A new Netflix film, The Dig, to be released later this month, tells the compelling story of how a lavish Anglo-Saxon ship buried in the grounds of Sutton Hoo, the Pretty familys estate in South-East Suffolk, was unearthed just before the outbreak of World War II. 1956 Penelope E. Pretty 1 b. The Dig true story reveals that her father had also been involved in the excavation of a Cistercian Abbey next to their home at Vale Royal. this indicates that the image you project to other people does not reveal very much about your real feelings. Start a free family tree online and well do the searching for you. Over time, the timber here decayed leaving an imprint behind, and the rivets or bolts. Two years earlier, Winston Churchill had offered her a CBE in recognition of her extraordinary generosity. The author John Preston is the nephew of Peggy Piggot and so some of his decriptions of characters and happenings would have been from her stories. moment. Robert Dempster's Father, Robert Dempster, had founded the company at Elland in Yorkshire in 1855, and this became R & J Dempster and sons in 1883, which Robert founded with his brother, John. But they disintegrated after so long a time. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. It dive bombed them and strafed them, but they got into the house - but the bullet holes in the door were the evidence of the attack. 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. 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. Fascinating! Later on I met my husband at Woodbridge Air Base, as did one of my twin sisters. xxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx (1883-xxxx ) 13164 People 6 Records 7 Sources. Firstly, there was the ship, long and elegant, an impression only but all of the rivets in place. A Major in the Suffolk Territorials, he went off to war along with thousands of others but somehow survived (his younger brother did not), rising to the rank of Colonel. Find out in our episode The Dig: History vs. Hollywood. During the First World War, she worked with the Red Cross at Winsford in England and Vitry-le-Franois and Le Bourget in France. At a treasure trove inquest on August 14, 1939, Basil Brown testified and helped convince officials that the enormous find at Sutton Hoo was the property of Edith Pretty. Robert was of White ethnicity and English nationality. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. 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. Robert is not a public figure, but his story is intrinsic to the Netflix film. Finally, I guess you might want to know what its like to visit Sutton Hoo. Dempster, Robert Edith Pretty, Prettys mother, was born in Elland, Yorkshire. Edith Pretty died in 1942. 22 October 1844, d. 3 February 1931, Eden Hall, Dwygyfylchi, Caernarvonshire, Wales, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/world-history-magazine/article/sutton-hoo-england-anglo-saxon-treasure-ship, Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England, The Oaklands, Stafford, Staffordshire, England. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Later, in 1884, the Dempster family relocated to Manchester, where Ediths father established the engineering firm of R. & J. Dempster with his brother, John. After her parents died, Pretty and her sister inherited an estate worth approximately $22 million today. Robert and his wife have three children: Penny, David, and John. And does their blood flow in your veins? The message is, 'Keep digging, you will find what you are searching for.'" So what was found at Sutton Hoo in 1939? Based on the book of the same name by John Preston and starring Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty and Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown, it tells the story of Basils finds against the backdrop of approaching war and Ediths illness. Forensic examination found no trace of human remains in the sandy, acid, soil, either cremated or inhumed. As John Preston stated in his novel's author's note, "Certain changes have been made for dramatic effect." Phillips recruited Welsh archaeologist William Grimes, British archaeologist O.G.S. 