BIOGRAPHY

Mary Snelling was born on Queens Road in Norwich, Norfolk, England, on 17 December 1905. The First World War forced her and her two sisters, Kathleen (known as Keeny) and Edna, to transfer from their primary school on Grove Road in Norwich to another one on Chapelfield Road.

The Second World War took her husband, Tommy Snelling, away for the entire duration, leaving her to work tirelessly at a Norwich solicitor’s office and at the Norwich Magistrates’ Court. Tommy and she had met a few years earlier at a dance hosted by the Junior Imperial and Constitutional League (later known as the Young Conservatives) and married at All Saints Church on 3 August 1939. Tommy volunteered for the war and eventually rose to the rank of Major in the Ordnance Corps. In the early days of the conflict, he was granted leave to visit her every week, and on one occasion, he was even given extra time at home as a reward for shooting down a German jet.

The couple later moved to Newbury, but in 1949, Tommy was hospitalized with a stomach ulcer and tragically passed away the following year at the age of 41. They had no children.

Mary returned to Norfolk, where she became a secretary at Norfolk County Council before going back to her previous role at the court. In 1981, her sister Edna passed away from pancreatic cancer. Mary then lived with her beloved older sister, Keeny, in a bungalow in Brundall until Keeny’s death in 2006 at the age of 102. Afterwards, Mary moved into a home in Letheringsett for a year, before returning to live in Brundall with the assistance of carers.

She often said that the key to a long, healthy life was maintaining a good diet, getting plenty of exercise, and avoiding smoking.

Mary Snelling passed away in Norwich, on 4 April 2016, at the age of 110 years, 109 days.

RECOGNITION

Following the passing of 108-year-old Patricia Kathleen (Pat) Oram (14 December 1904 – 12 October 2013) of Horstead, she became the oldest (known) living person in Norfolk, at the age of 107 years, 299 days. Upon her own passing, she was succeeded by Vi Malin.

Her age was validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) on 3 March 2021.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Can you believe she’s 107? The incredible centenarian who looks better now than she did when she was 100” – Daily Mail, 19 December 2012

* “Mary Snelling celebrates her 109th birthday!” – Eastern Daily Press, 18 December 2014

GALLERY