Mrs. Roads is the daughter of Lt. Col. James Bruce, MC and his wife Mary Hope Sinclair. She was born in 1951 and educated at Landsdowne House, Edinburgh, Cambridgeshire College of Technology and the Study Centre for Fine Art in London. After some years working for Christies in London, she joined the Court of the Lord Lyon in 1975 and was made Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records in 1986. Mrs. Roads was Linlithgow Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary in 1987, a temporary appointment, when she represented the Lord Lyon in Canada in the discussions that led to the establishment of the Canadian Heraldic Authority. She was appointed Carrick Pursuivant of Arms in 1992. She has published many articles on heraldic and genealogical subjects. She was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 and appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1990. She married Christopher Roads in 1983 and they have two sons and one daughter.

Mrs. Roads is the first woman to be appointed Royal Officer of Arms. She has been a member of the Heraldry Society (Scotland) since 1977.

Honours and awards

• 2004 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada
• ? Academician of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique
• 1990 Member of the Royal Victorian Order
• 1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal