Brit Confirmed as World’s Oldest Living Person
- Editor OGN Daily
- May 3
- 2 min read
Ethel Caterham, who lives in a care home in Surrey and takes life in her stride, is first Briton to claim title since 1987.
What's her secret? She says it is "to do what I like", as the 115-year-old British woman was named the world’s oldest living person at a balloon festooned party at her care home.
Ethel Caterham, born in 1909, is the first Briton to claim the title of world’s oldest person since 1987, when 114-year-old Anna Williams was the record holder.
Caterham, the last surviving subject of Edward VII (1841 - 1910), acceded to the title after the previous record holder, Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, died at the age of 116 last week. The new record holder lives in a care home just south of London, and puts her longevity down to her attitude to life. “I’ve taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows,” she told BBC Radio Surrey, saying she has a maxim of “never arguing with anyone”. She added: “I listen and I do what I like.”
The title has been bestowed on Caterham by LongeviQuest and the Gerontology Research Group, research organisations that verify ages for the Guinness World Records. Just behind her in the longevity rankings - all aged 114 - are four women: from America, France, Japan and Brazil.
Caterham, who married in Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, has lived in Surrey for 50 years and has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren. “I’ve been all over the world and I’ve ended up in this lovely home, where everyone is falling over themselves for me, giving me everything I want,” she said.