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. Fearsome, haunting and spine-tingling, it demands that you imagine the man who may have worn it, and picture what he and his world were like. In 1965, a BBC documentary called The Million-Pound Grave interviewed many of those who worked on the original dig, including Basil Brown. A thorough look at this great site and associated history. Dempster was the landlord of the Sutton Hoo estate and the owner of R. & J. Dempster. After Netflix released The Dig, a drama film based on his mothers life, Robert became a hot topic and a media darling. Yes. Lovely photos, especially love the close up of the helmet. Access ANCHOR, the intranet for Nationwide Childrens employees. But this is, simply, the burial, or commemoration, of a powerful rich man who valued beautiful things, and whose followers did too. We said at the start that there are many stories behind Sutton Hoo. But it is a beautifully made, often emotional, film and the cast are superb particularly the leads. Youll get hints when we find information about your relatives . The Dempsters were very wealthy industrialists who amassed their fortune from the manufacture of equipment related to the gas industry. Dempster, Robert Pretty was a happily married man with a lovely wife and children. The couple soon moved to the 526-acre Sutton Hoo estate, with its 15-bedroom Edwardian house and mysterious earth mounds. The ship had been uncovered the summer before, but excavations restarted in May 1939. She toured the world and witnessed several excavations with her father, which further deepened her interest in archaeology and history. Good; then Ill begin. 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. Edith Pretty died of a blood clot in 1942 at the age of 59, passing on most of her nearly 400,000 estate on to her son Robert when he was only 12 years old.. Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown and Carey Mulligan as Edith Pretty. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. I wish we could have illustrated more, for instance her complete and utter fascination with spiritualism. 1 He married Helen J. J. Roberts in 1952. Airplanes even flew over to get photographs of the excavation. . Certainly, someone from the top layer of society. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites Also in 1926 she donated the Dempster Challenge Cup to Winsford UDC, Cheshire, which has been awarded annually to a plot-holder on the town's allotments. Basil Brown returned to Sutton Hoo in the summer of 1939 and began excavating Mound 1 which was actually where Edith Pretty had wanted him to start in the first place. On their deaths the Dempster brothers between them left over a million pounds, an enormous sum in the first quarter of the Twentieth Century. We know of only three Anglo-Saxon ship burials, two at Sutton Hoo and one near by at Snape. It certainly was an amazing discovery, Ediths story is interesting, too. Borrowing jugs, bowls, sieves, pastry brushes and bellows from the house, Basil & Co set to work during the summer of 1938, finding fragments, including what looked like ship rivets from what became known as Mound 2. A delicate silver bowl found at the Sutton Hoo site. The whole area was most likely the heartland of the East Anglian royal dynasty, and probably relied heavily on overseas trade. Above is a representation of the warriors helmet from Sutton Hoo. In truth, theres at least a score of other stories behind Sutton Hoo but we will merely touch upon those later. However, Robert was thrust back into the media spotlight after Netflix released The Dig, a British drama film based on the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. He inherited his familys property after both of his parents died. Our Global Patient Services team is here to help international and out-of-area families every step of the way. The flirtations with romance that we see between Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) and Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) in The Dig movie appear to have no basis in history. This story was submitted to the Peoples War site by Nancy Waterfall, Learning Officer at the National Trust at Sutton Hoo on behalf of Mrs Frost and Mrs Rumsby and has been added to the site with their permission. In September 1930 she gave birth to a son, Robert Dempster Pretty. However upsetting these changes are at first, they will give you the freedom you need to grow as an individual. The daughter of an immensely wealthy family of industrialists, she attended Roedean School and had an appropriately privileged upbringing. It is said that he followed the stars, both astronomically and astrologically. Yes it is. In 1855, Ediths great-grandfather established Robert Dempster and Sons for his family. Then, of course, theres the even bigger story of what Sutton Hoo is all about identifying the items that were found, their provenance, purpose and significance. Birth. Elizabeth, I hope you got one. [17] Archaeology at Sutton Hoo [ edit] Hi Mike I sort of knew this story but certainly had forgotten most. Your email address will not be published. The Sutton Hoo estate sits on 526-acres of land. 1 Children of Helen J. J. Roberts and Robert Dempster Pretty David Pretty 1 b. It is hoped, when leave is granted to open the others, some more important antiquities may be discovered. They had no idea what theyd found. Meanwhile, the protagonist's son, Robert, shows an interest in astronomy while