In The News

Oldest person in UK passes away

Oldest person in UK passes away

THE oldest person in the UK, Ethel Lang, has passed away at the age of 114.

Mrs. Lang was born in the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley in 1900 and lived there all her life. She was believed to have been the last person living in Britain who had been born during the reign of Queen Victoria.

During her long life she had lived through six monarchs and 22 prime ministers. She had also seen the invention of radio, television, the computer and the internet.

Mrs. Lang, who had left school at 13 to work in a shirt factory, had married her husband William in 1922. He passed away in 1988. 

The couple’s daughter, Margaret, who is now 91, led tributes to her mother. She said: “She was a lovely mother, I’ve had her a very long time. I’ve been a very lucky person.”

Mrs. Lang had been a keen fan of snooker and even after she went blind at the age of 85 still enjoyed listening to the commentary of televised games.

She passed away at the Water Royd House nursing home in Barnsley, where she had been living since 2005.

The title of Britain’s oldest person now passes to Gladys Hooper, from the Isle of Wight, who will be 112 on Sunday.

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