi nd a wealth of new material here.

In this issue we’ve delved into numerous different aspects of life in the past, from schooldays since Victorian times, to medical and dental treatments over several centuries, and even the cookbooks that our ancestors might have used. Come with us on a trip to a Victorian photographer’s studio, or explore the clothes people wore in Regency times and the houses they lived in.

Although our focus is British roots and history, we’re well aware that people around the world have connections to these islands – in this issue we have features on different types of settlers in both New Zealand and Canada, and throughout the publication you’ll find references to research resources and places to visit around the world as well as in the UK. And of course we know that the British Isles doesn’t just mean England: we have special features on Wales, Scotland and Ireland – and indeed Cornwall, if you’re a Kernow separatist!

Were your ancestors Methodists, Baptists, Quakers or Huguenots? Or in one of the world wars? We’ve got features on all of those subjects too, written once again by experts and enthusiasts.

The past may in some senses be a fixed thing, but when we explore our personal heritage we come to see how our family and social history just grows and grows. Every new generation you climb to in your family tree brings new people, life stories and occupations to learn about. There’s always more to discover!

I know this myself: in the last issue, I wrote of a family mystery of my own and how I was awaiting the results of a DNA test which could help clear it up. I was excited to discover that it did indeed prove beyond reasonable doubt a family connection that I had long suspected but only had circumstancial evidence for. As I write this, the results of DNA tests on a skeleton found in a Leicester car park in 2012 have just been announced, proving that the remains were those of the long-lost Richard III. My own tale won’t hit the headlines, but it made all the difference to me – and you will find stories just like that as you explore your own roots.

We’re delighted by the huge success of our first issue, and my thanks go to everyone who has been part of that one and this – now we’re also excited to announce the launch of our digital-only monthly edition, Discover Your Ancestors Periodical, to help you explore your roots in more detail and whet your appetite until issue three. Join us for more adventures in the past!