A LOCAL descendant of famed Egyptologist Howard Carter is using his family connection to fundraise for the hospice which cared for his father last year.
James Lovegrove, whose father Bruce spent his last days at Hospice in the Weald, is the great-great nephew of the archaeologist, who discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun one hundred years ago.
James Lovegrove, who grew up in Hildenborough, has helped put together a special talk, ‘Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive’ on March 7, with the help of Hildenborough Village Friends of Hospice in
the Weald.
The guest speaker, Dr Daniela Rosenow, is an Egyptologist at Oxford University’s The Griffith Institute.
The family donated Carter’s maps, personal diaries, archaeological journals, conservation logbooks, personal letters, glass plate negatives and slides, in 1945.
Dr Rosenow said the archive was a ‘truly astonishing corpus of archaeological records, allowing us a unique insight into the archaeological process and the work of the team, as it happened, on an almost day-by-day basis.’
Mr Lovegrove, who will also be speaking at the event, said: “Howard Carter and the story of Tutankhamun is a family story that has been passed down the generations.
“As children, stories of the excavation of the tomb were constantly told to us and we were surrounded by the history of Howard Carter’s discovery.”
Now his family had a chance to celebrate the centenary year of the Tutankhamun discovery and help the Hospice as well, he said.
“The care that Hospice in the Weald provided during my father’s last days meant the world to us. They gave him dignity and enabled us to enjoy precious moments with him that we will always cherish.
“Howard Carter’s legacy was so important to our father and we felt it fitting to organise this on the centenary of the discovery, to thank the staff at the Hospice and raise much-needed funds to enable others to experience the care that he did,” Mr Lovegrove added.
‘Tutankhamun: Excavating the Archive’ is on at the Oast Theatre, Tonbridge, on March 7, with doors opening at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Tickets cost £25 from the ‘Fundraising’ section of hospiceintheweald.org.uk or 01892 820533. Refreshments and a Q&A session with Dr Rosenow are included.
