Beside the house, covered by mountains of mossy grassland, were the foundations of the enormous Abbey church, which Robert Dempster, at huge personal expense, excavated in 1912. Here the family would hunt, shoot, fish and become part of Cheshire society. This was country house life on the grandest scale. Edith's parents employed about twenty five indoor servants and the gardens were looked after by eighteen gardeners. This is an enormous house, now a golf club, and must have been great fun to live in. In 1907 Edith's parents left the comfort of their modern house, Norwood, in Broughton Park and moved in to the vast and ancient pile, Vale Royal. Her Father, Robert, married Elizabeth Brunton, daughter of William Brunton of Bradford, who owned a successful building and joinery business which employed around twenty five people by 1851. A great time of hardship ensued for Mrs Dempster, but she brought her family up as best she could and Robert, her son, attended Cupar's famous Grammar School.Įdith's father was born in Dundee in 1853, where his father was Meter Inspector at Dundee Gasworks. Robert was jailed and in 1831 he was received aboard the prison ship 'Justicia' and died on another, 'York', in 1839 bound for Bermuda. Robert struck McDonald on the head with his slate hammer and, soon after, handed himself in to the police. A drunken brawl had ensued after McDonald hit Robert Dempster with a stick across the shoulders and the back. When Edith's Grandfather, Robert, was just two years old in 1830, his Father was apprehended for the murder of a Mr McDonald, a flax-dresser. Robert's father had married Sarah Laurence in Cupar, where he worked as a Slater. Edith and her sister and cousins often visited their Grandfather there. In the late 1890's Robert moved from Elland to Eden Hall at Penmaenmawr, where he created a magnificent garden and studied astronomy, using a large telescope in his sitting room for observations. Robert Dempster was one of the earliest members of the British Association of Gas Managers and was present at the first General Meeting of the Association at Manchester in 1864.īy the time Edith was seven her Grandfather's original one acre site had grown to more than twelve. Later Robert would use the gas lamp post as part of his own emblem for his works. The manager returned in the morning with a job offer for the hungry young Scot. Robert Dempster waited by the light of a gas lamp post for the whole night on the pavement. The manager asked him to return in the morning. The young man reached the works in Dundee just as it was to close. Edith's Grandfather had left his native Cupar with little more than his intellect and youthful energy to enquire about a job in Dundee. He was, with his new found wealth, able to quench his thirst for travel and took with him his family, accompanied often by small armies of guards to protect them in these far flung places. Her Grandfather, Robert Dempster, had set up the business in 1855 and was, by 1881, employing one hundred and thirty eight men and sixteen boys. Taken at Methven Castle, her Aunt and Uncle's Perthshire home.Įdith was born in 1883 at Elland in a house close to her family's engineering business. Edith would later find and bequeath unimaginable treasures to the Nation, which were dug up at her home, Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk.Įdith with, on her left, my Great Great Grandfather (her Uncle) John Dempster and her first cousin, his son, Charles Dempster. Her family had reaped the rewards of the Industrial Revolution and were able to bring her and her sister up in a grand way. Their two cousins, Mary and Anne Perkins (daughters of Edith's sister Elizabeth) were the other two bridesmaids.Įdith was a classic Edwardian society lady she was well-educated, articulate, public spirited and kind. My Grandmother was 'Flower Girl' at Edith's wedding to Colonel Frank Pretty at Vale Royal in 1926 and Great Aunt Barbara was one of her bridesmaids. She was always a kind, encouraging and welcoming figure in their lives. As she did not have her own family till late in life, my Grandmother, her sister and cousins meant a great deal to Edith. She was known by my Grandmother as 'Aunt Edith' and was my Great Grandmother's favourite cousin. Edith May Pretty was my Great Grandmother's cousin and an important lady in our family.
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