The world’s oldest known living person, Ethel Caterham, has celebrated her 116th birthday at a care home in Lightwater, Surrey.
Caterham rose to the title of the world’s oldest person in April this year, following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canbarro Lucas, who had reached the same age.
Born on 21 August 1909, Caterham holds a remarkable place in history as the last surviving subject of King Edward VII. On her 115th birthday, she received a congratulatory card from his great-great-grandson, King Charles III.
Her life spans over a century of global events — she was born three years before the Titanic sank, eight years before the Russian Revolution, and lived through both World Wars.
Originally from Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, she was the second youngest in a family of eight and grew up in Tidworth, Wiltshire. As a young woman, she worked as an au pair in India before later residing in Hong Kong and Gibraltar with her husband, Norman, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the British Army.
In a statement, her care home expressed gratitude for the public’s support: “Ethel and her family are so grateful for all of the kind messages and interest shown to her as she celebrates her 116th birthday this year.”
The record for the longest verified human lifespan remains with Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
