Their home on the estate, Tranmer House, is pictured below. She paid for the help of a local archaeologist to find out what, if anything, lay underneath the mounds on her property. The two youngsters fell in love, but Ediths father considered Frank a most unworthy suitor for his daughters hand and consistently refused to approve the match. Well done, my dear, many congratulations, what a wonderful discovery, said Edith, whod been watching as we know from photographs from her Lloyd Loom chair on the edge of the excavation pit. On several occasions, she threatened to shut down the dig entirely. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. But had it not been for her a wealthy, idiosyncratic widow with a ferocious sense of civic duty and patriotic pride Britain would have been denied one of its greatest national treasures. Robert is portrayed by Archie Barnes in The Dig movie. A national treasure. In 1926, her father having graciously passed on, Edith finally married her Frank. Lovely part of the world, anyway! Frank was in his early twenties and had an altogether more modest background in the Suffolk town of Ipswich, where his family were in ladies underwear (so to speak). A haunting helmet (your first photo). After the inquest, Pretty ended up donating the Sutton Hoo treasure to the British Museum. Sadly, the building and museum were closed when we got there and all we could do was peer through the window, but we wandered among the mounds and she told me the history of the place. Both cemeteries are in close proximity to the River Deben. She was particularly fascinated by 18 or so grassy mounds on a patch of heathland some 500 yards from her house. those of the BBC. Edith and Frank finally married a year after her father passed away in 1925. The Sutton Hoo estate sits on 526-acres of land. In 1934, Pretty died, leaving a widow, Edith Pretty, and young son, Robert Dempster Pretty. Flowers . Frank Pretty was born at Ipswich on 28 December 1878, son of William Pretty (1 January 1842-12 February 1916), a draper & corset manufacturer, and his second wife Anne Maria Sherington (1849-28 December 1925), second daughter of Charles Sherington (1814-10 July 1868), a hairdresser & perfumer, William and Anne married at Christ's Church, Gipsy Learn how your comment data is processed. The Sutton Hoo estate has been in the hands of the National Trust since 1997/98, when it was gifted by the Annie Tranmer Trust; Annie Tranmer was the last previous owner, who died in 1993. Theres a viewing platform near the site of the 1939 dig and an archaeologists (shepherds) hut, where Basil Brown tells you what theyre up to with the help of an actors voice and 21st century audio-wizardry. Great post Mike, very interesting. Yes. Bornin Chelsea, Greater Londonon 7 Sep 1930to Frank Prettyand Edith May Dempster. They purchased the home in the 1950s and lived there for the remainder of their lives. Record information. People gave up quite quickly. In September 2016, evidence of a 75 x 30 (23 x 9 metre) structure was discovered; some believe this could have been the royal hall, or palace. Lol (My writing has got to be my priority for a while, so my posts arent too often.) But I think Im missing something here about the ghost ships they actually buried the ships, right? A series of undulations and low mounds are visible through the slightly waving grass, though only one barrow stands out; Mound 2 has been restored to its original height. The scenery was pleasant and the heat of the day came up from the ground, bringing the drowsy scent of warm earth with it. A second burial ground was found in the year 2000 on another hill-spur roughly 1,600 ft upstream from the original burial mounds at Sutton Hoo. They had one son, Robert Dempster Pretty, who she had given birth to in 1930 at the age of 47. Elsie was born on October 1 1893, in Hamlin Co., South Dakota. The daughter of an immensely wealthy family of industrialists, she attended Roedean School and had an appropriately privileged upbringing. It would have been impossible to physically recreate the excavation of the royal burial ship at the location. I loved Sutton Hoo when I visited it, especially as the British Museum had lent a load of beautiful artifacts to the visitor centre for an exhibition. The narrative thereafter becomes marred by unpleasantness. Edith Pretty never got to see the full impact of her generosity. Love the detailed scenes on the metal helmet, obviously depicting important milestones or life aspects of those people; would love to see that up close, it is beautiful, along with that wonderful gold buckle. However, no body was found in the grave and the experts cannot agree whether there was ever one there. It stars Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn and Ben Chaplin. Edith was educated at