Hermione Cock

BIOGRAPHY

Hermione Cock was born in Purton, Wiltshire, England, on 1 March 1904. She was born into a family of prominent Dorset farmers whose land stretched from the outskirts of Dorchester almost to Chesil Beach. Hermione’s father was John (“Jack”) Hawkins. Tragically, her mother died a year after Hermione’s birth due to complications from childbirth. Hermione and her elder brother, John, were raised by their maternal grandmother—an admiral’s daughter and niece of the 12th Earl of Huntingdon—along with their two aunts, Madge and Blanche Whicher, in a cottage in nearby Purton.

She moved to Shropshire in the 1920s and lived on Whitchurch Road in Shrewsbury. Hermione met her future husband, James, at a “heavily chaperoned” party, and the couple married at St Mary’s Church in 1928. After their wedding, Hermione became a homemaker, caring for their three young children, while James worked as a tanner on Barker Street.

When the Second World War broke out, James was drafted into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and served in Africa. During this time, Hermione volunteered as a nurse with St John Ambulance, working at the old infirmary in Shrewsbury town centre—now the Parade Shopping Centre. Following the war, the couple moved to Holyhead Road in Wellington, where Hermione took a position at the engineering company GKN Sankey.

They later returned to Shrewsbury after James retired. Hermione and James shared more than 50 years together before his passing in 1984 at the age of 79. Hermione loved to travel and made many visits to California to see her son.

Hermione Cock passed away in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, on 24 October 2015, at the age of 111 years, 237 days.

RECOGNITION

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

Cock’s age was verified by Chris Law, and was validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) on 22 January 2020.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Hermione is Shropshire’s oldest at age of 109” – Shropshire Star, 1 March 2013

* “County’s oldest resident dies aged 111” – Shropshire Star, 2 November 2015

* “My Great-Aunt Hermione, Supercentenarian – An Appreciation” – RUPERT WILLOUGHBY, 10 January 2016

GALLERY

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