Ethel May Caterham (née Collins; born 21 August 1909) is a British

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

who, at the age of , is the world's oldest known living person since the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas on 30 April 2025, the oldest British person ever, and the last living person born in the 1900s decade.

Biography

Ethel May Collins was born in Shipton Bellinger,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England, on 21 August 1909 as the second-youngest of eight children, and was raised nearby in

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, sout ...

. Her sister, Gladys Babilas (1897–2002), lived to be 104. In 1927, aged 18, she went on a voyage to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and worked as an

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

to a military family until she was 21. In 1931, after returning to England, she met her future husband Norman Caterham (1905–1976) at a dinner party. They later married in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

, where Norman had been a

choirboy A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble. As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" (also derisively) refers to someone who is considered honor ...

. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the

Royal Army Pay Corps The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" existed in the army before the fo ...

, and the couple lived in Harnham, Salisbury before being stationed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. While in Hong Kong, Ethel set up a

nursery school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

to teach English, crafts and games, and in Gibraltar, the couple had two daughters who they raised back in England. Norman died in 1976. Caterham drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...

in her

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

years. Both of her daughters pre-deceased her; she had lived in an extension in the home of her second daughter, Anne, until Anne died in February 2020, aged 82. Afterwards, Caterham moved into a care home in

Ash Vale Ash Vale is a village in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England and the larger, northern settlement of the civil parish of Ash. It is 7 miles (11 km) from Guildford but is closer to the Hampshire towns of Aldershot and Farnborough, t ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and later to one in

Lightwater Lightwater is a village in the Surrey Heath district of Surrey, England, about southwest of central London. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Bagshot, Deepcut, Windlesham, Camberley, and West End, Woking. It is bounded to the ...

, in the same county.

Health and longevity

Caterham survived

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in 2020, aged 110. Shortly before her 111th birthday, Caterham and her granddaughter were interviewed by

BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Guildford. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey ...

, where she said that the secret to her longevity was "taking everything in my stride, the highs and the lows." On her 111th birthday in August 2020, Caterham was visited by the mayor of

Surrey Heath Surrey Heath is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Camberley. Much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt. The ...

, as she had been the oldest living resident of Surrey since January 2019. On 22 January 2022, following the death of Mary "Mollie" Walker at 112 years and 351 days, Caterham became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom. On 7 October of the same year, following the death of Rose Eaton, Caterham became the last surviving British person born during the reign of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. Upon turning 115 in August 2024, she became the third British person to ever reach this age, and the first since Annie Jennings over two decades earlier in 1999. She is currently the world's oldest living person, as well as the last living person born in the 1900s decade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caterham, Ethel 1909 births 20th-century British educators 20th-century British women educators 21st-century British people 21st-century British women British expatriates in India British supercentenarians British women centenarians Living people People from Hampshire People from Surrey Heath (district) People from Surrey Women supercentenarians

Biography

Health and longevity

See also

References