Annie Meston

BIOGRAPHY

Annie Meston was born in Brixham, Devon, England, on 12 November 1903. She was the eighth of nine children born to fisherman Samuel Holland and his wife, Martha, and grew up in a home overlooking the harbour. An aspiring teacher, she began her training at Hill Head School in Churston but gave up her studies to move to Bristol, where she helped her brother run his fish and chip shop.

It was there that she met her first husband, Norman Tanner. The couple later settled in Wimbledon, where their only son, Geoffrey, was born in 1936. Tragedy struck in 1944 when her husband was killed by a V2 bomb while at work. Just days later, she and their young son lost their home in a bombing raid and returned to her native Brixham.

While running a bed and breakfast, she met her second husband, Bill, and together they eventually made their home in Broadsands. Bill passed away in 1958, followed by her son Geoffrey in 1971.

Despite her losses, Meston remained adventurous well into her later years. At the age of 98, she enjoyed her first ride on a Harley-Davidson, and at 103 she braved Disney World’s Splash Mountain in Florida. By the time she turned 110, she had two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

On 4 March 2015, she was visited by Andrew Holmes, then a member of the Gerontology Research Group, who later became the co-founder of the ESO and a member of LongeviQuest.

Annie Meston passed away in Brixham, on 22 March 2015, at the age of 111 years, 130 days.

RECOGNITION

At the time of her passing, she was the second-oldest living person in the United Kingdom, after Gladys Hooper.

Meston’s age was verified by Dr. Andrew Holmes, and was validated by the ESO on 22 January 2020.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Family celebration for pensioner Annie, aged 110” – Western Morning News. 12 November 2013

* “Britain’s second oldest person and daredevil grandmother dies aged 111” – Mirror, 24 March 2015

GALLERY

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