Ethel Caterham, the last surviving Edwardian and currently the oldest person in the world, celebrated her 116th birthday on Thursday.
Caterham was born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, at a time when Herbert Asquith was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and King Edward VII was on the throne. It was a time when Beatrix Potter had just published The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and one of the best-selling songs of the time was Shine on Harvest Moon.
She is now the last person born under the reign of Edward VII, who died on 6 May 1910. Caterham was born five years before the outbreak of World War I, the second youngest of eight children. The Edwardian era, described by the American writer Samuel Hynes, was considered a “quiet time, when women wore big hats and still had no vote, when the rich lived openly in luxury and the sun never set on the British flag.”
In April this year, Caterham took the title of oldest living person, following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas at the age of 116.
In a 2020 BBC interview, she stated: "I take everything as it comes, the good and the bad. I listen and do what I want."
Caterham is celebrating her 116th birthday at a care home in Lightwater, Surrey, where she lives, surrounded by family. She has chosen to spend the day quietly and at her own pace. Caterham has been a widow for almost six decades, since the death of her husband, Norman, in 1976. According to the Gerontology Research Group, the couple met at a dinner party in 1931. Norman, a major in the British army, served in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, and they had two children together.
A spokesperson for the care home where Caterham is staying stated:
"Ethel and her family are very grateful for all the messages and interest shown to her on this special day. She has chosen not to give interviews, preferring to spend her birthday in peace, with her family. The only exception may be a greeting from the King, which is understandable."
Last year, King Charles sent her a card congratulating her on her 115th birthday.
Meanwhile, the record for the longest-lived person in recorded history is held by Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who lived 122 years and 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
