About Us - the OFHS Volunteers

Malcolm Graham (President)

Malcolm Austen, Chairman OFHS Executive Committee

Kevin Poile (Exec)

Sue Honoré (Exec)

John Cramer (Exec)

Charles Eldridge (Exec)

Susan Mattheus (Exec)

Angie Trueman (Exec)

Anne Ramon (Exec)

The Society

OFHS is a Registered Charity, Number 275891 and is a member of the Family History Federation. Its objectives are:

1. to advance education in family history and genealogy primarily within the post-1974 county of Oxfordshire
2. to collect, index, co-ordinate, publish and make accessible in the interests of family history and genealogy any relevant document or records relating to the county
3. to promote the preservation of such documents or records
4. to encourage the study of family history and genealogy
5. to assist educationally by lectures or otherwise in record research
6. to co-operate with family history and other societies with similar interests.

You gain many benefits if you join the Society. Here are some of the key volunteers.

President and Vice-Presidents

The President of the Society is Malcolm Graham.

There are two Vice-Presidents – Colin Harris and Carl Boardman.

The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee members are elected at the AGM. They are responsible for making decisions on running the Society and help to organise and manage its activities.

Chairman: Responsible for chairing the Executive meetings and the day-to-day running of the Society. Current Post-holder: Malcolm Austen.

Secretary: Responsible for the legal and external correspondence on behalf of the Society. Current Post-holder: Kevin Poile (until June 2024)

Treasurer:  Manages the Society’s financial activities. Current Post-holder: Charles Eldridge

Editor: Produces the Society’s journal three times a year and is responsible for all book reviews. Current Post-holder: Sue Honoré

Membership Secretary: Manages the registration of new members, changes in membership details and acts as an advocate for members in the Society. Is also responsible for the mailing lists and distribution of the journal. Current Post-holder: Susan Mattheus

Family History Fairs Co-ordinator: This role has responsibility for our own OFHS Fair held in October each year as well as managing the logistics of attending other fairs held in the UK throughout the year. Current Post-holder: John Cramer

Programme Co-ordinator: OFHS holds monthly meetings at Exeter Hall, Kidlington  and this role is responsible for finding speakers and managing the events. Additional online meetings are also held throughout the year. Current Post-holder: Vacant, Online Members’ Group: Kevin Poile

Projects Co-ordinator: The Society runs several projects and this person is responsible for keeping an overall eye on the projects and their individual project managers, reviewing potential new projects and liaising with external bodies participating in projects. Current Post-holder: Vacant (temporary management by Malcolm Austen)

Publicity Co-ordinator: This role is responsible for managing the publicity for the Society through all channels and for co-ordinating those individuals who work on publicity. Current Post-holder: Angie Trueman

Other members of the Executive Committee without portfolio: Anne Ramon and Wendy Lancaster

Minutes Secretary: This role is a non-voting role responsible for recording the minutes of the Executive meetings. Current Post-holder: Charles Eldridge (until June 2024)

Non-Executive Roles

Webmaster: Responsible for the development and maintenance of the Society’s website. Current Post-holder: Angie Trueman

Help Line Co-ordinator: Responsible for managing queries to the Society. Current post-holder: Peter Bennett

Advisor/Help Desk Co-ordinator: Responsible for arranging rotas and training of members who provide free family history advisory support at the libraries and Oxfordshire History Centre throughout the year. Current Post-holder: Wendy Archer

Search Services: Manages the OFHS  Search Services Oxfordshire database and answers queries on census, parish records and monumental inscriptions from the database. Current Post-holder: Alan Simpson

CD/DVD Sales: Responsible for stocking and sending out of OFHS CDs and DVDs. Current Post-holder: June Whipp. Microfiche sales are currently handled by Wendy Archer.  Terms and Conditions of OFHS Sales

Monumental Inscription Co-ordinator: This person is responsible for the management and co-ordination of individual teams who record monumental inscriptions and for the quality of the recordings. Current Post-holder: Rita Sawrey-Woodwards

Wills Co-ordinator: Responsible for the development and maintenance of the database of will transcriptions belonging to the Society and for advising on the reading of handwriting and transcribing of early legal documents. Current Post-holder: Dave Beames

War Memorials Co-ordinator: responsible for recording, tracking and advising on Oxfordshire war memorials and other military inscriptions and records. Current Post-holder: Tim Emptage

For other roles involving Strays, Birth Briefs or roles not named above, please contact help@ofhs.uk.

Other Volunteers

There are many other volunteers in the Society helping with a myriad of tasks. These include advisors who help at libraries and the Oxfordshire History Centre with face-to-face sessions, the Monumental Inscriptions team, transcribers and other project specific volunteers.  Without  them the Society would not be able to function. If you would like to help out, then please contact us.

Contacting Us

We maintain a list of the Society post-holders and ways they can be contacted.

Legal and Technical

Information pertaining to the OFHS’ constitution, the terms of use of this website, our privacy and cookies statement, and our commitment to accessibility is all collected under a Legal and Technical category.