The Watcher

Philippe de Gaulle who is 99 in December & a retired admiral as well as the only remaining child of President de Gaulle must be a worthy 2021 pick?

Happy 109th birthday today to Eileen Ash (nee Whelan). She is a genuine link to the past as the first of her 7 Test matches for England was in 1937 - only 83 years ago! She is the only living cricketer whose life overlaps that of W G Grace who died in 1915 - the last known photo of him is a few weeks before his death at a cricket match (spectating of course!) putting money in a Red Cross collecting box.

Already noted 4 hours ago!

Wiki states that Karam & Katari Chand were married for 90 years 291 days before Karam died aged 110. Katari died 4 years later aged 107. They were married in a Sikh ceremony when Karam was 20 & Katari was only 13. The combined ages must be a record although Guinness refuse to recognise their achievement.

This would make the age of Mora's wife's age only 5?

The deaths of Joan Hocquard & Bob Weighton this year mean that the 2021 edition of Guinness World Records is now totally out of date. I saw the new version last week & was surprised as it had only just been published for next year that Bob Weighton was still listed (with a large photograph) as Britain's oldest man.

Two actress widows of famous actors who died many years ago are still with us. Sarah Lawson (b 1928) the actress widow of Patrick Allen (1927-2006) who narrated the 1st series of Blackadder but is best known for a huge catalogue of films & parts in TV series. The other is Thea Gregory (b 1926) the actress widow of John Gregson (1919-1975). He starred in Genevieve (1953) with Kenneth More, Dinah Sheridan & Kay Kendall and many other films & TV series. The TV series he is best remembered for is Gideon's Way in which he starred as Commander George Gideon.

Eileen Ash will be 109 on 30 October (2020). Not surprisingly she is the oldest ever international cricketer. She was around 4 years old when W G Grace died. As he was born in 1848 that is quite a link to the past.

Ask David Icke!

The Guinness Book of Records (now known as Guinness World Records) many years ago (when it was full of interesting facts such as the last person alive to have a parent born in the eighteenth century or the last surviving veteran of the Boer War) once put, in an attempt at levity, that no peers or royalty had ever become a centurion due possibly to their drafty piles (ie castles etc). Now thanks to their deluxe health care royal, noble and titled centurions are appearing every year.

Excellent list. The Queen had 29 first cousins and probably the oldest survivng is Sir Simon Alexander Bowes-Lyon who is 88 & was born in June 1932.

She is also well-known as the first wife of Jon Pertwee in the swinging sixties & the co-creator of Upstairs Downstairs. When the show returned after decades it was hampered by the poor health of Jean Marsh who re-created the role of Rose Buck & the success of Downton Abbey. The other co-creator of Upstairs Downstirs was Eileen Atkins who was due to also play a role in the show (she did in the update) but due to a stage show clashing, her role went to Pauline Collins. The latter played a maid and in both the show and real life she fell in love with the fellow-servant John Alderton and they are both still happily married and part of the Hampstead set - Tom Conti, Hunter Davies, etc. One wonders if John Alderton would have fallen for Eileen Atkins?

There are many former spouses of famous actors still alive but not all are as well-known as others. Peter Gilmore (1931-2013) who played Captain James Onedin in all 91 episodes of The Onedin Line has all 3 former spouses still sailing serenely above ground. They are Jan Walters (b 1937), Una Stubbs (b 1937) & Anne Stallybrass (b1938). The latter played his wife in the show & they lived in Dartmouth where many of the location scenes were filmed in a house named "Charlotte Rhodes) which was the name of Onedin's ship in the series. Strangely she was killed off in the show in the early years of the series & the second wife was played by Jill Gascoigne who died a few months ago. John Thaw (1942-2002) (Morse, Mister Tom, Jack Regan etc) has both of his former spouses still alive. They are Sally Alexander (b 1943) & Sheila Hancock (b 1933). Jon Pertwee (1919-1996) (Dr Who, Worzel Gummage etc) also has both former wives alive. They are Jean Marsh (b 1936) & Ingeborg Rhoesa (b 1937).

And yet Eileen Ash carries on and on & will be 109 next month. Surely a very real chance of being a rare famous super centenarian? She is believed to be the only international cricketer still alive whose life overlapped that of W G Grace who died in 1915. (born in 1848)

Boris Pahor is 107 today. He is the oldest living Nazi concentration camp survivor & on the recent list of foreign Wiki entries.

Clarissa Eden? Eileen Ash (Whelan)(oldest ever international cricketer)? Ronald Atkins? Certainly Clarissa Eden is known internationally & by nature of her sporting career Eillen Ash is as well. Ronald Atkins as an MP must be known to far more than his former constituents & Roberta McCain is also known due to her late husband & son.

There are rumours that there is at least one anonymous child still alive which is why I was deliberately vague. It seems quite likely as the last widow of a US Civil War veteran died as recently as 2008 (?) - certainly more than one widow has died this century.

Party bores also tell people that John Tyler (born 1790) & the 10th US President still has 2 grandchildren alive 230 years after his birth. Cricket followers who nearly all love statistics regularly mention that John Woodcock (94 in August 2020), the cricket writer & former Times cricket correspondent had a grandfather who was born before the Battle of Waterloo. The other old chestnut is that up to 7 years ago there were still 2 children of US Civil War veterans drawing a pension due to their fathers' service. It is believed that both have now died.

Conflicting records apparently. There are various online sites stating that Jack and Joan Bare (aged 102 &101) will have been married 81 years in August 2020 & that THEY currently have the longest marriage in the UK. Also earlier this year a couple were featured in the press & on TV who were celebrating THEIR Oak (80th) wedding anniversary so unless something has happened to at least one of them during lockdown then THEY must have the second longest marriage in the UK. (It doesn't help with marriage records when Guinness ignore the two longest marriages on the Wikipedia page.)

The last two photos look as if they were taken about 10-15 years apart. The latter one looks like Nigel Havers in 20 years time or a cross between Havers & Bill Nighy.

With all these aged publicly known people falling off the perch, surely Roberta McCain, Eileen Ash (Whelan) & Norman Lloyd won't all survive into their 13th decade - mathematically that is!

3 weeks before Clarissa Eden joins the 100 Club & follows Lady (Mary) Wilson into this distingished group. Has a 'celebrity' ever been a super centenarian? Eileen Ash & Roberta McCain must surely qualify if they manage to reach 110.

Anthony Eden's widow is 100 this year. John le Mesurier's widow is another link with the past as the last widows (of Ted Sinclair & James Beck) have died acccording to an online site. In a documentary on Dad's Army the son of Arnold Ridley (Private Godfrey) seemed as old as his late father appeared in the show.

Yes, John Tyler's son, Lyon Gardiner Tyler was born in 1853 & died in 1935. His living sons are Lyon (b 1924) & Harrison (b 1928). So they have a father who was born earlier than the much-quoted (well on Test Match Special anyway) cricket writer John Woodcock who is 94 this year & whose father was born in 1857 & whose paternal grandfather was born before the Battle of Waterloo.

Her father was born in 1846 - difficult to believe that anyone still alive has a father (or mother!) born in an earlier year such as before Victoria came to the throne in 1837.