Bruce Durie

Bruce Durie was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and educated at Kirkcaldy High School and the University of Edinburgh. Originally a biochemist/pharmacologist, teaching and researching in those disciplines at Edinburgh, Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster), Kingston University and elsewhere, he was awarded the IBRO/UNESCO Fellowship in 1977 as "Scotland's most promising young neuroscientist". He later worked as Head of External Affairs at Kingston University, Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival and Director of Development (CPD) at Napier University, Edinburgh.

The majority of his private research work concerns Coats of Arms and issue around inheritance and Chiefship.

Bruce Durie left Napier University to take up full-time writing and professional genealogy. Now he combines genealogical research on behalf of clients - mainly in the US and Europe. He is also the Sennachie (Genealogist and Historian) to the Chief of the Durie family.[2]

He is the author of over 35 books for a variety of publishers, primarily on genealogical and historical subjects, but also Victorian Crime and Comic Fantasy.[3]

He teaches courses in Genealogy, Documents/Palaeography and Heraldry at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

In 2016, he was awarded the Fulbright Senior Scottish Studies Scholarship,[4] and spent most of that year researching Scottish migrations to Colonial America, primarily at St Andrews University, Laurinburg, Scotland Co., North Carolina.[5]

Durie has Right of Audience at the Court of the Lord Lyon, Scotland.[6] The majority of his private work concerns Coats of Arms and issue around inheritance and Chiefship.

He helped to found the Register of Qualified Genealogists and the post-nomial QG[7] and the scholarly peer-reviewed journal Genealogy.[8] He is listed as "Ambassador" for the organization.[9]

In 2017, Bruce Durie was elected an Academician of the Académie Internationale de Généalogie.[10]

Bruce Durie's genealogical and historical works were initially for Sutton Publishing (now The History Press).[11] His interest in Victorian crime is expressed in his loving recreation of the works of J E P Muddock (Dick Donovan), one of the most influential detective story writers and popular before Sherlock Holmes, but now largely forgotten. His own Victorian detective fiction had its first outing with The Murder of Young Tom Morris (Gath-Askelon Publishing, 2004). He also has a series of comic fantasy novels, currently The High History of the Holy Quail and The KIng of Elfland's Dafter (Gath-Askelon Publishing).[12]

Bruce Durie is married and has one son. He and his wife live by the seaside in Edinburgh, Scotland.