Roedean School, finishing her education with a six-month spell in Paris. Growing up, Edith had traveled a great deal with her family, visiting Austria-Hungry, Greece, and in her late twenties, Egypt. We are two of ten children, one of whom is a brother called Peter. But in 1925, Robert Dempster died and a year later Edith did marry Frank, by then a lieutenant-colonel in the Suffolk Regiment, whose family owned a long-established corset-making business in Ipswich. III and Elizabeth Dempster Husband of Elizabeth Hannah Dempster Father of Elizabeth Dempster and Edith Pretty Brother of John Dempster and Louisa Hovey. There are very few glimpses of the young actor who played Robert as a 9-year-old in this film, but the script covers two important elements of his story: his upset at being unable to change the course of his mothers illness; and his foresight into space being a future frontier for mankind. Some promising finds were made, and Brown returned in the summer of 1939 to make further excavations. 1956 Penelope E. Pretty 1 b. But at the age of 47, much to her amazement, came the happy distraction of pregnancy. How fascinating and what a pity Mrs Pretty and her Frank didnt marry earlier. It was an easy walk along a dusty track to the burial ground. 1 Children of Helen J. J. Roberts and Robert Dempster Pretty David Pretty 1 b. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. In real life, Basil Brown had discovered similar iron ship rivets and a smaller boat in Mound 2 the previous year (not shown in the movie). But after suffering a blood clot on the brain, she had died in 1942, aged just 59. This database contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can only be viewed by Ancestry members to whom they have granted permission to see their tree.These trees can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. Easy. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Passenger Lists. That obligation was also why she stayed single, despite the persistence of the enraptured Frank Pretty, the brother of a Roedean friend, who was said to have proposed to her on her 18th birthday and every year thereafter. So what was found at Sutton Hoo in 1939? The connection between Edith and Basil was made at the 1937 Woodbridge Flower Show, where she mentioned the mounds to a local historian, Vincent Redstone. Loved hearing the story of Mrs Pretty and the self-educated Basil Brown. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Top $76,000-a-year New Jersey boarding school admits 'more should have been done' to stop bullying of boy, 17, who took his own life after being falsely accused of rape, Regulators seize and sell First Republic Bank to JPMorgan in second-largest US bank failure, Epstein's VERY tangled web: Pedophile met with CIA Director William Burns, Obama White House lawyer, Noam Chomsky and music director for the American Symphony Orchestra in the years AFTER his sex offence conviction, A musical climax! Robert Dempster Pretty Birth 7 Sep 1930 - Chelsea, Greater London Death 14 Jun 1988 - Boldre Lymington Hants Mother Edith May Dempster Father Frank Pretty Quick access Family tree New search Robert Dempster Pretty family tree Family tree Explore more family trees Parents Frank Pretty 1878 - 1934 Edith May Dempster 1883 - 1942 I love how youve presented your first photo of the helmet. Robert Dempster Prettyfamily tree Parents Frank Pretty 1878- 1934 Edith May Dempster 1883- 1942 Wrong Robert Dempster Pretty? But it is a beautifully made, often emotional, film and the cast are superb particularly the leads. Which is the best heritage organisation to join. Nevertheless, Edith promptly donated the entire haul to the nation, and in 1951, having been stored in Aldwych Tube station during the war, it went on display in the British Museum albeit with no credit, not a single namecheck, for Basil Brown. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), IBCC Recognition, Remembrance, Reconciliation. Date of Appointment at Nationwide Childrens Hospital: 12/31/2012. In 1922 she became one of Englands first women magistrates, and was even invited to stand for Parliament in the safe Conservative seat of Northwich. Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the Happily for Edith, her father believed firmly that travel, especially to see great antiquities, broadened the mind. Your email address will not be published. The twins in the family were playing outside the cottage when a German plane went over. Robert and his wife have three children: Penny, David, and John. The exhibition hall was absorbing, really excellent, telling the story of the discovery and including first-class replicas of the finds as well as a full size reconstruction of the burial chamber. In 1930, at the age of forty-seven, Edith gave birth to a son, Robert Dempster Pretty. Tanner K, Dempster R, Castillo A, Burdo-Hartman W, Halpin E, Rausch J, Stevens J. Randomized trial of a self-administered parenting intervention for selective eating in young children. These were fierce people. Edith Pretty decided they needed to be excavated. Residence. Moment Oakland DoorDash driver takes picture of pizza on doorstep before STEALING it - after manager ordered him to drop it off to business that was ransacked by burglars costing $70,000, Roman Polanski's wife reposts photo of Oscar-winning director with his 1977 teenage rape victim Samantha Geimer who says 'he's paid his debt to society', Apple TV+ renews HUGE show starring A-list cast for fourth season BEFORE upcoming episodes are released, Ballet princess! The American Bill Bryson in The Road to Little Dribbling is typically forthright about this episode, saying that Brown was roughly cast aside. Gradually, Brown and his helpers, watched by Ediths small son, (who left his roller skates buried in the soil that was being dug out) uncovered an entire ship, 90 feet (27 metres) long. The ship had been uncovered the summer before, but excavations restarted in May 1939. Robert Pretty was born when Edith was 47 years old; he was the only child of Edith and Frank Pretty. public. Start a free family tree online and well do the searching for you. We are the daughters of Mr Buckle, the under gardener at Sutton Hoo. If you dont already know, the treasure of Sutton Hoo is a ship burial which dates from the early 7th century and, when it was found in 1939, it forced a profound revision of our appreciation of the early Anglo-Saxons in Britain. From what we can tell, their relationship was never more than platonic. There were no restrictions as to where on the estate we children could go. Mrs Pretty was the first person aware of the need to investigate properly, with the means to do so.. These trees can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. 7 September 1930, d. 14 June 1988, M, #356339, b. What did they hide? Brilliant idea, Janina you could run the stories in parallel and then see how they come together..! After school, she became involved in good works, including the Red Cross, with whom she served during the First World War in the United Kingdom and France. He soon unearthed the remains of an enormous burial, later identified as a 7th-century Saxon ship and probably the last resting-place of King Rdwald of East Anglia. May even wrote a letter to Edith Pretty, thanking her for giving her husband the chance to work on the excavation. What were their hopes and dreams? In 1905 they toured South America. The rest, even Mound I, could easily be missed if you didnt know they were there. They drove a . That helmet has a challenging appearance. The contrast in accents between the broad Suffolk brogue and clipped received pronunciation, is striking. Spiritualists like Parish believed that the living can communicate with the spirits of the dead, usually by way of mediums. Edith Pretty died in 1942. Great Expectations viewers slam BBC for CHANGING ending of the Dickens classic with furious literature fans branding the show 'an abomination', From being born a man to Queen of the Mountains: Trans cyclist romps to victory in elite in women's race - winning $35,000 in the process - sparking new anger at the sport's transgender rules, Don Lemon's ousting from CNN has caused 'ARGUMENTS' with his fianc Tim Malone - who warned the disgraced anchor to 'cool it down' on-air before he was unceremoniously sacked after 17 years at the network, What a pizza work! Henry VIIIs agents and John Dee, Elizabeth Is court sorcerer, dug for treasure at Sutton Hoo and there is evidence to suggest that the former were quite successful. As John Preston stated in his novel's author's note, "Certain changes have been made for dramatic effect." A further ship burial was found in Mound 2 and, in Mound 17, the body of a young warrior was found, with his horse. And does their blood flow in your veins? While there was no mention of a cave-in happening in real life, there was worry that a hill of sandy soil that had acted as a viewing platform could give way. Lewis was born on October 14 1904, in Barton County Missouri, USA. Lovely photos, especially love the close up of the helmet. When Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to dig up some mounds on her estate, they had no idea that it would turn out to be one of the most famous archaeological digs in modern Britain. And if they didnt dazzle before they received a quick blast from Ediths bellows, fetched from the house to blow away the sand, they did afterwards. Certainly, someone from the top layer of society. Among the 18 ancient burial mounds on Edith Pretty's 526-acre Sutton Hoo estate was a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon