BIOGRAPHY

Roberts was born as Janet Sheed Gordon in a schoolmaster’s house Cabrach, Moray, Scotland, on 13 August 1901 as the daughter of Charles Gordon and Isabella Grant. Her grandfather, William Grant, founded the Glenfiddich whisky distillery in nearby Dufftown in 1886.

Refusing to do nothing with her life, Roberts attended both Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, where she was the only female law student in her class. She also played hockey with Olympic 400 metres champion Eric Liddell.

Roberts met her husband, Eric, whilst working at a law firm, and they were married in 1938. He was later promoted to director of the whisky distillery founded by Roberts’ grandfather. The couple were invited to Buckingham Palace in 1974 for Eric to receive the Queen’s Award for Export. He died in 1980; they never had children but chose to treat their nieces and nephews as if they were their own.

Roberts died on 6 April 2012 at the age of 110 years, 237 days.

RECOGNITION

Following the death of 109-year-old Marion Richardson on 20 December 2010, Roberts became Scotland’s oldest resident. Upon her own death, 108-year-old Janet Brown became the oldest living person in Scotland.

For Roberts’ 110th birthday, 11 bottles of whisky were produced at the distillery her grandfather founded, and were named after her. Three bottles were sold for over £40,000, one of which broke the record for the most expensive whisky bottle ever sold at an auction, totalling $94,000 (over £59,000).

Roberts’ age was verified by Dr. Andrew Holmes, and was validated by the GRG and the ESO on 20 February 2012 and 12 April 2020 respectively.

ATTRIBUTION

• Maturing nicely at 110, Scotland’s oldest woman has whisky in her veins Daily Mail, 17 August 2011

• Oldest woman in Scotland Janet Roberts dies, aged 110 BBC News, 11 April 2012

• Scotland’s oldest person Janet Roberts dies, aged 110 Daily Record, 11 April 2012

GALLERY