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What is Pride’s Purge?

Pride’s Purge is the eponymous title of a documentary film currently in production, about an obscure footnote in British history. On December 6th, 1648 Parliamentary army Colonel Thomas Pride led a successful military coup d’état on the House of Commons, an event known as “Pride’s Purge” which led to what is now remembered as the Rump Parliament. Derided as “Cromwell’s buffoon”, Pride went from being a lowly brewer in London’s infamous Pye’s Corner, to living in Nonsuch Palace as one of the most hated men in England. By the time of the Restoration, Thomas Pride had died, well before it was ordered his body be dug up, hanged, drawn, and quartered for the things he had done in life. His descendants fled to the New World, where they were hunted down by those loyal to Charles II, Charles I’s son that had become King.

Why do this?

• I am, ostensibly, a descendant of Thomas Pride
• I am hoping to find out more about Thomas Pride and what happened to his family after his death, and find out if the stories I was told about our family growing up were true.

What has been done? What needs to happen?

I started filming in August, 2019 outside of Fairmont, WV on the old Pride family farm. I returned in August 2021 to shoot additional interviews. Over the last two years, I have been researching and gathering information the National Archives in the U.K. as well as family members to piece together what I can.

Eventually, I am hoping to travel to the U.K. to conduct additional research and interviews, and possibly shoot some re-enactments. I am also hoping to travel to Maine to interview members of another branch of the Pride family, that have a story similar to the one I had been told growing up. I would also like to hire a genealogist to confirm if I am indeed a direct descendant of Thomas.

So far, I have been financing the doc out of pocket and with help from friends and family who have loaned their support in the form of helping out as crew or giving me a place to stay on the road. For the next phase of the film, I will need some outside support. If you or someone you know is interested in this story, loves independent film, and would like to help the Pride’s Purge documentary come to fruition, reach out to me at pridespurgedoc@gmail.com and I would be happy to take you through an investment package.

How can I learn more?

Stay tuned for updates by signing up for email notifications. I have a some exciting news re:merch planned for next month that you might want to look out for, and make sure you follow @pridespurge on IG.

#pridespurge #englishcivilwar #documentary #filmmaking

Official Pride’s Purge merch is available for pre-order. Head over to https://pridespurge.storenvy.com/ to get some! Some of you may remember I did a soft release last year, and it took a while to get the website and store up and running. Featuring a rad custom design by Peter Simon, check him out @premoisten on IG. Three lampreys on a black shield, based on the Pride family coat of arms. Price is $25 for the shirts and $50 for the hoodies plus shipping and handling. Proceeds will go toward production costs for the documentary. Message pridespurgedoc@gmail.com if interested!

Special thanks again to Peter Simon for putting the design together and for staying up late with me looking at pictures of lampreys. The t-shirts have an authentic woodcut feel, and Scott at Black Collar Screen Printing did a great job bringing it to life.

I am no expert in heraldry, but apparently the Pride family coat of arms was stricken from the record books after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. Thomas was known as one of the “Regicides”— a word for those who personally signed the death warrant of Charles I. Coincidentally, the lamprey is anecdotally known as the “king-killer” fish, as King Henry I was said to have died from eating a “surfeit of lampreys”.

Stay tuned for updates on official Pride’s Purge merchandise, as there will be more on the way in the coming months!