Trish Rossiter initially trained as a primary school teacher in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, but later went on to work in a variety of settings with a wide range of age groups and nationalities.

In the mid-1980s she was instrumental in setting up a rural pre-employment programme in the Waikato that was especially designed for at-risk youth aged 15 to 17 years. Many of the students were drawn from local Māori communities, and it was in this context that Trish felt provoked to start probing more deeply into the ‘received history’ of our past, and seek to understand what lay behind their loss of mana and motivation.  

On reaching retirement age, Trish and her husband moved back to Wellington to be closer to their grandchildren. A latent interest in genealogy was reignited on receipt of her mother's research into the many branches of the family.  Sifting through the material, she felt drawn to look more fully into the modest but intriguing life of her great-great-grandfather, Thomas Skinner. As she pursued her new project, Trish found herself launched on a remarkable journey of discovery peppered with unexpected encounters and serendipitous happenings.