Our Patrons
Trimontium Trust’s dedicated patrons provide a wide breadth of experience, knowledge, and support, combined with their deep understanding of the heritage and culture of the Scottish Borders and the wider historic landscape.
HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG, GCVO, GCSTJ
The Trimontium Trust are honoured to have HRH The Duke of Gloucester as the Trust’s first Royal Patron. The Duke of Gloucester was born on 26th August 1944 in Northampton. He is the second Son of the late Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester and the late Princess Alice and is grandson of George V and a first cousin to The Queen. He has a strong affinity with the Borders through his mother, who was sister to Walter, 8th Duke of Buccleuch. Prince Richard went to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he read architecture. After completing his training, he went into practice as a partner in a firm of London architects. The Duke of Gloucester married in 1972. He and The Duchess of Gloucester currently live at Kensington Palace and have three children and six grandchildren.
The Duke of Gloucester has an association with 150 charities and organisations in total, many of which are related to architecture, construction and conservation, in which he is deeply interested. In addition he holds honorary military appointments with The Royal Anglian Regiment, The Royal Army Medical Corps, The Royal Logistic Corps, 6th Battalion – The Rifles, The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) and Royal Air Force Odiham.
Following his father, he is Grand Prior of the Order of St John, the international charity. He was elected a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1972 and he is Royal Patron of the British Museum. The Duke is also President of several architectural preservation societies, including the Victorian Society and National Churches Trust. He is Patron of the Peace and Prosperity Trust, the International Council on Monuments and Sites – UK, the Heritage of London Trust, and the Global Heritage Fund, among others. In 2007 he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Worcester.
Andrew Hepburne Scott, Lord Polwarth
The Trimontium Trust is delighted to have Andrew Hepburn Scott, Lord Polwarth, as a Patron. In his own words: “Born in the post-war baby boom within earshot of Hawick, I conjugated my first Latin verbs in the shadow of Traprain Law, before adding more modern languages to my repertoire. These took me to North and South America, and to Europe, in the course of a banking career with Baring Brothers, before returning to the Borders and the traditions of my reiving ancestors.
I believe the ongoing work of the Trimontium Trust, and its new museum, will establish the importance of the Borders in the context of Roman Britain, attracting interest, and visitors, both nationally and from beyond our shores.”
Lady Cameron
The Trimontium Trust are pleased to have the support of Lady Cameron, granddaughter of James Curle who undertook the archaeological dig at Trimontium from 1904-1908 and wrote the highly regarded publication A Roman Frontier Post and Its People.
In her own words: ”I am a Borderer born and bred. As a granddaughter of James Curle I could not escape the Romans. Growing up in Melrose my generation were familiar with Trimontium or the Roman fort as we knew it. We heard all the stories about the digs there from my mother and her sisters. We looked for finds in molehills, Roman nails in fence posts and climbed The Eildons to search for Iron Age houses. Visits to museums were a treat then and still remain so for me. The roots of my family are in Melrose and the history of the town and the surrounding area seem to me now more important than ever.”
The Hon. Gerald Maitland-Carew CVO
The Trimontium Trust are grateful to have The Hon. Gerald Maitland-Carew support their work in the role of Patron.
The Hon. Gerald Maitland-Carew CVO has lived in the Borders since 1972 at Thirlestane Castle, Lauder, former home of the The Earl and Countess of Lauderdale, where eighteen generations of his family have lived. He oversaw the restoration of this ancient Castle, built in 1590 and also the opening of the Castle for visitors to enjoy its long history and wonderful possessions. It is now one of the main visitor attractions in the Borders. Having been honoured to serve as Lord Lieutenant of Roxburgh, Ettrick & Lauderdale for HM The Queen from 2006 to 2016 he was recently appointed a Vice President of the Border Union Agricultural Society. In his own words: “I have always been interested in history and am delighted to be involved with the Trimontium Trust.”
Professor Lawrence Keppie
The Trimontium Trust are privileged to have Professor Lawrence Keppie associated with our work and in the role of Patron.
Professor Lawrence Keppie has been associated with the Trust almost since its inception. For more than 30 years he was on the staff of the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow. He has excavated widely on Roman sites in Scotland, especially on the Antonine Wall between Forth and Clyde, and in Italy. He has written extensively on Roman frontiers, the Roman army and Roman inscriptions, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Our Trustees
Volunteer trustees provide the strategic planning and legal oversight for the effective and progressive delivery of the Trimontium Trust’s aims. The success of the Trust would not be possible without their skills, experience, dedication, and enthusiasm for this incredible Roman fort site, our museum, and Scotland’s story.
The members of the Board of Trustees have a generic role to ensure that the Charity meets the aims and objectives defined in our Constitution. Some members may provide more specific expertise, depending on their experience. The tasks associated with the Trustee role include:
- To be an ambassador for Trimontium Trust
- To ensure Trimontium Trust compliance with Scottish charity law
- To ensure effective governance of the Charity
- To take collective responsibility for Board decisions
- To share a sense of purpose in the delivery of the aims and objectives of the Trust
Dr John H. Reid MBE, FRCR, FSAScot – Chairman of the Trimontium Trust
John, the Trust Chairman, is a recently retired NHS consultant, who has been a Roman history enthusiast since childhood. In his medical role, he has been Associate Medical Director for Borders General Hospital, President of the Scottish Radiological Society, Radiology Advisor to Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, and an advisor to the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency.
He was introduced to the exciting activities of the Trust in 1996 by Walter Elliot, one of its founder members. John has led several Trust initiatives including the facial restoration of Trimontium Man, the fort reconstruction, Trust expeditions to Rome, Sicily and Libya and the groundbreaking archaeological investigations at Burnswark Hill. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and Newcastle.
Erica Reid – Trustee & Chair of Museum Management Group
Erica is originally from the Isle of Lewis and has lived in the Scottish Borders for over twenty years. She is a nurse and has held senior leadership roles both in NHS Boards and within the Scottish Government Health Directorate.
After thirty-seven years in the NHS, she now works independently as an executive coach and consultant. Erica has become immersed in our rich Iron Age heritage and particularly enjoys walking to the many stunning hill forts across the Scottish Borders.
Ian Brown – Trustee
Ian, who became a trustee in 2022, was until 2016 Scottish Borders Council’s Cultural Services Manager. Most of Ian’s professional career was spent working in culture and museums in the Scottish Borders and has provided curatorial advice and support to several independent museums and historic houses including Trimontium, in the 1990s, Paxton and Thirlestane.
Ian has also held honorary roles in both the Museums Association and Scottish Museums Federation, most recently as Chair of the Museums Associations Benevolent Fund.
Kay Callander – Trustee & Trust Secretary
Kay joined the Trimontium Trust 30 years ago when she moved to the Scottish Borders to live with her family. After a childhood obsession with the Romans her interest turned to the archaeology of prehistoric NW Europe. This led to her gaining a degree, a Masters in Archaeology, at the University of Edinburgh followed by a year’s scholarship to study history in the USA.
She has worked on excavations in Dorset, Orkney, Morayshire and most recently in Dumfries and Galloway at Burnswark. Her aim now is to help bring the story of the Romans and the Iron Age inhabitants of the Borders to a wider audience.
Professor Stuart Campbell – Trustee
Stuart Campbell is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Manchester, despite now living in Melrose. Having grown up in Peeblesshire, he completed both his MA and PhD at the University of Edinburgh (and in those days carefully avoided the Romans!). Much of his professional research has been in the Middle East, directing fieldwork in Turkey, Syria and Iraq that has ranged in date from the early Neolithic to the Parthian period. Most recently he has been working in southern Iraq.
However, he is excited to be renewing his involvement in Scottish archaeology after many years and can draw on his interests in cultural heritage, landscape archaeology, geophysics and drone survey, as well as welcoming a second chance to work with the unique Roman and Iron Age heritage of the Borders.
Geraldine Rowley – Trustee, Walk Guide & Volunteer
Geraldine spent forty years in primary education, including teaching positions in Edinburgh, West Berlin during the Cold War and then Vancouver before spending almost twenty five years as a Primary Headteacher in the beautiful Scottish Borders. Having appreciated the wonderful learning experiences Trimontium Museum offered to her pupils and staff, she decided to become a volunteer within the museum following her retirement in 2007.
Since then, she has enjoyed meeting visitors of many nationalities and in particular, guiding the five mile Trimontium Walk to the site of the fort as well as working with school groups visiting the Museum.
William Windram – Trustee
William Windram, W.S. is a Senior Partner of a local firm of Solicitors. He was educated at Galashiels Academy and University of Edinburgh. After graduating with the degree of LLB he was awarded a three year research fellowship. He has served on the Board and acted as Legal Advisor to a number of local and national charities, several of which operate within the historical and cultural spheres.
A keen supporter of the Scout Association, he also served as a member and subsequently Chairman of the European Scout Committee for six years. He is currently Chairman of Melrose & District Community Council.
Bronwen Campbell – Trustee & Volunteer
Bronwen volunteers at Trimontium Museum. She is also helping to develop the new fieldwork strategies and the processing of finds from the site.
She has been involved in archaeological projects for many years, mainly in the Middle East in Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. That has led to working on material from several different periods, but she is delighted to have come back full circle to her first interest – the study of Rome and its interactions with the provinces of the empire.
