| Annie Lean | |
 Lean at the age of 105 | |
| Birth: | 3 November 1909 Fushiebridge, Midlothian, Scotland, UK |
| Death: | 19 April 2019 Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, UK |
| Age: | 109 years, 167 days |
| Country: |  UK
|
| Centenarian | |
Annie Barrie Lean (née Beattie; 3 November 1909 – 19 April 2019) was a British centenarian who was the oldest living woman in Scotland at the time of her death.
Biography[]
Early Life and Family[]
Lean was born in Fushiebridge, Midlothian, Scotland on 3 November 1909. Shortly after she was born, she and her family moved to the nearby village of Temple, which at that point had no electricity or sewage system. Lean's father worked at sea for many years, but later became a coal miner. Her mother worked as a midwife, and was known in the village for cooking broth for those who were ill.
During her youth, Lean became accomplished at sewing, knitting, embroidery, dressmaking, cooking, and baking. At school, she was the top of her class. After leaving school, she became a companion to a doctor's wife, before then spending a period working for the shipping company Salveston as a silver table maid.
Lean married Tommy Lean in 1932, and they moved to Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. Tommy Lean was elected to the local council as a Labour councillor, and Annie Lean was very active behind the scenes. The couple had four children; three sons and a daughter.
Later Life[]
When her husband retired, the couple moved to Galashiels in the Scottish Borders to set up a bed-and-breakfast establishment. There, Lean learned to swim, and at the age of 74 she swam a marathon over several days. After retiring from running the bed-and-breakfast in her 80s, Lean moved with her husband to a bungalow in Newtongrange, Midlothian. Tommy Lean died in 1990.
Lean drove until she was registered blind at age 90. She also sold her bungalow around this time and moved to a residential home in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. She eventually returned to Dalkeith, Midlothian at the age of 99, moving into a residential home.
Longevity Records and Death[]
Lean became the oldest living woman in Scotland following the death of Marjorie Burton on 12 November 2018, and also became the second-oldest living person overall in Scotland behind supercentenarian Alf Smith, who was born in 1908. Lean was the last surviving person in Scotland born in 1909 and the last surviving woman in Scotland born in the 1900s decade.
Lean died on 19 April 2019 at the age of 109 years, 167 days. Following her death, the then-109-year-old Janet Mackay (1910–2021) became Scotland's oldest living woman.
References[]
- Celebrations as Dalkeith’s Anne turns 105 Midlothian Advertiser, 13 November 2014
- Midlothian’s oldest woman turns 109 Midlothian Advertiser, 16 November 2018
- Scotland’s oldest woman, who remained active all her life, dies age 109 Edinburgh News, 28 April 2019