Antony Chessell is a graduate of London University and of the Open University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and has worked in Surrey and the City of London, then in the oil industry and in local government in north-east Scotland. Two married daughters and their families live in Edinburgh and Cyprus. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and has written or edited nine books on local and other topics. He lives in the historic town of Berwick-upon-Tweed.