LongeviQuest is pleased to confirm that the oldest living person in Europe and second-oldest person in the world, Ethel Caterham, has become the oldest ever British person upon reaching the age of 115 years and 229 days. Mrs. Caterham set the new British longevity record on 7th April upon surpassing the age of Charlotte Hughes (1877–1993), a record that has stood for 33 years.
Caterham was born in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England on 21st August 1909 and grew up in Wiltshire. In 1927, at the age of 18, she found work as a nanny for a British family living in India, travelling independently by ship for three weeks to start her new role — a rare adventure for a young woman at the time.
She returned to England three years later and in 1931 met her future husband Norman, a major in the British army, at a dinner party. The couple married in Salisbury Cathedral before moving to Gibraltar where Norman was stationed. Whilst in Gibraltar they welcomed two daughters: Ethel (1933–2005) and Ann (1936–2020).
(Photo published by her care home on Facebook.)
Caterham was widowed in 1976, but ever the optimist, she embraced this new chapter of life. She enjoyed gardening, walking her dogs, spending time with family, and socialising with friends. She drove until the age of 97 and remained a regular bridge player well into her centenarian years. Today, at 115, her favourite pastime is sitting in the sun in her garden — aptly named Ethel’s Garden — listening to the birds.
Caterham became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom following the 22nd January 2022 death of 112-year-old Mollie Walker and the oldest living person in Europe on 19th August following the death of 117-year-old María Branyas Morera of Spain. On 21st August 2024 she became only the third British person to reach the age of 115 and the first to do so since 1999.
Currently, Caterham is the second-oldest living person in the world, behind Brazil’s Inah Canabarro Lucas and one of only three living people who were born in the 1900s. She is also the last surviving British person born before 1913.
We extend our warmest congratulations to Mrs. Caterham on setting the new longevity record for the United Kingdom
