A woman whose remarkable 117-year life began in a Hampshire village just outside Andover has made history by becoming the first British person ever verified to reach the age.
Ethel Caterham, who was born in Shipton Bellinger on 21 August 1909 and grew up in nearby Tidworth, celebrated her 117th birthday on Friday surrounded by family and friends at her care home in Lightwater, Surrey.
Mrs Caterham is currently recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in the world and is now the first British person known to have reached 117.
Her extraordinary story, however, began much closer to home.
Born Ethel May Collins in Shipton Bellinger, Mrs Caterham was the second youngest of eight children and spent her formative years in Tidworth, meaning one of the most remarkable stories of human longevity has its roots in the local area.
Love Andover first highlighted her local connection when she became the world’s oldest living person in April 2025 following the death of Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was 116. At that point Mrs Caterham was 115 years and 252 days old.
She has since continued breaking records.
In April 2025 she surpassed Charlotte Hughes to become the oldest British person ever recorded. She then became the only British-born person verified to have reached 116 before going one step further on 21 August this year by becoming Britain’s first verified 117-year-old.
Her childhood in the Shipton Bellinger and Tidworth area belonged to a very different Britain.
Mrs Caterham was born during the reign of King Edward VII, five years before the outbreak of the First World War. She remains the last surviving validated person who was born before 1910 and the last surviving subject of Edward VII.
At the age of 18, in 1927, she left the area for an adventure which would take her thousands of miles from Hampshire and Wiltshire.
Mrs Caterham travelled by ship to India, where she worked as a nanny for a British family. She spent around three years there before returning to England in 1931.
Shortly after returning home she met her future husband, Norman Caterham, at a dinner party. The couple married at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933, maintaining another connection with the wider local region. Norman went on to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the British Army.
His military career subsequently took the family overseas, including periods in Gibraltar and Hong Kong. While living in Hong Kong, Mrs Caterham established a nursery school. The couple raised two daughters, both of whom Mrs Caterham has outlived. Norman died in 1976.
Her own family also appears to have had a history of longevity. One of her sisters, Gladys, lived until the age of 104.
Mrs Caterham continued driving until the age of 97 and was still playing contract bridge after reaching 100.
Her resilience was demonstrated again during the coronavirus pandemic when she contracted Covid-19 in 2020 at the age of 110 and recovered, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the virus.
The past year has included another remarkable moment in a life already spanning more than a century.
King Charles III visited Mrs Caterham in September 2025, shortly after her 116th birthday. During their meeting she recalled watching his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969 and joked to the King that all the girls had been in love with him and wanted to marry him.
Reflecting on her 117th birthday, Mrs Caterham said the past year had still managed to bring new experiences, including stroking a llama and holding hands with the King.
She said: “Thank-you for all of the kind birthday wishes. Even at 117, I’ve had many firsts this year, from stroking a llama to holding hands with the King.”
She added that she had enjoyed celebrating with family and friends and was looking forward to seeing what the next year would bring.
Mrs Caterham has previously played down suggestions that there is a complicated secret behind her longevity, instead crediting an uncomplicated approach to life.
Speaking about reaching such an extraordinary age, she has previously advised against arguing with people, saying she preferred to listen and do what she liked.
Her 117th birthday places her among an exceptionally small group.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, Mrs Caterham is one of only 13 validated people in history known to have reached the age of 117.
The record for the longest verified human lifespan remains with Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 aged 122 years and 164 days.
For Shipton Bellinger and Tidworth, however, Mrs Caterham’s latest milestone provides an extraordinary link between the communities of today and a world which has almost entirely disappeared.
A girl born in a Hampshire village in 1909 has lived through two world wars, the arrival of television and commercial aviation, the moon landings, the creation of the internet and the coronavirus pandemic.
More than a century after leaving the Shipton Bellinger and Tidworth area as a young woman, Ethel Caterham’s name is now written into British history as the country’s first verified 117-year-old – and the oldest living person on Earth.