Elizabeth Ann Roads, MVO (born 1951) is Snawdoun Herald of Arms in Ordinary and Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records for the Court of the Lord Lyon.
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Elizabeth Roads is the daughter of Lt. Col James Bruce MC and his wife Mary Hope Sinclair. As evidenced by her coat of arms, Roads is an indeterminate cadet of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland. She was born in 1951 and educated at Lansdowne House, Edinburgh, Cambridgeshire College of Technology, and the Study Centre for Fine Art in London. She married Christopher Roads in 1983, and they have two sons Timothy and William and a daughter Emily.
Elizabeth Roads joined the staff of the Court of the Lord Lyon in 1975 and was appointed Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records in 1986 . In this position, she maintains, among other things, the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland. She was appointed Linlithgow Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary in 1987 and became the first woman to be appointed a royal officer of arms. This was a temporary appointment, when she represented the Lord Lyon in Canada in the discussions that led to the establishment of the Canadian Heraldic Authority. Roads was appointed Carrick Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1992 and promoted to Snawdoun Herald of Arms in Ordinary in 2010.
As Elizabeth Bruce, Roads was a founder member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland in 1977. She was Chairman of that Society in the late 1990s and is now a Fellow of the Heraldry Society of Scotland and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. She has published many articles on heraldic and genealogical subjects.
1986-Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records, 1987-Linlithgow Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary, 1992-Carrick Pursuivant of Arms, 2008-Assistant Secretary, Order of the Thistle 2010-Snawdoun Herald of Arms.
1977 HM Silver Jubilee Medal, 1990 Member of the Royal Victorian Order, 1999 Officer of the Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, 2002 HM Golden Jubilee Medal.
1986 Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1996 Fellow of the Heraldry Society of Scotland (Founding Member 1977, Chairman 1997-2000, Chairman of Heraldic Exhibition “Lions and Thistles” 1995), 1998 – date Hon. Treasurer Scottish Record Society, 2003 Associate Member L’Academie Internationale d’Heraldique, 2004 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, 2007 Council Member Scottish Records Association, 2008 Academician, L'Academie Internationale d'Heraldique 2010 Chairman Scottish Records Association
Elizabeth Roads bears Arms appropriate to her maiden name of Bruce. The blazon of the arms is: Or a Saltire Gules on a Chief Gules a Pale Argent charged of a Cross engrailed Sable. . Above the shield is placed a crest which is blazoned: From a Wreath of Or and Gules a dexter Arm in armour embowed the hand proper grasping a broken Sceptre Gules. The motto is shown on a scroll over the crest and is “SIC FUIMUS”.