Welcome to Stepping Stones.

Have you ever wondered where your family comes from? Want to research your family tree but don't know where to even begin? Well, sit down my friend, you've come to the right place.

But first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kate and I've always had a fascination with history. Which naturally progressed to a curiosity about my family and where they came from. I have been researching mine and my husband's family trees for over thirty years and have recently completed a Diploma of Family History from the University of Tasmania.

The reason I started this blog is because I remember what it was like when I was first starting out on my genealogy journey. Not knowing where to start, not knowing what resources were available, or even which resources would be useful to my search - and this was back before we had the internet at our fingertips!

But even though we now have online access to multiple records (with more and more becoming available all the time), it can still be confusing and overwhelming for anyone just starting out.

And though there are plenty of Facebook groups where people will do the research for you, I want to teach people how to do the research themselves, because for me, the looking and finding is the most rewarding part of genealogy.

Because my family is primarily from Australia (and if you go back far enough, England), a lot of the resources that I use are from Australia, New Zealand and England. However, most of the basic principles that I teach can be adapted and used with registries from pretty much anywhere.

Here on the blog we (myself and my partner in crime, Tracey) will provide 'lessons' on everything to do with genealogy. How to get started, family groups, making family trees, resources, etc. If you have questions about a lesson or exercise, you can leave a comment on the blog post for that lesson.

We welcome questions and feedback, but would like to remind everyone that we're not here to do the research for you, we're here to give you the tools you need and point you in the right direction. And of course if you have a question about something we haven't covered, let us know and we'll either make a lesson, or send you an email.

Thanks for stopping by, we hope you'll find the lessons informative, easy to follow, and useful.