My first centenarian?

[Bryman]

Not actually my blood relative but a likely super centenarian (over 110 years old) and possibly the oldest living person in England just a few years ago.

I keep finding 'ancestors' who nearly make it to 100 years but never quite. Now I have found one who may have gone well past but does not seem to have received the recognition that she possibly deserves, always assuming that the information held by FMP and Ancestry is correct!

Annie-Marie Anchors' birth was registered at Wolstanton, Staffordshire in the 4th quarter of 1889 (Vol 6B, Page 123). Someone has recorded the DoB as 18/Nov in Ancestry but I don't know where that information came from. Then she married my blood relative, William Holley, at Wolstanton in the 4th quarter of 1912 (Vol 6B, Page 205) and had two sons, Reginald and William, both of whom pre-deceased her.

I haven't found an official record of her death but surely she cannot still be alive. There is a public tree on Ancestry which claims an unsubstantiated death on 1/Dec/2002 at Bucknall Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent. Being so recent, I thought that might have been provided by personal knowledge.

I don't know how to verify the accuracy of that claim so looked to Wikipedia to see if anyone that old might have had special mention. There is a list of 130 super centenarians but Annie does not appear on it, probably because her details have not been validated. Would the hospital be able to confirm the death or would they hide behind the Data Protection Act?

How many other forum members have found centenarians in their trees?

 

[Margery]

My husband's Aunt Mavis died earlier this year aged 101. (I have mentioned her before, her name being actually Ivy Isabel). She lived in her own home until almost her 100th birthday. An amazing woman.

 

[Heather]

Annie-Marie Anchors' birth was registered at Wolstanton, Staffordshire in the 4th quarter of 1889 (Vol 6B, Page 123). Someone has recorded the DoB as 18/Nov in Ancestry but I don't know where that information came from. Then she married my blood relative, William Holley, at Wolstanton in the 4th quarter of 1912 (Vol 6B, Page 205) I haven't found an official record of her death but surely she cannot still be alive. There is a public tree on Ancestry which claims an unsubstantiated death on 1/Dec/2002 at Bucknall Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent. Being so recent, I thought that might have been provided by personal knowledge.

Hi Bryman, Is this the one you are looking for? There is a death for a William Holley born 1886 in 1915 March qtr 1915 in Wolstanton 6B 136 aged 29. Then there is a marriage for an Annie M Holley ,March qtr 1916 to an Oliver Pridding in Wolstanton 6B 153. Then a death for Oliver Pridding born 1886 September qtr 1943 Newcastle under Lyme 6B 86 age 57 and finallly a death for Annie Marie Pridding born 1889, December qtr 1970 Stoke on Trent 9B 1190, with birth details 18th November 1889.

 

[Bryman]

Thanks Heather, I missed the re-marriage so no wonder I could not find the appropriate death record. Perhaps I should not have been tempted to look at the public tree. Too much wishful thinking.

 

[SuzanneD]

I have a well-validated centenarian in my tree, and one born well before modern medicine to boot: Sophia Gray, nee Weller, baptised in Jan 1796 in Kent (towards the end of her life her actual birthdate was given as 1794), and died in 1899 in Kent at the age of somewhere between 103 and 105. Her 104th birthday and funeral were reported not only in the UK but also in newspapers in the USA and New Zealand (where her great-nephew, my 2-g-grandfather, had settled). There were reputedly 5 generations of descendants at her funeral - which sounds one too many, as she didn't become a grandmother until she was in her late forties.

 

[AdrienneQ]

My Sisters Grandmother-in-law died a few days short of her 103 birthday in Dec 2000. She was born on 1 Jan 1898

 

[Susan48]

My great-aunt, my father's favourite aunt who emigrated to California in 1920 where she married and spent the rest of her life, died shortly before her 106th birthday. Perhaps it was the Californian sunshine that helped her live so long.

 

[Marguerite]

My great aunt, Millicent Whitlow, celebrated her 105th birthday at Redwalls Retirement Home, in Cuddington, Cheshire.

She had already lived in the 19th and 20th centuries and looked forward to seeing in the 21st. She taught at Barnton Primary School all of her working life and lived in Victoria Raod, Northwich, before moving into Redwalls four years ago.

She died in June 2000.

I remember her well but didn't have contact in latter years.

 

[SandieCee]

My 4 x gt grandmother Rebecca Jeffy died aged 101 in 1834 in Wheathampstead Herts. Her birth is recorded in the parish register in 1733. An extraordinary age at that time.
Also on a gravestone in the Parish church of St Vincent, Leigh On Sea, Essex is written "Here lies the body of Mary Ellis daughter of Thomas & Lidia Ellis of this parish. She was a virgin of virtuous courage & very promising hope and died on the 3rd of June 1609 aged one hundred and nineteen" That must take some beating !

 

[Bryman]

Also on a gravestone in the Parish church of St Vincent, Leigh On Sea, Essex is written "Here lies the body of Mary Ellis daughter of Thomas & Lidia Ellis of this parish. She was a virgin of virtuous courage & very promising hope and died on the 3rd of June 1609 aged one hundred and nineteen" That must take some beating !

