- Wills, Probate & Tax
- Meet the team
Meet the legal team
G Antony Awdry
Partner
David Sutton
Partner
Head of Probate
Catherine Cole
Lynnette Hilliard
Solicitor
Naomi Hill
Institute of Legal Executives
Tony Awdry
Tony was a Captain in the Army before joining Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 1972.
He became a Partner in the firm in 1974 and for many years has specialised in Probate, Business Law and Commercial property.
Tony lives in Devizes and is married with 3 grown up children.
Andrew Douglas
Andrew trained as a lawyer in a Bristol firm before joining Awdry Bailey & Douglas on the 8th September 1983 and became a Partner on 1st January 1986.
He specialises in Personal Injury and other Litigation work.
He lives in a village near Devizes and is married with 3 children.
He possesses a quick wit, a competitive nature and believes his golf is better than it actually is.
Alistair Everett
Alistair commenced his legal career with a large regional law firm and then worked in the commercial property department of a major plc before joining Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 1996.
He became a Partner in January 1997 and deals with a wide range of property work.
Alistair lives in a village close to Devizes with his wife and two children. His interests are skiing, running and cycling.
Peter Shah
Peter qualified as a solicitor having completed his training with the regional firm Clarke Willmott in 1992. He joined ABD in November 1999 and became a partner in Jan 2002. He is the firm's resident partner at its Wootton Bassett office.
Peter handles a variety of Civil and Commercial Litigation work including Personal Injury, General Contract, Property and Boundary Disputes, Professional Negligence, Business Disputes and Employment Law issues.
Roger Chadwick
Roger's first degree is in Economics and Politics which he studied at Warwick University. After graduating he spent 12 years working in banking before deciding to take a career break. After 2 years travelling Roger returned to university to study law, completing his Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in York in 2000.
Roger qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas later in the same year becoming a partner in 2008 specialising in Commercial and Business law.
Amongst his many interests Roger enjoys going to the gym and running regularly he is also a keen Rugby supporter. He is also extremely active in the community and chairs the Devizes Community Area Partnership.
Nicola Newton
Nicola graduated from Bristol University in 1970. After a brief career in the travel industry, she qualified as a solicitor in 1985. Since then Nicola has dealt with a wide range of residential and commercial property work.
Apart from a period of 2 years in Bristol Nicola has been based in Devizes since 1991. She joined the commercial team at Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 2007.
Nicola has worked for private individuals, councils, housing associations, developers and commercial companies with extensive property portfolios.
Nicola lives in Heddington with her husband and is involved in local charity and community projects.
David Sutton
David has a background as a partner and solicitor in a number of London and regional firms in the South and has over 30 years knowledge and experience, specialising not only in all aspects of UK and foreign wills, probate, tax, and trust matters but also social welfare law, elderly client issues, and contentious trust and will disputes.
David joined ABD in the Summer of 2008 as the new Head of the Wills Probate & Tax Team, and is based at our Marlborough office.
He is married with two adult children, and lives on the Berkshire Downs near Newbury.
Ian Richards
Ian's first career was with a law firm in Portsmouth, but in 1966 he joined the Royal Navy; entering Britannia Royal Naval College. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Commander and was the Commanding Officer of three submarines.
He joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in November 1999 as the Director of Legal Services. He is responsible for all aspects of the firm's operation and legal activities.
Ian lives in Devizes and his interests include walking, skiing and music.
Ronna Turley
Ronna joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 1998 whilst undertaking legal studies to become a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and qualified in 2007. She specialises in all aspects of residential conveyancing.
Ronna is married with one son and enjoys watching rugby and Formula 1 as well as socialising with friends.
Adrian Bressington
Adrian joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 2002 and is head of the Family Law Department.
Adrian is married with 4 grown up children and his interests are opera singing, rugby and cricket.
Peter Johnson
Before entering the Law, Peter's first career was in archaeology. In January 1992 he first joined ABD, becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 1999. He rejoined the firm in October 2001 and continues to specialise in personal injury law. He is a Member of the Law Society's Personal Injury Panel.
Peter lives in Calne with his partner and his main interests are archaeology, history, trying to play golf and watching football and rugby.
Rachel Fereday
Rachel graduated from the University of Manchester in 2001 with a Degree in Mathematics and Business Management. She then obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Law and thereafter completed the Legal Practice Course. Rachel joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas as a trainee solicitor in 2003, and qualified in April 2005. She specialises in civil litigation and employment law and is based in our Devizes office
Rachel is married and lives locally. Her interests include running, golf, attending the gym, and watching rugby and football.
Ken Welch
Ken joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 1999 as an IT engineer and has had an important influence on many IT related aspects of our business but in particular on the overall IT infrastructure. Ken is ably assisted by Sue and Ben in the IT department and between them they deal with a very wide range of IT matters across our 4 offices.
Ken currently lives in Calne with his wife and baby daughter Jessica and his interests include music, electronics, and dining out.