looking after his ailing mother. No. She never got to see the full impact of her generosity. But those attempts at excavations didnt yield much. Robert is portrayed by Archie Barnes in The Dig movie. Yes, Edith Pretty was a real person. They went to a lot of trouble, possibly hauling the ship up from the Deben (unless it was constructed nearby) and filling it with precious things, in all probability following an old tradition. I was able to visit Sutton Hoo with my cousin on a sunny day a couple of years ago. He then began the highly skilled, painstaking work which in due course, to their mutual astonishment, uncovered the 90ft skeleton of a ship, almost certainly buried to mark the death of an Anglo-Saxon king. Edith, his mother, discovered the Sutton Hoo ship burial after hiring Basil Brown, a local excavator, and amateur archeologist, to investigate the mounds on her property. The role of stigma in parental help-seeking for child behavior problems Authors Robert Dempster 1 , Beth Wildman , Adam Keating Affiliation 1 Department of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH43215, USA. Within days, she had made the greatest donation to the nation made in a donor's lifetime, giving the treasure to the British Museum. Robert Dempster Pretty passed away on 14 Jun 1988 in Boldre Lymington Hants. Sadly, he died on June 14, 1988, in Boldre Lymington, Hants. Unfortunately, if you always wait for changes to come in this manner, they are likely to be very startling and unsettling. Robert Eugene Demster, 1929 - 1989. Edith funded the construction of a chapel for Parish and she backed the Woodbridge Spiritualist Church. Jacobs lived with his wife and their three children at Sutton Hoo House.) It may be difficult for you to realize it, but such an upset occurs because you have blocked much-needed changes in your life, or they have been denied you. Despite being told to stop until Phillip's team arrived, Basil Brown continued to work on excavating the ship. A ship burial is certainly not a Christian burial, but neither is it ritually pagan. What they didn't realize is that they weren't digging in the center of the mound and were instead off to some degree. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Mrs Pretty died on 18th December 1942 and was cremated on 22nd. Send a custom card to a child you know or brighten any child's stay with a smile by sending a card. Edith Pretty died in 1942 at age 59 following a stroke. Edith said he could lodge with her chauffeur and offered him 30 shillings a week, for what was originally thought likely to be a fortnight-long project. Dempster R, Huston P, Castillo A, Sharp WG. That helmet has a challenging appearance. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. In the Netflix storyline, a widow named Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) hires an amateur excavator named Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to investigate her property. She was asking really big questions. Sean Dempster and Brad Howard warm up during a St Kilda Saints AFL training session at Linen House Oval on August 19, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Photos of a Young Edith Pretty and Her Family | ArchMusicMan Blog, The British Museum's Sutton Hoo Collection and Virtual Tour. As news of a discovery of national importance leaked out, a team of professionals led by Cambridge University archaeologist Charles Phillips muscled in and took over. Discover your family history in millions of family trees and more than a billion birth,marriage, death, census, and miltary records. Unlike in the movie, the discovery of the Anglo-Saxon burial ship in Mound 1 didn't come as a complete surprise. A few years after the Sutton Hoo excavation, Edith suffered a stroke and died on December 17, 1942. However, no internet sites reveal the identity of his wife or the date of his marriage. Robert is portrayed by Archie Barnes in The Dig movie. 1969 Citations A visit there must be wonderful, but gosh, the wonder of the discovery must have been truly incredible!! England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973. We meet her quite close to the end of her life, Moira Buffini, who wrote the screenplay, tells the Mail. The comments below have not been moderated. 