Happy birthday to Ethel Caterham, who today turns 117, making her the world's oldest verified living person and the oldest British person in recorded history.
Born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Ethel spent her early years in Tidworth before travelling to British India at just 18 to work as an au pair. She married Norman Caterham at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, the same cathedral where he had once sung as a choirboy, and the couple went on to live in Hong Kong and Gibraltar during his military postings, raising two daughters along the way.
Ethel drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing contract bridge well into her hundreds, even surviving a bout of Covid-19 at the age of 110. She became the last surviving subject of King Edward VII in 2022, and last September met King Charles III, recalling his investiture back in 1969.
She became the world's oldest living person in April 2025 and the last known person alive born in the 1900s decade, credentials that made this year's milestone all the more remarkable.
Happy 117th birthday, Ethel!
Born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Ethel spent her early years in Tidworth before travelling to British India at just 18 to work as an au pair. She married Norman Caterham at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, the same cathedral where he had once sung as a choirboy, and the couple went on to live in Hong Kong and Gibraltar during his military postings, raising two daughters along the way.
Ethel drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing contract bridge well into her hundreds, even surviving a bout of Covid-19 at the age of 110. She became the last surviving subject of King Edward VII in 2022, and last September met King Charles III, recalling his investiture back in 1969.
She became the world's oldest living person in April 2025 and the last known person alive born in the 1900s decade, credentials that made this year's milestone all the more remarkable.
Happy 117th birthday, Ethel!
Happy birthday to Ethel Caterham, who today turns 117, making her the world's oldest verified living person and the oldest British person in recorded history.
Born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Ethel spent her early years in Tidworth before travelling to British India at just 18 to work as an au pair. She married Norman Caterham at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, the same cathedral where he had once sung as a choirboy, and the couple went on to live in Hong Kong and Gibraltar during his military postings, raising two daughters along the way.
Ethel drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing contract bridge well into her hundreds, even surviving a bout of Covid-19 at the age of 110. She became the last surviving subject of King Edward VII in 2022, and last September met King Charles III, recalling his investiture back in 1969.
She became the world's oldest living person in April 2025 and the last known person alive born in the 1900s decade, credentials that made this year's milestone all the more remarkable.
Happy 117th birthday, Ethel!
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