117 years and counting: World’s oldest person sets new British longevity record
Ethel Caterham, the world’s oldest living person, has marked her 117th birthday, becoming the first verified British person to reach the milestone.
Caterham, who was born on August 21, 1909, in Hampshire, England, celebrated the occasion with family and friends at the care home where she lives in Surrey. Her latest milestone extends a British longevity record previously held by Charlotte Hughes, who died in 1993.
Her remarkable lifespan has taken her through more than a century of major global events, including two World Wars, the sinking of the Titanic, the Russian Revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic. She also survived COVID-19 after contracting the virus at the age of 110. She is currently recognised as the 13th-oldest person ever verified and the last known living person born before 1910.
Caterham’s life has also taken her beyond Britain. At 18, she travelled alone to India to work as a nanny and later lived in Hong Kong, where she established a nursery. She married Major Norman Caterham in 1933 and returned to Surrey after spending years abroad. She has outlived her husband, both daughters and several generations of contemporaries, and is now a great-grandmother with three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.
