![]() ![]() Promising finds were made, and Brown returned in the summer of 1939 for further work on the project. Redstone and the curator of the Ipswich Corporation Museum, Guy Maynard, met Edith in July regarding the project, and self-taught Suffolk archaeologist Basil Brown was subsequently invited to excavate the mounds. Redstone, a member of the Suffolk Ins*ute of Archaeology, and Fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries. At the 1937 Woodbridge Flower Fete, Edith discussed the possibility of an excavation with Vincent B. In addition, her friend Florence Sayce's Egyptologist uncle, Archibald Sayce and her father excavated a Cistercian abbey adjoining their home at Vale Royal.Īround 18 ancient burial mounds lay on the Sutton Hoo estate, about 450 m (500 yards) from the Pretty home (now Tranmer House, then called Sutton Hoo House). ![]() Archaeology at Sutton HooFurther information: Basil Brown and Sutton Hoo The Sutton Hoo helmetĮdith had become acquainted with archaeological digs early in her life through her travels. Frank Pretty died on his 56th birthday in 1934, from stomach cancer diagnosed earlier that year.Įdith became interested in Spiritualism, visiting faith healer William Parish and supporting a spiritualist church in Woodbridge. In 1930, at the age of 47, Edith gave birth to a son, Robert Dempster Pretty. The Cup has been awarded annually for most years since to a plot-holder on Winsford's garden allotments. She served as a magistrate in Woodbridge, and in 1926 donated the Dempster Challenge Cup to Winsford Urban District Council, her former Red Cross posting. After the War, Pretty continued to serve the Suffolk Regiment, obtaining the rank of lieutenant colonel and commander of the 4th Battalion in 1922, while also working in the family business.Įdith gave up the lease on Vale Royal after her marriage and bought the 213-hectare (526-acre) Sutton Hoo estate, including Sutton Hoo House, along the River Deben, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. His participation in 1915 in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle was captured in a 1918 painting by the artist Fred Roe. Pretty had been a Major in the Suffolk Regiment's 4th (Territorial) Battalion and had been wounded twice during the War. Pretty was the son of William Tertius Pretty (1842–1916), owner of a corset-making and drapery business in Ipswich. In 1926, Edith married Frank Pretty (1878–1934) of Ipswich, who had first proposed on her 18th birthday, and had corresponded with her during the War. When he died in Cape Town during a visit to South Africa in 1925, Edith and her sister inherited an estate valued at more than £500,000 – about £32 million in 2022. By 1917 she was working with the French Red Cross at Vitry-le-François, and Le Bourget in France.Īfter her mother's death in 1919, Edith cared for her father at Vale Royal. Later lifeĭuring World War I, Edith served as quartermaster at the Red Cross' auxiliary hospital at Winsford, and helped to house Belgian refugees. She engaged in public and charitable works that included helping to buy land for a Christian mission. Edith grew up with an indoor staff of 25 in addition to 18 gardeners. Later that year, the family embarked on a world tour that included visits to the British Raj and the United States.įrom 1907 to 1925, Edith's father took a lease on Vale Royal Abbey, a country house near Whitegate, Cheshire, the family seat of Lord Delamere. After finishing her education at Roedean School, Edith spent six months in Paris in 1901. Edith and her family travelled extensively abroad, visiting Egypt, Greece, and Austria-Hungary. In 1884 the family moved to Manchester, where her father founded the engineering firm of R. Robert Dempster's father, also Robert Dempster, had founded Robert Dempster and Sons in 1855 for this purpose. The Dempsters were wealthy industrialists who am*ed their fortune from the manufacture of equipment related to the gas industry. Early lifeĮdith Pretty was born in Elland, Yorkshire, to Elizabeth (née Brunton, died 1919) and Robert Dempster (born 1853). Edith May Pretty (née Dempster 1 August 1883 – 17 December 1942) was an English landowner on whose land the Sutton Hoo ship burial was discovered after she hired Basil Brown, a local excavator and amateur archeologist, to find out if anything lay beneath the mounds on her property.
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