Frances Smith | |
Birth: | 21 May 1820 Devonport, England, UK |
Death: | 20 January 1927 Oxford, England, UK |
Age: | 106 years, 244 days |
Country: | ![]() |
Centenarian |
Frances Jane Ross Smith (21 May 1820 – 20 January 1927) was a British centenarian who was the oldest known living person in the United Kingdom at the time of her death.
Biography
Frances Smith was born in Devonport, England, United Kingdom on 21 May 1820 to John Smith, a solicitor, and his wife Charlotte. She had a younger brother, Frederick Henry Smith (1824–1903), who was a Major General in the Bengal Infantry and raised the 18th Bengal Lancers during the Indian Mutiny of 1858. She never married nor had children, and lived in St John's Home, Oxford, from 1896 until her death.
Smith became the oldest person in the UK on 11 June 1926, after the death of 106-year-old Jane Raby. She also becane the oldest person in Europe on 26 December 1926 (after the death of Marie Delfairiere of Belgium), and held the titles until her own death on 20 January 1927 at the age of 106 years, 244 days. Her successors as the oldest person in the United Kingdom and Europe were William Walker and Katherine Plunket respectively. It is unknown who succeeded her as the oldest woman in the UK.
Gallery
References