Gladys Hooper
Gladys Hooper | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gladys Nash 18 January 1903 (age 121 years, 232 days) |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Known for | Oldest living person in the United Kingdom |
| Partner | Leslie Hooper (1899-1977) (m. 1922 - 1977) |
| Children | One son |
Gladys Ada Elizabeth Hooper (née Nash, born 18 January 1903)[1] is an English supercentenarian who became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom after the death of 114-year-old Ethel Lang on 15 January 2015.[2]
Early life
Hooper was born on 18 January 1903 in Bermondsey, South London, and baptised 22 Feb at All Saints Church, Hatcham Park, the eldest child of William John Nash, a carman, and Ada Emily his wife.[3] In 1916, she witnessed the German airship Schütte-Lanz SL 11 being shot down by Leefe Robinson, who was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.[4] Hooper also met Thomas Edison, co-inventor of the lightbulb, when he visited her school.[5] Hooper went to college with aviator Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, they became friends, with Hooper saying "She was good fun and a very good friend". Hooper was also a concert pianist, and played with famous bandleaders such as Jack Payne, Debroy Somers and Maurice Winnick.[6]
In 1922, at the age of 19, Gladys married Leslie Hermiston Hooper, who had been a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The couple had one child, a son named Derek, who later became a pilot.
Later life
Gladys Hooper was married to Leslie for 55 years until his death from Parkinson's disease in 1977. She moved to Sandown on the Isle of Wight in 1979, to be closer to her family.[7] She lived independently until the age of 101, when she moved to the town of Ryde, also on the Isle of Wight, to live with her son Derek.
Gladys Hooper has outlived all of her siblings after the death of her youngest sibling Joyce in 2014, at the age of 92. Three days before her 112th birthday in January 2015, she became the oldest verified living person in Britain on the death of Ethel Lang, who was 114 years old.
In October 2015, at the age of 112, she had a hip replacement operation after falling out of bed and breaking her hip. She is believed to be the oldest person to have undergone such an operation.[8][9][10]
References
- ^ "Current Validated Living Supercentenarians". Gerontology Research Group. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
- ^ Turner, Camilla (2015-01-17). "Britain's oldest person celebrates 112th birthday". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-01-26.
- ^ "112? I don't feel a day over 70, says Britain's newest oldest woman". Daily Mail. 2015-01-18. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1152082/Gladys-Hooper-describes-saw-First-World-War.html
- ^ Fryer, Jane (2015-01-21). "Amazing life of Britain's oldest woman". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- ^ "Britain's oldest person celebrates 112th birthday". ITV. 2015-01-17. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
- ^ "Isle of Wight woman Gladys becomes Britain's oldest person". Isle of Wight County Press. 2015-01-16. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
- ^ "UK's oldest person breaks hip replacement record at 112". The Guardian. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ "Britain's oldest person Gladys Hooper has hip replacement at the age of 112". The Independent. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ "UK's oldest person has hip replacement operation at 112". ITV. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.