Keywords: Conservationist
full name Mary Jane Stow Durham
born 26 May 1924, died 1 April 1997
Born into a farming family in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Jane Durham is best known as a conservationist. She left Easter Ross in 1947 when she married Phil Durham, a Lieutenant Commander in the navy, but returned there in 1957 when her husband contracted polio, and raised three sons. She took part in local campaigns to conserve the heritage and environment of the area, and became extremely knowledgeable about its history, particularly its early Christian history. With Patsy Siriacs she set up a small restoration business in the early 1970s, and was in the forefront of a movement to set up a Scottish Redundant Churches Trust. In 1984 she became a Commissioner on the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and served for ten years. She was awarded an MBE in 1995