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Elsie Steele
Elsie Steele
Birth: 6 January 1899
Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England, UK
Death: 18 October 2010
Repton, Derbyshire, UK
Age: 111 years, 285 days
Country: United Kingdom UK
Validated

Elsie May Steele (née Fletcher, formerly Hackett; 6 January 1899 – 18 October 2010) was a British supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom at the time of her death. Her age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Steele was born on 6 January 1899 in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England. She was one of nine children born to Joseph and Bertha Fletcher. After leaving school at 13, she worked as a housekeeper in Leicester.

Steele married her first husband, Reginald Hackett, in 1920, and had two children; Trevor and Beryl, of whom she had three grandchildren. Steele later worked in a munitions factory near Burton-upon-Trent.

Later Life[]

When she was 69 years old, Steele married her second husband, Wallace Steele. In 1991, Steele met Princess Diana during a visit to Swadlincote, which she described as the "most memorable moment" of her life.

In her later life, Steele lived in a care home in Repton, Derbyshire, England. When asked her secret to a long life, she credited "hard work, avoiding beer, and not swearing".

Following the death of 111 year-old Annie Turnbull on 3 September 2010, Steele became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom. She died 45 days later on 18 October 2010 at the age of 111 years, 285 days. Following her death, Margaret Fish became the oldest living person in the UK.

References[]


United Kingdom's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Frederick Stabbins • Jane ListerMartha Truelove • Ann Sharp • Jane Raby • Frances Smith • William Walker • Ann Russell • Eliza Roff • Ellen Palmer • Rachel MacArthur • Rachel SwainMary Davey • Thomas Pope • John Francklow • Rebecca Lees • Sarah Fitt • Elizabeth Sellwood • Matilda Coppins • Elizabeth Whitehead • Emma Rooke • Margaret Lunn • Sarah Humphrey • Caroline BealeFanny Hopkins • Elizabeth Etheridge • Sophia Wellstead • Rhoda Harris • Emma Weeks • Edith Grellier • Mary WorthingtonJane Stoneman • Ellen Dart • Elizabeth Kensley • Hannah SmithJohn Mosley TurnerAda Roe • Alice StevensonElizabeth WatkinsFrederick Butterfield • Rose Heeley • Agnes Helyar • James Harrow • Sarah Morgan • Lilias WilliamsFlorence PannellJeanetta ThomasAlice Brewster • Anna Eliza Williams • Kate Begbie • Charlotte Hughes • Daisy Adams • Rebecca Hewison • Annie Scott • Rachel Wieselberg • Lucy Askew • Annie Jennings • Eva Morris • Amy Hulmes • Nellie Bradley • Gladys Hawley • Lucy d'Abreu • Judy Ingamells • Emmeline BriceAnnie Knight • Ada Mason • Florrie Baldwin • Eunice BowmanAnnie Turnbull • Elsie SteeleMargaret Fish • Violet Wood • Grace A Jones • Ethel Lang • Gladys Hooper • Bessie CammOlive BoarGrace C JonesGwen PayneHilda ClulowBob WeightonJoan HocquardLilian PriestGertrude KingstonMollie WalkerEthel Caterham

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