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A very warm welcome the third annual edition of Discover Your Ancestors. Things have come a long way since we first started putting Issue 1 together at the end of 2011. (My second child born around then is certainly a lot bigger and heavier!) As well as the hugely successful two printed issues, we launched our digital-only, monthly sibling publication Discover Your Ancestors Periodical in 2013 in response to popular demand – or impatience, given the gap between annual issues! So in a fairly short space of time we’ve published almost 200 articles, if you include the 30+ brand new features this new issue is crammed with.

The great thing about family history is that it connects people – not just across the centuries between ourselves and our ancestors – but here and now. Nobody makes major progress with their family tree without talking to older family members, or often making contact with previously unknown, distant cousins across the globe. And of course putting together a magazine like this connects people too – sometimes a reader will spot a reference to a family member in a case study or the details of an old register image (if you do, please let us know!). Plus we’ve had contact with the many talented, expert people who write for us, advertise with us and help to make the family history scene such a vibrant and fascinating one.

Once again in this issue you’ll find our signature recipe of social and military history, research advice and informative entertainment, with a UK focus but a worldwide perspective. We’ve covered everything from those odd nicknames that people from different places give each other (Dee Dars, anyone? Moonrakers?) to old tax records, the ravages of poverty… and what made our ancestors laugh. I leave you to discover the rest for yourself.

It remains only to thank our writers, sponsors and advertisers… and of course you, the readers. Do let us know what you’d like to see in future issues, print or digital, and keep connecting.