Press Release: Election of Paul Howes as Chairman of the Guild of One-Name Studies

Paul Howes has been elected as the new Chairman of the Guild of One-Name Studies at the Guild’s annual Conference and AGM held at the Forest Pines Resort, Broughton, Lincolnshire on Saturday 28th March 2015. Paul will be the 14th Chairman of the Guild in its 36-year history.

The Chairman of the Guild of One-Name Studies is ultimately responsible to the Guild membership for the proper and efficient running of the Guild, a worldwide organisation with 2,630+ members.  In his role as Chairman Paul aims to be a good ambassador of the Guild. His duties will include the overall coordination of the Guild’s administration, and attending Guild events and those of other Family History/Genealogical Societies on behalf of the Guild. Paul is available to all Guild members to respond to queries and to give guidance and advice about the Guild as needed.

The election of Paul as the Chairman of the Guild of One-Name Studies demonstrates how much the Guild is progressing with its globalisation objective, given that it now has a chairman who lives in Florida and other postholders in the USA and six other countries.

Paul lives in Ponte Vedra, Florida and spends his summers yachting in Norfolk, England. He and Val have been married for 35 years, with two sons both at university in the USA. An actuary by profession, Paul is now a part-time executive coach. Paul founded his study and joined the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2008. Paul’s website – www.howesfamilies.com/ – contains over 96,000 reconstructed families for people named HOUSE, HOWES, HOWS, HOWSE and HOWZE, frequently variants of each other, and has recently been awarded the Guild’s Award of Excellence.

Paul has served the Guild in the past, having been the coordinator of our 60+ Regional Representatives for two years. He is currently a member of Norfolk FHS, Cardiganshire FHS, St Augustine and Jacksonville Genealogical Societies in Florida and the (US) National Genealogical Society. He is a regular speaker on both sides of the Atlantic.

Paul Howes said today:
“The Guild is the single most collaborative group of people I have ever encountered. Every day hundreds of Guild members go out of their way to help other members, wherever they are. Each of our studies is unique and we each go about them in unique ways. Yet we have a huge common interest as evidenced by our growth and longevity.
I am surprised and humbled to be its Chairman and will work closely with my fellow postholders for the benefit of all our members. I would like to thank my predecessor, the outgoing members of the Committee and all our postholders for their hard work, time and valuable efforts spent during the past year to ensure the smooth running of the Guild.”