A British woman has officially become the oldest living person in the world following the death of Brazilian super-centenarian Inah Canabarro Lucas at age 116.
The new titleholder is 115-year-old Ethel May Caterham, who resides in Surrey. Born on August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, Caterham is believed to be the last surviving subject of King Edward VII and the final known person born in the 1900s decade.
Lucas, born in Brazil on June 8, 1908, passed away on Wednesday.
Lucas, a nun who lived through both World Wars, was notably blessed by Pope Francis earlier this year. She had taken the title of the world’s oldest person after the death of 116-year-old Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka.
Caterham, now recognised as the world’s oldest living individual, marked her 115th birthday last year, becoming only the third Briton in history to reach the milestone and the first since Annie Jennings in 1999.
Her early life saw her working as an au pair for a military family in India at the age of 18, where she lived for three years. She returned to the UK in 1931 and later met her future husband, Norman, at a dinner party. The couple wed at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933.
Norman Caterham rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps.
The couple lived in Harnham before postings to Hong Kong and Gibraltar. While abroad, Ethel founded a nursery to teach English and later raised two daughters after returning to England.
Now living in a care home in Lightwater, Ethel recently celebrated her birthday surrounded by family and friends. She has three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren, with her family attributing her remarkable longevity to resilience and adaptability.