That is a remarkable age and although I am sure that the date of death was accurate, is there any evidence to substantiate the date of birth?
Is there an entry in a parish register from such an early time?

Wikipedia lists the oldest verified inhabitant of UK as having died at the age of 115, but that was only about 20 years ago.

 

[SandieCee]

I doubt their is evidence of the birth.If she was truly that age then no one alive at the time of her death would be able to prove her age ! It would be interesting to find out if the registers for this church have any info.I live in Portugal so perhaps someone local could check .I would think the registers are at the Essex History center.

 

[SuzanneD]

Also on a gravestone in the Parish church of St Vincent, Leigh On Sea, Essex is written "Here lies the body of Mary Ellis daughter of Thomas & Lidia Ellis of this parish. She was a virgin of virtuous courage & very promising hope and died on the 3rd of June 1609 aged one hundred and nineteen" That must take some beating !

Given the age of the gravestone, my first thought would be: how clear is the inscription, and/or when was it first transcribed? Words such as 'very promising hope' seem rather more consistent with someone of the age of 19 than 119! Are the parish records for the 1580s-1590s available for this parish to check for a marriage and children for Thomas and Lydia? Obviously there will be no baptism record if she really was born in 1490 or so...

 

[Britjan]

Welcome Sandie Cee to our forum , and bravo for posting on a subject that raises much discussion. I have some c1500 -1600 relations on my tree and there are two distinct paths to trace them to the 20th century. I happen to find one path more compelling than the other but I doubt we'll find evidence to settle the friendly argument. Fortunately there is no unclaimed fortune for a long lost relative that I know of.
Some entrepreneurial person has put together a list of all things Leigh on Sea it might be worth taking a look. Within it you'll find a link to Essex County Archives.

 

[SandieCee]

Given the age of the gravestone, my first thought would be: how clear is the inscription, and/or when was it first transcribed? Words such as 'very promising hope' seem rather more consistent with someone of the age of 19 than 119! Are the parish records for the 1580s-1590s available for this parish to check for a marriage and children for Thomas and Lydia? Obviously there will be no baptism record if she really was born in 1490 or so...

Hi Suzanne,thank you for your reply .I took a photo of the inscription (the grave is a square box like tombstone with a huge stone slab on top which is very worn & looks at some time as if knives or swords were sharpened on it as there are deep grooves on the edges.The stone plaque with inscription is built into one side & it is very clear to read.The age is written i.e..not in numerical form. I took the details out of interest her age being so unusual,but Mary Ellis is not a relation.

 

[SandieCee]

The Church is St Clements Leigh On Sea ,sorry not St.Vincents (senior moment there)
I just did some delving and came up with this info about said grave on findagrave.com
Quote"
Birth: 1490
Death: Jun. 3, 1609, England

Mary lived to be 119.
Her grave is remarkable for the fact that it is a table-top type marker which tells an interesting but possibly apocryphal,story. It will be seen that it is mis-shapen- this is due to the fact that it was used to sharpen cutlasses and it is known locally as the Cutlass Stone.
It is said that the press gangs used to wait outside the church for the young men to leave after the service so that they could take them off to sea. While the gangs were waiting they are said to have sharpened their cutlass swords on the gravestone....thus the worn stone and grooves. Legend has it that the young men, on hearing the sounds of the blades being sharpened, would use a tunnel under the tower to make their escape and when the service was over, the only people to leave the church in full view of the press gang were the elderly........there was not a young man in sight.
It is however almost certain that the sandstone top was regularly used by people sharpening their knives on it. No inscription on the top has been visible for a very long while.
Holman, in the first part of the 18th century, describes the tom but says nothing about any inscription or attribution, and King, more or less contemporary with Benton, simply mentions the Ellis name in connection with it. The London Chronicle, however, of May 15-17, 1794 prints this amongst a great variety of other items of unrelated news.......
"There is a tomb in the churchyard of Leigh church in Essex which has the inscription...... "Here lies the body of Mary Ellis daughter of Thomas and Lidia Ellis of this parish. She was a virgin of virtuous courage and very promising hope and died on the 3rd of June 1609 aged one hundred and nineteen" This appears to be the only authority for the full inscription and Holman would not have missed it as he saw the tomb some fifty years before the London Chronicle article.The inscription on the side was added in relatively recent times.
Inscription:
Here lies the body of Mary Ellis daughter of Thomas and Lidia Ellis of this parish. She was a virgin of virtuous courage and very promising hope and died on the 3rd of June 1609 aged one hundred and nineteen

 

[MaggyC]

My maternal grandmother was born in 1897 and died in 2005 aged 107. For my two children to have a link with someone who had been born in the 19th century, and lived into the 21st, was special. What I always found fascinating was how Gran would talk about her grandmother who in turn had spoken of her grandmother who was born in 1783.