Aileen Fox

Aileen Mary Fox, Lady Fox, ( Henderson; 29 July 1907 – 21 November 2005) was an English archaeologist, who specialised in the archaeology of south-west England. She notably excavated the Roman legionary fortress in Exeter, Devon, after the Second World War.

Biography The daughter of a solicitor Walter Scott Henderson and wife Alice livingstone Henderson (nee Mclean), Aileen Mary Henderson was educated at Chinthurst School in Surrey and then at Downe House School in Kent, where she remained after it moved to Berkshire, under the headship of Olive Willis. She went on to read English at Newnham College, Cambridge.

After graduating in 1929, she worked as a volunteer excavating at Richborough, Kent, under J. P. Bushe-Fox. In 1932 she excavated at Hembury hillfort, Devon and Meon Hill, Hampshire. Fox lectured at the University College, Cardiff, from 1940 to 1945. She then took up a lectureship at the University College of the South West of England at Exeter in 1947, and stayed on until her retirement in 1971.

In 1965, she was a founder of the Hillforts Study Group alongside Christopher Hawkes and others. In the late 1960s, Fox played a key role in establishing Exeter Archaeological Field Unit. She served as president of the Devon Archaeological Society in 1963–1964 and as a vice-president of the Council for British Archaeology. Her ten New Zealand years were spent teaching, research, publishing and involvement with organizations such as the New Zealand Archaeological Association and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand). Her interest in hill forts led to site records in Auckland, Northland and Hawkes Bay and excavating a pā site at Te Awanga in 1974–1975. She also researched Māori carving, burial chests in particular. Fox returned to Britain in 1983.

Awards and recognition In 1944, Fox was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, in 1985 awarded an honorary doctorate of letters at the University of Exeter, and in 1998 gained honorary membership of the Prehistoric Society.

Selected publications (Drawings by Alan Sorrell.)