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Harold Bracher
Birth: 30 November 1904
Stockport, Cheshire (now Lancashire), England, UK
Death: 13 April 2016
Claygate, Surrey, England, UK
Age: 111 years, 135 days
Country: United Kingdom UK
Unvalidated

Harold Lauter Bracher (30 November 1904 – 13 April 2016) was a British supercentenarian who was the oldest living man in the country from 2013 until his death in 2016. His age is validated by the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO) and recognized by LongeviQuest (LQ). His age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Bracher was born in Stockport, Cheshire (now Lancashire), England on 30 November 1904 as the only child of Lauter Sidney Bracher and Edith Marie Bessie Lee. His father was born in the United States, and moved to England in 1894. His parents married in 1903, but divorced in 1910.

After the divorce, Bracher's father emigrated to France, later dying in a psychiatric hospital at the age of 70. His mother lived until 1974, reaching the age of 93. Bracher married Marjorie Ethel Irvine in 1935, and they had one daughter, Caroline, in 1941. He was widowed in 1988.

Following the 30 October 2013 death of Ralph Tarrant, Bracher became the oldest living man in the UK. In 2015, he became the first British man to reach his 111th birthday since Harry Patch in 2009.

Bracher died in Claygate, Surrey, England on 13 April 2016 at the age of 111 years, 135 days. At the time of his death, he was the fourth-oldest living person in the UK, as well as the fifth-oldest man ever to die in the country. He was succeeded as the UK's oldest man by then-110-year-old Frank Simes.

Recognition

Bracher was never reported in any public news outlets, and remained anonymous until his death. His age was verified by Andrew Holmes and Melissa Page, and validated by the ESO on 15 June 2019. The validation was later accepted by LongeviQuest (LQ).

References


Europe's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

Geert Adriaans Boomgaard • Unknown • Matthias DodenhoffFrederick StabbinsWilliam MugfurSven ErikssonJean-Pierre DupontWilliam WalkerBening Arnold • Hans Schaftner-BurginLars OlofssonMarc PicqJohan Svanstrom • Erik JanssonFrancesco CubaddaThomas PopeJohn FrancklowKarl Nilsson • Constant De LichteAntonio Marchi • August KarlssonKarl GlocknerAnders JonassonMathias Hansen SaetherJan KipWillem Kostering • Francesco Paba • John Mosley Turner • Antonije MladenovicFriedrich Wedeking • Frederick Butterfield • Jean Teillet • Pasquale CappelloGiuseppe Arena • Luigi SabaIngebrigt Johansen • Victor Guillot • Andrei Kuznetsoff • Herman Smith-Johannsen • John Evans • Henri PerignonDomenico Minervino • Josep Armengol-Jover • Pablo Roy • Emile Fourcade • Bernard Delhom • Valentino StellaGregorio Merino • Antonio Baldo • Antonio Urrea-Hernandez • Alejandro Rivera Santalla • Antonio Todde • Joan Riudavets-MollHermann Dornemann • Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski • Maurice Floquet • Henry AllinghamHarry Patch • Stanley Lucas • Jan Goossenaerts • Francisco Fernandez • Arturo Licata • Rezso GallaiPhilippe Vocanson • Harold Bracher • Francisco Nunez Olivera • Gustav GernethBob Weighton • Dumitru Comanescu • Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia • Stanislaw Kowalski • Andre BoiteHans SchornackAndre LudwigJohn Tinniswood


United Kingdom's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (VE)

George Stanforth • John Mosley Turner • John Leng • Frederick Butterfield • James Harrow • Ernest Oxley • Harry Durrant • Arthur Emanuel • James Sellers • Walter Sandford • George Simms • Henry Norman • John Orton • Alfred Grant • John Evans • Samuel Crabbe • Joseph Randle • Jesse Yewdall • William Proctor • David Davies • Vinson Gulliver • David Henderson • Harry Halford • William Lee • Frederick Moore • Harry Laverick • Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski • Henry Allingham • Harry Patch • Stanley Lucas • Edward Anderson • Reg Dean • Ralph Tarrant • Harold Bracher • Frank Simes • John Mansfield • Alf Smith • Bob Weighton • Harry Fransman • John Tinniswood

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