Margaret Rule

Margaret Helen Rule (27 September 1928 – 9 April 2015) was a British archaeologist. She is most notable for her involvement with the project that excavated and raised the Tudor warship Mary Rose in 1982.

Early life Rule, née Martin, was born in Buckinghamshire on 27 September 1928. She studied chemistry at the University of London.

Rule changed to a career in archaeology where she initially helped excavate bomb sites in London after the Second World War.

Career

Fishbourne Roman Palace In the 1960s, Rule assisted in the discovery, excavation and ultimately became the first curator of the Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester, West Sussex. Rule subsequently was integral for transforming the site into a viable tourist attraction.

Mary Rose Rule was still the curator of the Fishbourne Roman Palace, when she began her work in maritime archaeology.

Rule assisted fellow marine archaeologist Alexander McKee in the 1960s where she was consulted on the initial search for the wreck of Henry VIII's war ship Mary Rose in the Solent, due to her local reputation as a land archaeologist. Here the Mary Rose 1967 Committee was founded, later to be formalised as the Mary Rose Trust in 1979.

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

The Mary Rose was raised on 11 October 1982 with Rule present on the floating crane Tog Mor. This was viewed on live TV worldwide by an estimated 60 million viewers.

Other noted contributions 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'.

Since 2012 Rule worked closely with the Maritime Heritage Foundation, as chairman of its Scientific Advisory Committee. She died on 9 April 2015, aged 86.