Source : the age
By Timothy Sigsworth
A 115-year-old British woman born in the Edwardian era has become the world’s oldest living person.
Ethel Caterham, who was born in 1909, is the oldest-known Briton to ever live and the last surviving subject of Edward VII.
Ethel Caterham is the last surviving subject of Edward VII.Credit: Hallmark Care Homes
She is now the world’s oldest person after the previous record-holder, Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, died at the age of 116 on April 30.
Caterham, who lives at a care home in Lightwater, Surrey, previously said, “I do what I like”, when asked what she credits for her longevity.
“Never arguing with anyone, I listen, and I do what I like,” she said last year after turning 115.
According to LongeviQuest and the Gerontology Research Group, research organisations that verify ages for the Guinness World Records, she is now the world’s oldest person.
Born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, on August 21, 1909, Caterham was raised in Tidworth, Wiltshire, as the second youngest of eight children.
Aged 18, she became an au pair to a military family in British India before returning to England three years later, where in 1931 she met her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Caterham.
They married at Salisbury Cathedral, where he had been a choirboy, in 1933.
He served as a senior officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps, and the couple was stationed in Gibraltar and Hong Kong, where Caterham set up a nursery.
The couple had two daughters and returned to Britain, where the late Lt Col Caterham died in 1976.
Caterham celebrating her 115th birthday with family and friends in Surrey.Credit: Hallmark Care Homes
Ethel Caterham has lived in Surrey for 50 years and has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.
Speaking to BBC Radio Surrey in 2020, she said: “I’ve taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows.
“I’ve been all over the world, and I’ve ended up in this lovely home, where everyone is falling over themselves for me, giving me everything I want.”
In 2022, she added: “Family is the most important thing in life, to be able to leave memories with your children and grandchildren.
“Possessions don’t matter a bit in the end – all you need is someone to look after you.”
Caterham is the first Briton to claim the title of world’s oldest person since 1987, when 114-year-old Anna Williams was the record holder.
John Tinniswood, from Southport, Lancashire, was the world’s oldest man until he died at the age of 112 in November last year.
The Telegraph, London