Halina Tomlinson
Halina joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas as a solicitor in 2003 after she had completed her training contract with a Berkshire based law firm.
Halina was born and brought up locally and studied law at Wolverhampton. After completing her law degree , she went on to study for her Legal Practice Course at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
She is a keen motorcyclist regularly taking part in track days, and would one day like to ride on the TT circuit in the Isle of Man. She also runs and enjoys travel.
Kathryn Roker
Kathryn is a qualified Licensed Conveyancer with a wide experience of property matters and is based in our Calne office.
Lisa Sidwell
Lisa joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in March 2001 and is an experienced residential conveyancer dealing with all aspects of conveyancing.
Lisa enjoys cooking, running and socialising with friends and family.
Kellie Hinton
Kellie joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 1999 and is an experienced Conveyancer.
Kellie lives in Melksham and interests include gardening and reading.
Rebecca Vassie
Rebecca joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in October 2007 and soon after joining qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. Her specialist area is conveyancing. She aims to continue her studies with ILEX and to qualify as a solicitor.
Rebecca lives in Swindon with her husband. She enjoys going to the gym and spending time with her family and friends.
Debbie Baylies
Debbie joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 2000 and is based in our Wootton Bassett Office. She specialises in personal injury law having qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. Debbie lives in Swindon and her interests include local politics, travel and genealogy.
Viv Edgar
Viv joined ABD in 2000 after relocating from Kent with her husband and specialises in Personal Injury claims.
Viv lives in a small village on the edge of the Salisbury Plain. Her interests are gardening, cooking and music and looking after her chickens and three cats.
Tim Hotchkiss
Tim joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 2004 and is based in the Litigation Department, specialising in personal injury law.
Tim currently lives in Swindon and his main interests include football, travelling, history and walking.
Frances Nash
Frances joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in January 2007 after relocating from Northampton where she had previously worked for a large commercial practice and became a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in March 2007. She specialises in personal injury law and is based at the firm’s Devizes Office.
Frances lives locally with her husband and two young children who keep her very busy outside of work!
Frances’ interests are walking, watching live pop and rock music and cricket
April Philo
April joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in 2004 and has approximately 15 years experience in working in personal injury litigation. She qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 2002 and is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. April is based in our Wootton Bassett Office.
Catherine Cole
Catherine joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in November 2002 as a legal assistant in the Wills and Probate Department where she still works.
Catherine lives in Calne with her husband and two daughters. She plays competitive tennis and is the captain of Calne Tennis Club mixed team. She also enjoys playing netball.
Lynnette Hilliard
Lynnette is a solicitor with over 20 years’ experience in private client work. She specialises in wills, inheritance tax planning and asset protection, the administration of estates, lasting powers of attorney and Court of Protection work.
Lynnette is a member of the Probate Section of the Law Society and of Solicitors for the Elderly.
Lynnette is based at our Wootton Bassett office and is happy to be working in Wiltshire once again after a period with law firms in Bath and Bristol. As well as bringing her expertise to the firm, she enjoys getting to know the community in Wootton Bassett and the issues that concern the people of the town.
Naomi Hill
Based at our Devizes office, Naomi Hill joined the Wills and Probate department of Awdry Bailey & Douglas in September 2009. After serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service for five years, Naomi commenced a career in the legal profession in 1982. She qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives in 1991 and became of full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) in 1996.
Christopher Linton
Christopher joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in September 2007. He attended Kingston University where he attained his law degree and subsequently attended Plymouth University.
Chris is part of the Wills and Probate team and is based in our Marlborough office.
He lives in Swindon and enjoys playing hockey, golf and eating out.
Thomas Paget
Thomas first joined ABD in 2002. During his studies he worked for the firm on a part time basis, before joining full time in 2006 after graduating from the University of Plymouth with a degree in Business Studies. In 2007 he qualified as a Domestic Energy Assessor and is now a member of the HIPs team based in Marlborough.
Hobbies include outdoor activities such as cycling and skiing as well as swimming and going to the gym. Interests include property, travelling and socialising with friends.
Alison Wannell
Alison graduated from the University of Kent with a Bachelors degree in 2000 and a Masters degree in Medical Law & Ethics in 2002. She then completed the Legal Practice Course in London and trained in Tunbridge Wells. Alison joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas on qualification in December 2006.
Alison specialises in litigation, predominantly financial mis-selling and personal injury.
Alison lives near Bath and enjoys foreign travel and competitive rowing.
Wayne Elliott
Wayne joined Awdry Bailey & Douglas in September 2007. Wayne is a member of our litigation department where he focuses on personal injury and financial services mis-selling claims.
Wayne lives in Bath and commutes to our Calne office. He enjoys playing hockey for the City of Bath and is a keen rugby supporter. Wayne can often be found in the stands at the “Rec” on a Saturday afternoon.
Gina Giddings
Gina joined our HIPS team in July 2009. She lives in a village near Devizes and her interests include foreign languages and dancing. Gina is also a fan of Formula 1 racing.
