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'Britain's last Victorian': Oldest person in UK who lived to see six monarchs and 22 prime ministers dies aged 114


Published: 14:57 EDT, 16 January 2015 | Updated: 08:40 EDT, 17 January 2015




Britain’s oldest person – and the last survivor of the Victorian age – has died at the age of 114.

Great-grandmother Ethel Lang lived through six monarchs and 22 prime ministers.

Born on May 27, 1900, a year before the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, she was said to be the eighth oldest person in the world.

Mrs Lang’s lifetime spanned the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903, both world wars, the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Moon landings and the invention of the internet. Ethel Lang, pictured with staff at the Water Royd House, Barnsley, on her birthday, died aged 114 yesterday

When the Titanic sank she was 11 – and she was 101 when terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers, triggering the War on Terror.

Mrs Lang died yesterday at the Water Royd House nursing home, in Barnsley.

The home confirmed her death but said it could not comment any further.

Her daughter Margaret Bates, 91, led tributes to her yesterday, saying: ‘She was such a good mum. I’m so proud of her.

‘She was registered blind in 1988 but it never stemmed her enthusiasm for life, even in her later years.




'I would take her into town and she would ask me to point out to her things like buildings and landmarks. She hated to be stuck indoors.’

She was the youngest daughter of Charles Lancaster, a miner, and his wife Sarah and was born when the Marquess of Salisbury was prime minister.

She lived in the Worsbrough area of Barnsley all her life and left school aged 13 to go to work at Sudgen's shirt factory.

In 1922, she married William Lang, a young plumber and the only son of Barnsley councillor Thomas Lang, at St Mary's Church, Barnsley.

Widowed when her husband died in 1988, aged 92, she lived independently until she was 105, when she moved into a care home. Mrs Lang, pictured left aged 20, and right, aged 27 with husband William and daughter Margaret in 1927

Her hobby was dancing, which she enjoyed until 107.

She was also a keen snooker fan and her favourite player was Jimmy White.

Her longevity was perhaps helped by the fact that she never smoked and rarely touched alcohol.

She was a good cook, made her own bread and always ate wholesome food, according to her family.

Genetics were also on her side. Her mother lived to 91 and, when a relative traced her family tree, many ancestors turned out to have had long lives all the way back to the early 1700s. Mrs Lang, pictured right aged 106, has a daughter Margaret Bates, pictured left, who is now 91 Mrs Lang became the longest surviving person after Londoner Grace Jones, died aged 113 in 2013. Pictured, celebrating her 112th birthday at Water Royd House, in Barnsley

Last year, Mrs Lang celebrated her 114th birthday with a piece of cake and a cup of tea along with her family and friends.

She became the longest surviving person after Londoner Grace Jones, died aged 113 in 2013.

Mrs Lang’s death means that Gladys Hooper, of the Isle of Wight, now appears to be Britain’s oldest person. She will be 112 tomorrow. The world’s oldest person is thought to Japan’s Misao Okawa. She is due to turn 117 in March.

According to the Isle of Wight County Press, Mrs Hooper was born on January 18, 1903.

She was brought up in Rottingdean, Brighton, and was friends with aviation pioneer Amy Johnson.

She played the piano to a high standard and became a concert pianist in London and mixed with the likes of band leaders Jack Payne, Debroy Somers and Maurice Winnick.



Oldest person in UK Ethel Lang dies aged 114
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