Elizabeth Hurlston

Elizabeth Hurlston (born 31 August 1914) is a Caymanian centenarian who is the oldest known living person from the Cayman Islands.

Biography
Hurlston was born on 31 August 1914 in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 1919, she moved to Grand Cayman with her parents and seven siblings. Her father, Hugh Hutchings, was appointed Commissioner of the Cayman Islands at the time. Before she settled here, Hurlston lived in 12 different countries. Trained as a Montessori teacher in the United Kingdom and later as a nurse in Canada, she worked in Jamaica in both fields during World War II.

Hurlston married Otto Hurlston, a friend of her brother. Otto Hurlston was a widower and single father of a daughter, Mary. Elizabeth accepted Mary as her own and raised her as her only child. The Hurlstons set up the shop called "Caymandicraft" in what is now the Eden Rock Diving Centre. The shop that they ran for 40 years carried a range of fine goods from Cayman crafts, Agfa cameras and liberty fabrics to Seagull outboard engines. Otto passed away in 1986, but Elizabeth ran the shop into the 1990s.

Between 1988 and 1994, she traveled on 15 mission trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic with her church. Eventually, the trips proved too difficult for Ms. Hurlston, who has osteoporosis. She cracked a rib as her group drove through the bumpy roads in Haiti and she was forced to stop traveling. In 2001, Queen Elizabeth recognized her as a Member of the British Empire for her community service. She was also awarded a Queen’s Badge and Certificate of Honour for her contributions to the Caymanian community in 1976. In 2003, she was named one of Cayman’s Quincentennial Ambassadors. Until her 90s, Hurlston remained active at church and would take short walks. Since suffering a fall near her 100th birthday, she spends most of her time at home.

Elizabeth Hurlston currently lives in South Sound, George Town, Cayman Islands at the age of. She lives with her daughter Mary and son-in-law Michael Bowerman. She also have 2 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.