Have you always wanted to create your family tree but never quite known where to begin? Starting a Family Tree for Beginners will guide you through those first steps in a friendly and practical way — no previous experience required.

Learn how to set up your online family tree, add parents, grandparents and other relatives, create your first family branches and upload treasured photographs and documents. You’ll also learn how to invite relatives to view and contribute to your tree. We work at a comfortable pace, using your own family as the starting point. Available as an individual session or workshop, it’s a wonderful way to finally bring your family’s names, photographs, memories and stories together in one place.

Once you have started your family tree, there is so much more to discover. Growing Your Family Tree Further is the natural next step for anyone who has mastered the basics and wants to explore what their online family tree can really do.

Learn how to use hints and historical records, search for new ancestors, add further generations and family branches, organise photographs and documents, and make sense of information you discover along the way.

Using your own family tree, we’ll explore practical ways to expand it while keeping your research organised and enjoyable.

Available as an individual session or workshop, it’s designed to give you the confidence and skills to continue discovering your family story independently.

Thinking about taking a DNA test but unsure where to start? In this free consultation, we’ll discuss what you hope to discover and which type of DNA test and testing company is best suited to your goals.

​

Whether you’re exploring your ancestry, looking for relatives, investigating a particular family line or trying to solve a family-history mystery, you’ll receive independent, practical guidance before spending money on a test.

​

Your DNA results have arrived — but what do they actually tell you? In this one-to-one tutoring session, we’ll work through your results together, looking at ethnicity estimates, DNA matches, shared DNA and possible relationships.

​

The session is tailored entirely to your results and your questions, helping you understand what the information means, what it doesn’t mean, and how you can use it to explore your family history with greater confidence.​

Connect with fellow Australians who are exploring their family history through DNA. Australian GEDMatch Cousins is a Facebook group created to bring together genealogists, family historians and DNA testers who want to discover hidden connections.

Share your GEDMatch kit number, compare matches with other members, identify potential cousins and exchange ideas about common ancestors, family lines and migration histories. The group also provides a friendly place to ask questions, discuss interesting DNA matches and help one another work through genealogical brick walls.

Whether you are an experienced genetic genealogist or have only recently uploaded your DNA to GEDMatch, you are very welcome to join us. You never know — another member of the group might turn out to be the cousin who provides the missing piece of your family story.

Researching ancestors from Germany or historic Prussia can be challenging, particularly when records are in German, locations have changed names or borders, and familiar genealogy platforms only take you so far.

This practical workshop introduces the records, archives, databases and research strategies that can help you take your German and Prussian family history further. Learn how to identify ancestral places, navigate historical records and overcome some of the most common obstacles in German-speaking genealogy.

Join your host Daniel N Arnold for our free monthly Genealogy Afternoon Tea & Coffee at beautiful Balmoral Beach. It’s an informal, friendly gathering for anyone interested in family history — from complete beginners to experienced researchers.

 

Bring along a specific research question, a family-history puzzle, or a brick wall you’d like some help with, or simply come to meet fellow genealogy enthusiasts and exchange ideas. Enjoy a relaxed afternoon over tea and coffee in an intimate setting, with ample nearby parking.

​

Next meeting: Saturday, ​12 February 2027 from 3-6pm

​

Sometimes, discovering your family history means starting with very little — perhaps you know only one parent, have limited information about your biological family, or simply don’t know where your roots lie. The Big ‘Who Am I?’ Package is our most comprehensive DNA investigation for exactly these situations.

​

The package combines four different DNA tests, detailed GEDmatch analysis and comprehensive investigation of your DNA matches across multiple databases. We examine genetic connections, shared matches, family trees and other evidence to identify the families and ancestral lines behind your DNA.

​

Where the evidence allows, we work towards identifying unknown parents, grandparents and earlier ancestors and building your family tree.

It is the maximum level of DNA and genealogical analysis we offer, designed to answer one fundamental question: Who am I, and where do I come from?

Sometimes questions arise about whether a biological relationship is really what family history, documents or family knowledge suggest. DNA testing can often provide clarity — but choosing the right approach is important.

In this free, confidential consultation, we’ll discuss your particular question, which DNA testing options may be appropriate, who ideally should be tested, and what the results may or may not be able to establish before you decide how to proceed.

​

When traditional family-history research reaches its limits, DNA can provide another way forward. In this individual tutoring session, we’ll explore advanced methods for investigating unknown ancestry, using your own DNA results and matches.

Learn how to identify clusters, shared matches, family connections and recurring ancestral lines, combine DNA evidence with documentary research, and develop a structured approach to narrowing down where an unknown ancestor may fit into your family tree.​​

A relaxed social gathering for Australian descendants of the Mayflower passengers — and anyone researching a possible Mayflower connection. Join Daniel N Arnold, Australian Mayflower descendant through Francis Cooke and Samuel Fuller, and meet others who share this fascinating piece of family history, compare ancestral lines, exchange discoveries and enjoy conversations that go well beyond names and dates.

​

Whether your Mayflower ancestry is well documented or still being investigated, the meet-up offers an informal and welcoming way to connect, share research and bring this history to life in Australia.

​

​

​

Cousins wanted! Descendants from the client families listed in the description will receive free genealogical assistance. 

These families come from Michigan, Virginia and Massachusetts in the USA, the Osnabrueck area of Germany, and the Braunsberg area of East Prussia. There are more than 100 family names going back to the 15th century. We are actively looking for descendants. If you connect to one of these families, we would love to hear from you.