Alexander Keiller

Alexander Keiller
Born	1889
Died	1955
Residence	4 Charles Street, Berkeley Square, W1
Occupation	archaeologist
Society Membership membership ordinary fellow elected_AI 1925.12.15 clubs Royal Societies Club

Notes

Office Notes

RAI Council 1930-31 Member

House Notes

proposed by O.G.S. Crawford, seconded by C.G. Seligman 17 Nov. 1925

Notes From Elsewhere

Alexander Keiller FSA FGS (1889–1955) was a Scottish archaeologist and businessman who worked on an extensive prehistoric site at Avebury in Wiltshire, England.
Keiller was heir to the marmalade business of his family, James Keiller & Son that had been established in 1797[1] in Dundee, and exported marmalade and confectionery across the British Empire.
He used his wealth to acquire a total of 950 acres (3.8 km2) of land in Avebury for preservation and he conducted excavations, re-erected stones on the Avebury site, and created a museum to interpret the site. He also pioneered aerial photography for archaeological interpretation.[2]
Keiller founded the Morven Institute of Archeological Research[3][4] there, now the Alexander Keiller Museum[5][3] and held by the National Trust after Keiller's widow gifted the building to the Trust in 1966. In 1943 he had sold the land at Avebury to the National Trust for its agricultural value only.[2]

Publications

External Publications

Wessex from the air (with O.G.S. Crawford), 1928

Related Material Details

Other Material

In 1943, Keiller sold his holdings in Avebury to the National Trust for £12,000, simply the agricultural value of the 950 acres (3.8 km2) he had accrued. This did not reflect the immense investment he had made at the site. In 1966, his widow Gabrielle Keiller donated the Avebury museum and its contents to the nation