User:Darris

Who is Darris Williams
I began tracing my family history in 1983 while stationed in England with the United States Air Force. During my three years in England I visited various archives in England and Wales.

After finishing my time with Uncle Sam I began studies at Brigham Young University eventually finishing a degree in Family and Community History. I started work at the FamilySearch Library in 1991 as a British Reference Consultant where I was fortunate to work with Bert Rawlins, Paul Smart and others. The opportunity to attend a course in Welsh family history at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth under the direction of John and Sheila Rowlands helped mold my passion for Welsh family history.

I took the genealogical accreditation test for England administered by ICAPGen and after a few years of recovery took the Wales accreditation test passing it also.

In 2004 I transferred from the FamilySearch Library to Worldwide Support where we provided support to family historians throughout the world. Our effort to develop wiki.familysearch.org started as a tool for providing better and more efficient research support.

For about two years I worked in Collection Management at FamilySearch where we helped make decisions related to records that should be acquired and the indexing and digital publication of those records. Between 2014-2016 I enjoyed two years in the "Partner Services Division" where the majority of my time was focused on developing joint projects with FamilySearch and Findmypast.

Over time I have conducted personal research projects for clients, lectured for various societies in the United States, Canada, England and Wales and written about family history resources and techniques. My current focus is on sharing research expertise and mentoring individuals and groups beginning to discover their family stories.

=Publications=


 * Monumental inscriptions, Baran Welsh Independent Chapel, Llangyfelach
 * Monumental inscriptions, Capel y Gwrhyd, Llangiwg, Glamorgan
 * Monumental inscriptions, Saron Independent Chapel, Rhydyfro, Glamorgan

Material for the Genuki website and wiki.familysearch.org

=Organizations=

Guild of One-Name Studies

International Society for British Genealogy and Family History

Glamorgan Family History Society

Society of Genealogists

Society for One-Place Studies

Family and Community Historical Research Society

=Lectures Presented=

2019 Roots Tech London


 * Hidden Treasure At Family Search
 * Blessings & Curses of Tracing Welsh Family History

2017 Roots Tech


 * Blessings and Curses of Tracing Welsh Family History
 * Surnames in Genealogy & Surname Distribution Maps

2016 British Institute sponsored by ISBGFH : Welsh Family & Community History

2015 North American Festival of Wales (Cleveland)

2014 British Institute sponsored by ISBGFH

'''2012 Who Do You Think You Are? Live'''


 * How to get Free Help with your Family History

2012 Utah Genealogical Association Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy

2012 North American Festival of Wales"'

2008 Utah Genealogical Association Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy


 * Welsh Court Records
 * Welsh Land &amp; Property Records
 * Welsh Marriage, Burial and Monumental Inscription Indexes
 * The National Library of Wales
 * Welsh Poor Law Records
 * Preparing for a Research Trip to Wales
 * Welsh Tax Records
 * Welsh Wills and other Probate Records

2007 British Institute sponsored by ISBGFH


 * Basic Records for Wales
 * Basic Tools for Welsh Research: Maps, Gazetteers, and Online Help
 * Pitfalls and Blessings of Tracing Welsh Ancestry
 * Strategies for Success

2006 British Institute sponsored by ISBGFH 


 * Intermediate Welsh Research
 * Newspapers and Periodicals

2005 British Institute sponsored by ISBGFH


 * Beginning Welsh Research

August 2006 BYU Family History &amp; Genealogy Conference


 * Introduction to Welsh Research
 * Welsh Non-Conformist Records

2005 BYU Genealogy and Family History Conference


 * Surnames in Genealogy: Problems &amp; Solutions
 * Intermediate British Research

2004 Federation of Family History Societies (Loughborough Conference)


 * Internet Sites for finding Emigrants from the British Isles

2003 BYU Genealogy &amp; Family History Conference


 * Basic Scottish Research
 * British Chancery Records

2001 BYU Genealogy &amp; Family History Conference


 * Special Circumstances in Doing Welsh Research

2000 Federation of Genealogical Societies


 * Records of the National Library of Wales in the FamilySearch Library

=My Reading List =

David Russell Barnes. People of Seion: Patterns of Nonconformity in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in the century preceding the Religious Census of 1851. Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1995.

R. M. &amp; G. A. Benwell, Interpreting the Census Returns For Rural Anglesey And Llyn, Anglesey Antiquarian Society and Field Club Transactions (Denbigh: Gee &amp; Son, 1973), 111-136.

R. M. &amp; G. A. Benwell, Interpreting the Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts For Anglesey And Llyn, Anglesey Antiquarian Society and Field Club Transactions (Denbigh: Gee &amp; Son, 1975), 69-140.

Dafydd Ifans, Nonconformist Registers of Wales. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales &amp; Welsh County Archivists' Group, 1994.

David Jenkins, The Agricultural Community in South-West Wales at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1971.

Major Francis Jones, An Approach To Welsh Genealogy, The Transactions Of The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion Session 1948 (London: Honourable Society Of Cymmrodorion, 1949), 303-466.

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