ship, which is thought to have been the final resting place of King Rdwald of East Anglia (c. 560 - c. 624). She also took a flip in a biplane. Yes. It will open today at 3:00PM. In July of that year, a formal meeting was held during which Pretty, Redstone, and the curator of the Ipswich Corporation Museum, Guy Maynard, discussed the possibility of excavation. Her father had also excavated a Cistercian abbey close to their home at Vale Royale. In the Netflix storyline, a widow named Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires an amateur excavator named Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate her property. dempster highway aurora - robert dempster stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. After all, she was that kind of woman. The problem is not so much that they come into conflict withe each others, but that your reason and feelings represent to very different sides of your personality. The coins provide us with an approximate date they were minted between c620 and c640AD. So I think the answer to my question would be a resounding Yes!, Your email address will not be published. There have been notable Anglo-Saxon finds since but nothing like this, a fully furnished, undisturbed ship burial. At times sudden upsets may occur in your life that totally alter your plans, so that you have to change course entirely. This database contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry subscribers. At around the turn of the century, when she was 17, she met Frank Pretty. Despite this, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the 4th Battalion. You are invited to make yourself at home as a guest of Edith Pretty and thats where the ghosts start to get a little restless. So much for the so-called Dark Ages. Edith May "Dempy" Dempster Pretty. Dempster, Robert Pretty was a well-known English personality who rose to prominence as the son of Frank Pretty and Edith May Dempster. Her husband, Frank Pretty, had died of stomach cancer on his 56th birthday in 1934. Mrs Rumsby: After leaving school, I helped my elder sister Ethel, who was the cook, in the house at Sutton Hoo. Over time, the timber here decayed leaving an imprint behind, and the rivets or bolts. The image has drifted in and out of my dreams for years, such that visiting the spot where it had been buried for so very long became something of a pilgrimage that, sometime, had to be made. Incidence of aspiration in infants with single-ventricle physiology following hybrid procedure. . Loved this post ever since I heard of Sutton Hoo I have been fascinated by it, and you tell its story so well, much more interesting than dry academic tracts. Geni requires JavaScript! The medium's advice came true in 1939 when the 88-foot burial ship was discovered in Mound 1. Record information. There is evidence of perhaps 2 gallows or hanging-trees. If Sutton Hoo Man was Raedwald, Raedwald was anyway an ambivalent Christian. He was responsible for the roses and the topiary. When Edith May Dempster was born on 1 August 1883, in Elland, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, her father, Robert Dempster, was 30 and her mother, Elizabeth Hannah Brunton, was 25. Robert Dempster Pretty is his parents only child, and he was born when his mother, Edith, was 47 years old. He was a happily married man with a lovely wife and children. Yes it is. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. As historian Michael Wood puts it, Before the discoveries of 1939, the things found had only hitherto existed in the stories of Beowulf. She would have become only the third ever female MP but she refused, citing her responsibilities to her now-widowed father. Robert Dempster Pretty 1930 - 1988. We said at the start that there are many stories behind Sutton Hoo. Alas, Edith was no longer around to object. In conducting The Dig fact check, we discovered that Johnny Flynn's character, photographer Rory Lomax, who is the cousin of Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), is entirely fictional. A short 2006 biography of Edith, by Mary Skelcher and Chris Durrant, records that they were attended there by a large retinue of servants and owned four chauffeur-driven cars, with a page-boy employed just to open the doors. David Pretty, Robert's son, who saw the Sutton Hoo treasure in its entirety for the first time at the relaunch of Room 41 last week, is certain Edith would have loved seeing people marvel at the . He inherited his familys property after both of his parents died. Yes, Edith Pretty was a real person. The Dig, is a historical drama film that revolves around the discovery of the Anglo-Saxon ship burial site at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. This held the fabulous, probably ceremonial, helmet (in about 500 fragments, meticulously