Chair, Membership Secretary, Treasurer, and Interim Society Secretary
William Bliss, from Texas in the USA, is our Chair. He has had an interest in his family history since he was a small child, but this interest has grown stronger in recent years. As his father’s health declined, William became more focused on discovering aspects of his ancestry that even his Dad didn’t know. He really loved sharing these findings with his father.
William feels that learning more about the lives of his ancestors has helped him take stock of his life and where he fits into his family. As such, he believes that BFHS helps members share their stories and to connect with one another. He’d like to see the Society attract younger members and to continue to encourage a sense of belonging to an extended Bliss family.
Traveling, particularly to less visited places, is a passion for William who enjoys learning about other cultures and societies.
Minutes Secretary
Debbie Bliss, records and distributes the minutes of both Committee meetings and the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Because of her corporate background at large companies such as Cadbury, Debbie is also currently using her project management skills to help organise the Committee and keep us on track! She is a strong advocate of collaborative team working and enjoys her role of supporting us all in working well together and learning from each other’s previous experiences.
Debbie’s greatest joy is spending time with her family, especially her two daughters, Charlotte and Megan. Her main hobby is gardening. Debbie lives in The Cotswolds, UK, and is currently in the process of developing her own garden whilst also volunteering weekly in the gardens of the nearby Hidcote National Trust. When she has time, she loves learning languages and visiting other countries to learn more about their cultures.
Digital Records Secretary
Alan Bliss, as Digital Records Secretary, arranges uploading of the many records held by the Society to our internet storage facility, to enable easy access by members. Little by little, many boxes of paper files have been scanned and stored in the ‘Cloud,’ with backups maintained on a separate, external hard-drive. These include documents and historical information on famous Blisses, members’ family tree GEDcom files, plus other personal research that they’re happy to share with other members. Every ‘Bliss’ Magazine is also digitised and accessible from our internet folder, including the first handwritten copies, produced by our Founder, Bob Bliss.
Alan also arranges searches in the BFHS databases, which contain over 58,300 entries, dating from medieval times through to the 1911 Census.
In terms of hobbies, Alan enjoys motor sport and was an active member of a car club in the ’70s and ’80s. He loves music, and owns a number of guitars. Influenced by Les Paul’s multi-tracking technique in the 1950s & ’60s, he uses Digital Audio Software to create his own instrumental recordings. Alan lives in Staffordshire, UK.
Magazine Editor
Cath Cuddihy, our Magazine Editor, joined the Society in 2019, following in the footsteps of her mother and aunt (both Blisses) who were members for many years. After a lifetime of working as a social worker, educator, mediator, and business owner Cath is enjoying her retirement. Her ancestors came to Australia either voluntarily or because they were sentenced as convicts, with their countries of origin including England, Scotland, Ireland and France.
Cath loves discovering more about their lives and trying to understand how it must have been for people who either made such momentous decisions in leaving their homelands or who were compelled to start again on the other side of the world. She loves the thrill of the chase and the ‘detective’ work involved in piecing together her ancestors’ life stories and likes sharing it with other like-minded people. Cath resides in Queensland, Australia.
Australian Membership Secretary
Bradley Bliss, our Australian Membership Secretary, has been involved in the Bliss FHS for 24 years — which is quite exceptional given that he was only in his 20s when he joined!
We are grateful that, despite his very demanding professional obligations, in New South Wales, Australia, he still finds time to help members discover more about their Australian Bliss heritage. Many years ago, Tom Bliss guided Brad through the process of establishing a very comprehensive database on the various branches of the Bliss family who migrated to Australia and New Zealand.
Bradley is incredibly busy with his work as CEO of the Wellington Valley Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation and, as a former soldier, is also very involved in the Returned Service League (RSL), in supporting veterans in many ways. He has a long-term interest in collecting rare First Edition books focussed on his local area.
North American Membership Secretary and Website Administrator
Dassi Sklan joined BFHS to connect with distant relatives and learn more about the Bliss branch of her family tree — after discovering, in 2021, that her 6th great-grandmother was born a Bliss. Now, she is hooked on genealogy, and hopes to meet other Bliss descendants online and in-person.
As Website Administrator, Dassi is slowly working on updating the website. In her role in Membership, she loves reaching out to new members and is hoping for many more! She owns, and runs, a small Bed & Breakfast in Greensboro, North Carolina (USA), which keeps her quite busy since it is a ‘one woman operation’.
Her other passions include multiple volunteer activities, attending the theatre, Contra dancing, designing (clothing, graphics, and living spaces), traveling, and visiting her grown children in London, New York City, and Chicago.
Janette Bliss & Cheryl Brightwell have recently been elected to join the Committee; they are ready to take on whatever projects come along…
Committee Member
Janette Bliss‘ parents often told her stories about their respective families, which naturally led her into genealogy. She has found her Bliss research easy because of the generous sharing of others in her line.
She has retired from the Real Estate business, has four children, and loves all forms of art. Janette particularly enjoys sewing, gardening, ballroom dancing, and leading the singing at her church.
Committee Member
Cheryl Brightwell is married, with 3 grown-up kids, and recently retired from a career in Special Needs Education. She lives just outside London, on the River Thames. Cheryl loves traveling and is making the most of retirement with lots of trips!
Cheryl first became aware of the Bliss Family History Society after using AncestryDNA to find her birthfather. She had a large number of Bliss matches, then used those to work out who her father was. It took a long time, and a lot of work, but Cheryl feels it was definitely worth it as she finally found her bio family and has been welcomed with open arms.
