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Ethel Caterham
British supercentenarian (born 1909) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ethel May Caterham (born 21 August 1909) is a British supercentenarian who, at the age of 116 years, 1 day, is the world's oldest verified living person since the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas on 30 April 2025.[1] She is also the oldest British person ever and the last surviving person born in the 1900s decade.[2]
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Biography
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Caterham was born Ethel May Collins in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England, on 21 August 1909[3] as the seventh of eight children, and was raised nearby in Tidworth.[4] One of her siblings, a sister, lived to be 104.[5] In 1927, aged 18, she travelled to British India and worked as an au pair to a military family until she was 21.[4][6]
In 1931, after returning to England, she met her future husband Norman Caterham (1905–1976)[5] at a dinner party. They later married in Salisbury Cathedral, where Norman had been a choirboy.[4][5] He later became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps,[6] and the couple lived in Harnham, Salisbury before being stationed in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. While in Hong Kong, Ethel set up a nursery school to teach English, crafts and games, and in Gibraltar, the couple had two daughters, whom they raised back in England.[4]
Caterham drove until she was 97[7] and enjoyed playing contract bridge in her centenarian years.[5] Both of her daughters pre-deceased her;[7] she had lived in an extension in the home of her second daughter, Anne, until Anne died in February 2020, aged 82.[7] Afterwards, Caterham moved into a care home in Ash Vale, Surrey,[8] and later to one in Lightwater.[9]
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Health and longevity
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Caterham survived COVID-19 in 2020, aged 110.[2] That same year, shortly before her 111th birthday, Caterham was interviewed by BBC Radio Surrey, where she said that the secret to her longevity was "taking everything in my stride, the highs and the lows."[8] On her 111th birthday in August 2020, Caterham was visited by the mayor of Surrey Heath, as she had been the oldest living resident of Surrey since January 2019.[8][10]
On 22 January 2022, following the death of Mary "Mollie" Walker,[11] Caterham became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom.[2][5] On 7 October of the same year, following the death of Rose Eaton, Caterham became the last surviving subject of King Edward VII.[2][5][12]
Upon turning 115 in August 2024,[13] Caterham became the third British person to reach this age, and the first since Annie Jennings over two decades earlier in 1999.[14]
Caterham surpassed Charlotte Hughes on 7 April 2025 to become the oldest person ever from the United Kingdom.[15] Upon the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas of Brazil on 30 April, she became both the world's oldest living person and the last born in the 1900s decade.[16][17][18]
On 21 August 2025, Caterham celebrated her 116th birthday, becoming the first person in British history to attain this age.[19][20] She received a congratulatory message from João Marinho Neto of Brazil (born 5 October 1912), the world’s oldest living man, reportedly the first documented communication between the world's oldest woman and oldest man.[21]
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