Bessie Camm | |
Bessie Camm on her 113th birthday | |
Birth: | 20 June 1904 Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, UK |
Death: | 11 May 2018 Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, UK |
Age: | 113 years, 325 days |
Country: | UK |
Validated |
Bessie Camm (née Alderson; 20 June 1904 – 11 May 2018), formerly Bessie Canwood, was a British supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom at the time of her death. Her age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group.
Biography
Early Life
Camm was born on 20 June 1904 in Stockton-On-Tees, County Durham, England. She was the first child born to James and Harriet Alderson. She attended a Quaker school before qualifying as a nurse in 1926, working at the Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, England. She married Leonard Canwood shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. During the war, she worked as a matron at Richmond Hospital, North Yorkshire.
For five years following the war, Camm worked as an industrial nurse at Parkgate Forge. At one point, she nursed William Hague, who would later become the Leader of the Opposition in the British Parliament. She married her second husband, John Camm, in 1949.
Later Life
After her husband died in 1972, Camm lived in sheltered accommodation in Wath, West Yorkshire, for 30 years. She later moved to a nursing home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
Camm celebrated her 110th birthday in June 2014. She became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom following the death of 113 year-old Gladys Hooper on 9 July 2016. Camm died in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England on 11 May 2018 at the age of 113 years, 325 days. Following her death, Olive Boar became the UK's oldest living person.
Gallery
References
- World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- All Validated British Supercentenarians Oldest in Britain
- 112-year-old Bessie becomes UK's oldest living person Rotherham Advertiser, 12 July 2016
- Britain's oldest person Bessie dies age 113 in Moorgate care home Rotherham Advertiser, 18 May 2018
- Bessie Camm Obituary Rotherham Advertiser, 21 May 2018