Margaret Rule CBE FRSA
Sculpture of Rule by Luke Shepherd on display at the Mary Rose Museum
Born	Margaret Helen Martin 27 September 1928 Buckinghamshire
Died	9 April 2015(2015-04-09) (aged 86)
Alma mater	University of London
Scientific career
Fields	maritime archaeology

Margaret Helen Rule (27 September 1928 – 9 April 2015) was a British archaeologist.^[1] She is most notable for her involvement with the project that excavated and raised theTudor warshipMary Rose in 1982.^[2][3][4]

Rule, née Martin, was born inBuckinghamshire on 27 September 1928. She studiedchemistry at theUniversity of London.^[5]

Rule changed to a career in archaeology where she initially helped evacuate bomb sites in London after theSecond World War.^[6]

In the 1960s, Rule assisted in the discovery, excavation and ultimately became the first curator of theFishbourne Roman Palace nearChichester,West Sussex. Rule subsequently was integral for transforming the site into a viable tourist attraction.^[7]

Rule was still the curator of theFishbourne Roman Palace, when she began her work inmaritime archaeology.

Rule assisted fellow marine archaeologist Alexander McKee in the 1960s where she was consulted on the initial search for the wreck ofHenry VIII's war shipMary Rose in theSolent, due to her local reputation as a land archaeologist. Here the Mary Rose 1967 Committee was founded, later to be formalised as theMary Rose Trust in 1979.^[8][6]

During this time Rule learned to dive with theSouthampton branch of theBritish Sub-Aqua Club in order to supervise and work on the wreck for herself.

Rule played a pivotal role in both the publicity and campaign for vital backing in order to raise theMary Rose.^[9]

A notable addition to the diver team under Rule's leadership was the thenCharles, Prince of Wales.

TheMary Rose was raised on 11 October 1982^[10] with Rule present on the floating crane Tog Mor. This was viewed on live TV worldwide by an estimated 60 million viewers.^[11]

Rule continuously contributed to maritime archaeology by assisting in the passing of the Protection of Wrecks Act in 1973. In 1974 Rule became a member of the Advisory Committee formed to review all applications to the Department of Trade for designating a 'protected wreck site'.^[7]

In March 1982, Rule visitedAdelaide, South Australia, as the keynote speaker to the Second Southern Hemisphere Conference on Maritime Archaeology. During the conference she visited the historic Murray River port ofMorgan and dived with members of theSociety for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) on a project to record and recover items from the riverbed alongside the town's massive wharf.^[12][13]

Since 2012 Rule worked closely with the Maritime Heritage Foundation, as chairman of its Scientific Advisory Committee.^[7]

Rule had been living withParkinson's disease andarthritis in her later years.^[14] She died on 9 April 2015, aged 86.^[9]

• British Sub Aqua Club – 'Tributes paid to Dr Margaret Rule, lead archaeologist of the Mary Rose' Monday 13 April 2015
• Isabel Berwick, Financial Times – 'Margaret Rule, archaeologist, 1928–2015' Friday 17 April 2015
• Peter Marsden, The Guardian – 'Archaeologist responsible for raising the wreck of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, from the seabed' Thursday 16 April 2015
• Matthew Bannister, Last Word, BBC Radio 4 – 'Margaret Rule was the archaeologist who supervised the raising of Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose from the seabed under the waters of the Solent' Friday 24 April 2015
• Rosemary E Lunn, X-Ray Magazine – 'Margaret Rule 1928 – 2015' Friday 29 April 2015

She was made a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire. In 1995, the National Maritime Museum awarded her itsCaird Medal. In 2001 theUniversity of Portsmouth named a new 342 bed student accommodation block Margaret Rule Hall after her. In 2008, she was awarded the Colin Mcleod Award for "Furthering international co-operation in diving" by theBritish Sub Aqua Club.^[15]

• Margret Rule at the Archaeological Data Service

• Down, Alec; Rule, Margaret (1971).Chichester Excavations. Chichester, West Sussex: Chichester Civic Society Excavations Committee.ISBN 0950143804.
• Rule, Margaret (1974).Floor Mosaics in Roman Britain. London: Macmillan / Sussex Archaeological Trust.ISBN 0333148282.
• Rule, Margaret (1977).Fishbourne Roman Palace. Sussex: Sussex Archaeological Society.
• Rule, Margaret (1982).The Mary Rose: the Excavation and Raising of Henry VIII's Flagship. Leicester: Windward.ISBN 0711203164.
• Rule, Margaret; Monaghan, Jason (1993).A Gallo-Roman Trading Vessel from Guernsey: The Excavation and Recovery of a Third Century Shipwreck. Guernsey: Guernsey Museums & Galleries.ISBN 1871560039.
• Contributor to:May, Eric; Jones, Mark, eds. (2006).Conservation Science: Heritage Materials. Cambridge, UK: RSC Publishing.ISBN 0854046593.

• British maritime historians
• British archaeologists
• Maritime archaeology
• 1928 births
• 2015 deaths
• Alumni of the University of London
• Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
• People with Parkinson's disease
• British women archaeologists
• British women historians
• Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts
• Recipient of the Caird Medal

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