reassembled initially incorrectly); an ornate sword decorated with gold and garnet; a giant, unused, whetstone which has been identified as a sort of sceptre; a stand, believed to be a type of standard, or banner; spears; a battle-axe; a shield with bird and dragon figures; drinking-horns mounted in silver; 10 shallow Byzantine or North African cross-patterned silver bowls; a large fluted classical bowl; 3 bronze hanging bowls; a pair of silver spoons; a dismantled lyre; a great silver bowl bearing the stamp of Anastasius (Byzantine Emperor from 491-518AD); 19 pieces of beautiful jewellery set with garnets, including a gold buckle weighing nearly 1lb; a huge purse, richly decorated, containing 40 Merovingian (Frankish modern France) coins. Anyway, the UK doesnt have a monopoly on patronizing academics. Unlike in the movie, the discovery of the Anglo-Saxon burial ship in Mound 1 didn't come as a complete surprise. 4 miles up the Deben is Rendlesham, where there was once a royal residence. Married less than a decade, how Edith Pretty must have missed Frank. She was very involved with it, as a lot of people were after the First World War. Although the first Sutton Hoo exhibition opened at the British Museum in 1940, it was soon packed up and kept in underground tunnels between Aldwych and Holborn tube stations to shield it from air raids during WWII. An inquest decided that the material belonged to the landowner, Mrs Pretty, who subsequently gave it all to the British Museum (allegedly on the advice of her Spiritualist guide). We have talked quite a lot about Sutton Hoo and that we should visit it since we watched The Dig, particularly as my Mum lives in Lowestoft, Suffolk. But Edith didnt need her family around her to pursue adventure. You want very much to go your own way and do your own hing, even when you arent entirely sure that it is the right direction for you. I love these artefacts incredible workmanship and showing us where goods came from. At the time of the excavation, all the children in the family were excited when the ship was opened, and we were given rivets from the Anglo-Saxon boat. Elizabeth, I hope you got one. 28 December 1878, d. 28 December 1934, M, #356338, b. The Sutton Hoo excavation took place in the fields of her private estate. At the Woodbridge Flower Fete (festival) in 1937, Edith Pretty talked to Vincent B. Redstone, a member of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, about potentially excavating the mounds on her Sutton Hoo estate. Companion to portrait of his mother Mrs Edith Pretty. The informal religious movement known as spiritualism was still popular in the 1930s, and Edith had befriended a faith healer named William Parish. Born in Chelsea, Greater London on 7 Sep 1930 to Frank Pretty and Edith May Dempster. Michaela. In much the same way as, Bryson suggests, Dumbreck might have become a decent human. Your photos are exceptional youre obviously a talented photographer. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Discover the meaning and history behind your last name and get a sense of identity and discover who you are and where you come from. So some medical specialists conclude that Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo is a cenotaph. After Netflix released The Dig, a drama film based on his mothers life, Robert became a hot topic and a media darling. No. One of our brothers went to HMS Ganges at the age of fifteen. Youll find a bit about Constable Country here too and I loved Southwold. He was subsequently killed while on a food convoy to Russsia. We know this because fragments of a pot from that period were found in a pit. Duty calls: Edith Pretty, the owner of Sutton Hoo estate and who arranged a dig of the burial mounds, pictured standing on the veranda of Tranmer House, formerly Sutton Hoo House. Robert is portrayed by Archie Barnes in The Dig movie. I have since seen the treasures at the British Museum but there isnt the same magic about them, so far away from where they ought to be. I loved the view of the river below us. During the First World War, she worked with the Red Cross at Winsford in England and Vitry-le-Franois and Le Bourget in France. In the movie, Peggy complains that Stuart is more interested in working in the lab with John Brailsford than spending time with her. Yes. It was used by friends and even family for the rest of her life. Her body was interred in Suttons All Saints Churchyard. Robert and his wife had three children: Penny, David, and John. King Edward VII and his nephew, the Kaiser, jointly presented the prizes. Pretty was born at Elland, Yorkshire on 1 August 1883, the younger of two daughters of Robert and Elizabeth Dempster. Then we took in Tranmer House, a little reluctantly on my part because I was impatient to reach the burial ground.