BIOGRAPHY

Perring was born as Margaret Rosina Harling in Southwark, London on 1 March 1905 as the fifth of ten children born to Edward James and Margaret Lavinia (née Carter) Harling. One of her sisters, Rose, died three months short of her 100th birthday. Several of her other siblings lived into their 80s and 90s. As a teenager, Perring worked as an embroideress.

In 1940, aged 35, Perring married her husband, bookkeeper Ernest Joseph Perring in Wandsworth, London, later relocating to Robertsbridge, East Sussex. He died in 1979 aged 68. The couple had no children.

To celebrate her 107th birthday, Perring, along with several of her family and friends, had a gathering at the nearby village hall, along with a sizeable cake. She died in Robertsbridge on 11 March 2015, 10 days after her 110th birthday. She was buried in Tooting, a district of South London.

RECOGNITION

Perring was not recognised by any major news outlets, with only a small local newspaper noting her 107th birthday, and a short obituary being published after her death. Her age was verified by Andrew Holmes and Stefan Maglov, and validated by the ESO on 31 August 2020.

ATTRIBUTION

GALLERY