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Ethel Caterham
Ethel Caterham
Birth: 21 August 1909
Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England, UK
Age: 114 years, 210 days
Country: United Kingdom UK
Validated

Ethel May Caterham (née Collins; born 21 August 1909) is a British supercentenarian who is the oldest person living in the United Kingdom, as well as the last surviving person in the UK born in the 1900s decade. She is also one of the oldest known survivors of COVID-19, recovering from the disease in 2020 at the age of 110. Her age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Early Life and Family

Ethel Caterham was born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England, and grew up in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. She was the second-youngest of eight children. One of her siblings, Gladys Babilas (1897–2002), lived to be 104. In 1927, at the age of 18, she got a job as a nanny to a British family in India, and travelled alone for three weeks by ship to India. She worked there for three years before returning to England.

In 1931, Caterham met her future husband Norman (1905–1976), a major in the British Army, at a dinner party. The couple married in Salisbury Cathedral where Norman was a choirboy and they lived together in Harnham, England, before they were stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar.

While living in Hong Kong, Caterham started a nursery for local and British children where she taught English, games, and crafts. While in Gibraltar, she and her husband started their family, eventually raising two girls back in the UK. He died in 1976.

Later Life

Caterham has lived in Surrey, England, for more than 50 years. She drove until she was 97 years old and was a regular bridge player in her centenarian years. She currently lives in a care home in Ash Vale, Surrey.

In 2020, at the age of 110, Caterham contracted COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic. However, she successfully recovered, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease.

Caterham celebrated her 111th birthday in August 2020 with a tea party and a visit from the Mayor of Surrey Heath. A week beforehand, she was interviewed along with her granddaughter on BBC Radio Surrey.

Longevity Records

Caterham became the oldest known living person in Surrey following the death of 109-year-old Kay Hurley on 17 January 2019. She later became the oldest known living person in the United Kingdom following the death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker on 22 January 2022.

In August 2022, Caterham celebrated her 113th birthday, making her the first person in the United Kingdom to reach this age since Olive Boar in 2017.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, Caterham became one of only two people in the United Kingdom (along with Rose Eaton) to have been a subject of both Edward VII and Charles III. Following the death of Rose Eaton on 7 October 2022, Caterham became the last living person in the United Kingdom to have been born in the 1900s decade and also the last surviving British subject of Edward VII.

Following the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023, Caterham became the second-oldest known (validated) living person in Europe, after Maria Branyas Morera of Spain. She is also the oldest known (validated) living person born in Europe (as Branyas Morera was not born in Europe).

Following the death of Ada Thompson on 13 March 2023, Caterham became the last known surviving British person born before 1911.

Following the death of Nina Willis of the USA on 17 May 2023, Caterham entered the top 10 oldest validated living people.

Following the death of Edie Ceccarelli of the USA on 22 February 2024, Caterham became the sixth-oldest living person in the world whose age is validated by the GRG.

In August 2023, Caterham celebrated her 114th birthday, making her the first person in the United Kingdom to reach this age since Ethel Lang in 2014, and the first British-born person since Phyllis Ridgway of Canada in 2021.

Catheram is currently the fifth-oldest person ever to live in the UK, after Charlotte Hughes, Annie Jennings, Eva Morris, and Lang.

Gallery

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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