Frances Williams

Dr Frances Williams is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Dept of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London. She specialises in Modern Jewish History, particularly within the British and South African context.
Frances Williams recived the Rothschild Foundation Award in 2025 to undertake a new research project entitled 'Jews in rural South Africa: A case study of AmaXhosa and English-speaking South Africans’ (ESSA) ideations about Jews and relations with Jews since 1994'. Her research aims to contribute critical new research on Jewish/ non-Jewish relations in South Africa, but also to highlight Jewish lives in rural South Africa.
Previous research includes the Kindertransport experience in Britain; reception, care and resettlement. Research interests continue to focus on Jewish refugee migration stories, Jewish diaspora communities and Jewish identities. Previous publications include The Forgotten Kindertransportees: The Scottish Experience, Bloomsbury Publishers, London, 2014. Frances Williams’ PhD was funded by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) and she worked with the Kindertransport Association to create the international Kindertransport questionnaire and eventual database Making New Lives in Britain (https://ajr.org.uk/kindertransport-survey/).
Frances Williams is an Honorary Research Associate at the Kaplan Centre, University of Cape Town. She received her PhD from Edinburgh University, Scotland, and Master’s degree from Exeter University, England. She is on the Editorial Board for the forthcoming Journal of Genocide and Human Rights Education.