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). It will open today at 8:00AM. Robert.M.Dempster@gmail.com PMID: 22788955 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2012.700504 Abstract After their marriage, the Prettys looked for a home near Ipswich. A haunting helmet (your first photo). Raedwald aside, who were all the people laid to rest in this royal burial ground? In June 1904 she had helped crew a racing yacht, Vol-Au-Vent, in a Kings Cup race from Dover to the German islands of Heligoland. Difficult. Helen J. J. Roberts married Robert Dempster Pretty, son of Frank Pretty and Edith Dempster, in 1952. No. They drove a . Some of the things found inside the burial chamber included weapons, gold and garnet jewelry, silver, containers, shoes, buckles, gold coins and ignots, baptismal spoons, drinking horns and vessels, etc. Robert Dan Pretty from tree Sharon Brander Family Tree. Great post Mike, this part of our history is so mysterious and fascinating. Maynard recommended local archaeologist Basil Brown (played by Ralph Fiennes in The Dig movie) to find out what, if anything, lay beneath the strange mounds on Pretty's land.Edith Pretty hired Basil Brown, agreeing to pay him 30 shillings a week for two weeks to explore the mounds. To commend her generosity and contribution to the country, Winston Churchill offered her a designation of CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) but she declined. Ill have to go back to Sutton Hoo my husband has never been there which is reason enough, I think. Rob Dempster, PhD, is the Program Director of the Comprehensive Pediatric Feeding Program and a psychologist in the Department of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology. Join Facebook to connect with Robert Dempster and others you may know. Though there are several potential candidates, the favourite is that this was the grave of Raedwald, king of the East Angles from 599-624AD and bretwalda over-ruler or chief of the other kings from c617-624. He found little in the latter, as it appeared to have been robbed. At the time Edith Pretty (portrayed by Carey Mulligan) hired local archaeologist Basil Brown to excavate the mounds on her Sutton Hoo estate in southeast Suffolk, she had been a widow for several years. Crawford, and husband and wife archaeologists Stuart and Peggy Piggott. Robert Dempster Pretty in England & Wales Deaths, GRO Indexes, 1969 - 2007 Robert Dempster Pretty in England & Wales, Death Index, 1866-1920 & 1984-. view all Immediate Family Helen J.J. It was enough to convince Pretty to have him excavate two more mounds in hopes of discovering more Sutton Hoo treasure.He next excavated Mound 2 and Mound 4. Basil Brown was born in 1888 in Bucklesham, Suffolk, and left school at the age of 12. But ironically, according to Martin Carver, who led excavations at Sutton Hoo in the 1980s, the quality of archaeology did not improve with the arrival of the new expert team though the work-rate certainly did. A horse? Facebook gives people the power. 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. Alone on a large estate with just a young boy for company, perhaps it's understandable that she became interested in spiritualism. Mrs Rumsby: After leaving school, I helped my elder sister Ethel, who was the cook, in the house at Sutton Hoo. Clearly, this part of Suffolk is a place for Brits to commune with their Germanic ancestors. I guess hoo actually means something? Edith and Frank bought the estate for 15,250, which didnt make much of a dent in the fortune she had inherited from her father. Companion to portrait of his mother Mrs Edith Pretty. Read More:Were Basil Brown and Peggy Preston Real Archaeologists? Gathered from those who lived during the same time period, were born in the same place, or who have a family name in common. 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. David J, Huston P, Manville K, Burdo-Hartman W, Kaiser S, Arand B, Hockaday M, Rosenston L, Sejkora E, Dempster R. Unexpected Poor Growth in Pediatric Patients on Food-based Enteral Therapy: Case Series and Suggested Practice Changes. And of course it all happened in a world about to fall into the Second World War. 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 Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media. In Mound 2, he found a bead, Bronze Age pottery shards, a gilt bronze disc, a piece of blue glass, the tip of a sword blade, iron knives, a ship's rivets, and a smaller boat that appeared to have been cut in half, with one half placed on top of the other as a cover. 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. May even wrote a letter to Edith Pretty, thanking her for giving her husband the chance to work on the excavation. The Dig is due for release on Netflix on January 29. Wife of Frank Pretty Edith Pretty is neither a household name nor considered a national treasure. Some academics disliked the way one of the archaeologists, Peggy Piggott (played by Lily James) was portrayed, and the story certainly includes several fictions. She had served in England and in France during WW1 as a volunteer with the Red Cross. A favourite of ours is Southwold , Black Shore and Walberswick, lovely places. public. There have been notable Anglo-Saxon finds since but nothing like this, a fully furnished, undisturbed ship burial. 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