A British woman who survived two World Wars has become the oldest living person at 115-years-old following the death of a Brazilian nun.
Ethel May Caterham now holds the world record after Inah Canabarro Lucas, of Rio Grande do Sul, died on Wednesday aged 116.
She is the oldest known Briton to ever live and the last surviving subject of Edward VII and the last known living person to be born in the 1900s.
The Gerontology Research Group and LongeviQuest, which verify ages for the Guinness World Records, have verified her age and status.
She was born on August 21, 1909 in the village of Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire and raised in the nearby town of Tidworth, Wiltshire.
It would be another nine years after Ms Caterham’s birth before women in the UK were given the right to vote.
She was the second youngest of eight children and one of her sisters Gladys Babilas also reached a century, having lived to 104.
At 18, Ms Caterham was employed as an au pair to a military family in India where she lived for three years.
She returned to the UK in 1931 and met her husband Norman at a dinner party, before the pair married at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933.
He later became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps and the couple lived in Harnham, Wiltshire before being stationed in Hong Kong.
They later began their family when living in Gibraltar, before coming back to Britain to raise their two children.
Her husband died in 1976 and their two daughters Gem and Anne have also passed away.
Ms Caterham has lived through 27 prime ministers and six monarchs throughout her life.
She celebrated her 115th birthday last year at Hallmark Lakeview Care Home in Lightwater, Surrey.
Ms Caterham became only the third Briton to ever reach this age and the first since Annie Jennings in 1999.
Anna Eliza Williams was the last UK national to hold the title of world’s oldest person, aged 114 in 1987.
Mrs Caterham, who has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren, said “I do what I like” when asked about her top tips for living a fruitful life.
She told BBC Radio Surrey in 2020: “I’ve taken everything in my stride, the highs and lows. 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.”
