Ethel Caterham
Ethel May Caterham is a British supercentenarian who, at the age of, has been the world's oldest verified living person since the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas on 30 April 2025. She is the oldest British person in recorded history and the last known surviving validated individual born in the 1900s decade.
Biography
Early life and family
Ethel May Collins was born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England, as the second youngest of eight siblings. She spent her early years in the nearby town of Tidworth. Her sister, Gladys Babilas, reached the age of 104. In 1927, at 18 years old, Caterham travelled to British India, where she worked as an au pair for a military household until the age of 21.In 1931, following her return to England, she met Norman Caterham at a dinner party. The couple were married at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, where Norman had previously sung as a choirboy. He went on to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps. They lived in Harnham, Salisbury before postings in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. During their time in Hong Kong, she established a nursery school focused on English language, crafts and recreational activities. While stationed in Gibraltar, the couple had two daughters, Gem and Anne, whom they later raised in England. Norman died in 1976, and Gem died in the early 2000s.
Later years
Caterham drove until she was 97 and enjoyed playing contract bridge in her centenarian years. Both of her daughters predeceased her, but she has three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She had lived in an annex within the home of her younger daughter, Anne, until Anne's death of cancer in February 2020 at the age of 82. Following this, Caterham relocated to a care facility in Ash Vale, Surrey, and later moved to another home in Lightwater.In 2020, at the age of 110, Caterham survived COVID-19. Shortly before her 111th birthday, she was interviewed by BBC Radio Surrey, where she attributed her longevity to "taking everything in my stride, the highs and the lows." On her 111th birthday in August 2020, she was visited by the mayor of Surrey Heath, having been the oldest living resident of Surrey since January 2019.
On 22 January 2022, following the death of Mary "Mollie" Walker, Caterham became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom. On 7 October 2022, after the death of Rose Eaton, she became the last known surviving subject of Edward VII. Upon turning 115 in August 2024, Caterham became the third British person verified to reach this age, and the first to do so since Annie Jennings in 1999. On 7 April 2025, Caterham surpassed Charlotte Hughes' age, to become the oldest person ever from the United Kingdom. On 30 April 2025, following the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas of Brazil, Caterham became both the world’s oldest living person and the last known individual born in the 1900s decade.
On 21 August 2025, Caterham celebrated her 116th birthday, becoming the first person in British history to reach this age. She received a congratulatory message from João Marinho Neto of Brazil, the world's oldest living man – reportedly the first documented exchange between the world's oldest verified woman and oldest verified man.
In September 2025, Caterham, the last living subject of King Edward VII, met his great-great grandson King Charles III, with whom she exchanged pleasantries and recalled his investiture in 1969.