Eunice Bowman | |
Bowman celebrating her 111th birthday in 2009 | |
Birth: | 23 August 1898 Ince-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England, UK |
Death: | 16 July 2010 Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, UK |
Age: | 111 years, 327 days |
Country: | UK |
Validated |
Eunice Bowman (née Crook, formerly Pearson; 23 August 1898 – 16 July 2010) was a British supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom at the time of her death. Her age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Bowman was born on 23 August 1898 in Ince-in-Makerfield, a borough of Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK. She was the second of twelve children born to Thomas and Sarah Crook. In 1905, following a decline in the textile industry, the family moved to Felling, Tyne and Wear so her father could work in the coal mines. Bowman was kept off school each week to help look after her younger siblings and do housework. After school, she worked in a fish & chip shop with her grandmother.
During the First World War, Bowman worked seven days per week in 12-hour shifts at the Armstrong Munitions factory in Newcastle, walking about five miles every day. She started with messenger work, and then worked on putting gunpowder in the fuses. On Christmas Day 1919, she married Robert Pearson. The couple had four children: Norman, Tommy, Doris, and Connie.
In 1928, Robert Pearson died aged 28 from complications of tuberculosis. During the Second War, she married Frank Bowman. They had two children: Sheila (who died in infancy) and Ann. Frank died in 1950.
Later Life[]
After her father's death in 1953, Bowman looked after her mother until her death in 1970. Until she was 84, Bowman worked at a fish and chip shop with her sister Annie, who also reached her 100th birthday.
In 2008, a week after her 110th birthday, Bowman re-opened St. Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, which also celebrated its 110th anniversary that month. Bowman outlived all her siblings and all but one of her children.
Following the death of 114 year-old Florrie Baldwin on 8 May 2010, Bowman became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom. Bowman died on 16 July 2010 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, UK, aged 111 years, 327 days. Following her death, Annie Turnbull became the UK's oldest living person.
References[]
- Gerontology Research Group
- All Validated British Supercentenarians Oldest in Britain
- Eunice Bowman celebrated her 11th (sic) birthday yesterday with her family The Northern Echo, 24 August 2009
- Widow, 111, named Britain's oldest person The Telegraph, 24 May 2010 (via The Wayback Machine)
- Gateshead grandmother dies as UK's oldest person at 111 BBC News, 19 July 2010
- Britain's oldest person Eunice Bowman dies aged 111 The Journal, 19 July 2010
- Oldest Briton, born when Victoria was on the throne, dies at age 111 The Guardian, 20 July 2010