Hannah Bradford

Hannah Bradford
Hannah Bradford on her 107th birthday in 1977
Birth:	28 December 1870 Baildon, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Death:	2 May 1982 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Age:	111 years, 125 days
Country:	UK CAN
Validated

Hannah Bradford (28 December 1870 - 2 May 1982) was a validated British-Canadian supercentenarian whose age is validated by LongeviQuest, European Supercentenarian Organisation, and Gerontology Research Group (GRG). At the time of her death she was the oldest known living person in Canada.

Biography

Hannah Bradford was born in Baildon, West Yorkshire, England, on 28 December 1870. She had three sisters: Mary Peterkin, Jane Clubb, and Louise Cates. She moved to Canada in 1878 with her family when her father took a job as a gardener at Allan Gardens. At the age of 14, she witnessed many young men from Toronto leaving to North-West Rebellion fight against Louis Riel. One of her sisters lived to 98, another to 81, and her mother to 87. She never married nor had children.

Reflecting on her longevity, she stated that she hadn’t done anything extraordinary to extend her life but simply enjoyed “everything that comes along.” She never smoked and only took brandy as a remedy for colds.

Bradford lived alone in a city apartment until the age of 104. However, a fall that broke her hip changed everything. She spent nine months in the hospital recovering and eventually moved into a home for the aged. At nearly 106 years old, she remembered Toronto’s first electric light bulb as one of the wonders of her life. She also recalled being deeply impressed by the sight of the first two-seater automobile. By that time, she had no living relatives in Canada and only two distant cousins in England. In an interview shortly before her 105th birthday, she remarked that the Moon landing was a waste of money that could have been better spent helping the poor. On her 107th birthday, she was honored as the first-ever honorary citizen of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. She received the commemorative plaque from Bruce Sinclair, chairman of Metro’s Social Services and Housing Committee.

Hannah Bradford turned 110 on 28 December 1980 becoming a supercentenarian

Hannah Bradford passed away in Toronto, on 2 May 1982, at the age of 111 years, 125 days.

References

• Bio from https://longeviquest.com/supercentenarian/hannah-bradford/
• https://www.grg-supercentenarians.org/2024-validations/
• https://www.grg-supercentenarians.org/supercentenarians/
  

Canada's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Hannah Bradford • Flore Beland • Ellen Delaney • Emma Bingham • Herman Smith-Johannsen • Agnes Munce • Nellie Thompson • Alice Sjoquist • Lillian Ross • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Marie-Louise Meunier • Maria Mallozzi • Zelda McCague • Fanny Martland • Evangeline Saulnier • Anne Samson • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Jennie Fitzgerald • Margaret Fitzgerald • Pearl Lutzko • Cora Hansen • Yvonne Lamoureux • Merle Barwis • Colombe Benoit-Leclerc • Orma Slack • Marguerite Wabano • Lilian Cornell • Ellen Gibb • Sarah Patenaude-Bruyere • Phyllis Ridgway • Cecile Klein • Shige Mineshiba • Mabel Mah • Helen Doan • Gertruda Gorecka • Hazel Skuce • Margaret Romans