British woman, 115, named world’s oldest person
A 115-year-old British woman born in the Edwardian era has become the world’s oldest living person.
Ethel Caterham, who was born in 1909, is the oldest known Briton to ever live and was born near the end of Edward VII’s reign.
She took the title after the previous record-holder, Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, died at the age of 116 on April 30.
Mrs Caterham, who lives at a care home in Lightwater, Surrey, previously said “I do what I like” when asked what she credits for her longevity.
“Never arguing with anyone, I listen – and I do what I like,” she said last year after turning 115.
Research organisations LongeviQuest and the Gerontology Research Group, which verify ages for the Guinness World Records, said Mrs Caterham now holds the title.
Born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, on Aug 21 1909, Mrs Caterham was raised in Tidworth, Wiltshire, as the second youngest of eight children.
Aged 18, she became an au pair to a military family in British India before returning to England three years later, where in 1931 she met her husband Lt Col Norman Caterham.
They married at Salisbury Cathedral, where he had been a choirboy, in 1933.
Her husband served as a senior officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps and the couple were stationed in Gibraltar and Hong Kong, where Mrs Caterham set up a nursery.
The couple had two daughters and returned to Britain, where her husband died in 1976.
Mrs Caterham has lived in Surrey for 50 years and has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren.
Speaking to BBC Radio Surrey in 2020, she said: “I’ve taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows.
“I’ve been all over the world, and I’ve ended up in this lovely home, where everyone is falling over themselves for me, giving me everything I want.”
In 2022, she added: “Family is the most important thing in life, to be able to leave memories with your children and grandchildren.
“Possessions don’t matter a bit in the end – all you need is someone to look after you.”
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