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Lilian Priest
Lilian Priest
Priest celebrating her 111th birthday in 2019
Birth: 7 November 1908
Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
Death: 6 June 2021
Swanage, Dorset, England, UK
Age: 112 years, 211 days
Country: United Kingdom UK
Validated

Sarah Lilian Priest (née Lloyd; 7 November 1908 – 6 June 2021) was a British supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the United Kingdom at the time of her death, as well as the last surviving British person born in 1908. Her age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Early Life and Family

Priest was born on 7 November 1908 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales. She moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, England at the age of 18 to work in a friend’s bed and breakfast for six months. Priest and her husband, Arthur, did a lot of travelling, and they had at least one child, Wendy. Priest enjoyed playing the piano and singing.

Priest's sister, Gwen Moore (2 December 1911 – 31 March 2023), died in Bongaree, Queensland, Australia, at the age of 111 years, 119 days, making them one of the oldest pairs of siblings ever recorded.

Later Life

By the age of 106, Priest was no longer able to play piano or sing, but could still remember all the words to the songs she used to sing. In her later life, Priest lived in a retirement home in Swanage, Dorset, England.

Priest became the oldest living person in the United Kingdom following the death of Joan Hocquard on 24 October 2020. The following month, she celebrated her 112th birthday, but was not able to have any visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, her daughter was able to see her from a distance through a door. On 19 January 2021, at the age 112, Priest received her first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, making her one of oldest people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

She was the oldest known woman ever born in Wales until Mollie Walker surpassed her age on 5 September 2021.

Priest's age was verified by Waclaw Jan Kroczek, Ollie trim, and validated by the GRG on 1 January 2023.

Priest became the oldest living British-born person following the death of Phyllis Ridgway on 4 June 2021. Sarah Lilian Priest died in Swanage, Dorset, England, UK, at the age of 112 years, 211 days. Following her death, Gertrude Kingston became the UK's oldest living person.

Gallery

References


United Kingdom's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)

Frederick Stabbins • Jane ListerMartha Truelove • Ann Sharp • Jane Raby • Frances Smith • William Walker • Ann Russell • Eliza Roff • Ellen Palmer • Rachel MacArthur • Rachel SwainMary Davey • Thomas Pope • John Francklow • Rebecca Lees • Sarah Fitt • Elizabeth Sellwood • Matilda Coppins • Elizabeth Whitehead • Emma Rooke • Margaret Lunn • Sarah Humphrey • Caroline BealeFanny Hopkins • Elizabeth Etheridge • Sophia Wellstead • Rhoda Harris • Emma Weeks • Edith Grellier • Mary WorthingtonJane Stoneman • Ellen Dart • Elizabeth Kensley • Hannah SmithJohn Mosley TurnerAda Roe • Alice StevensonElizabeth WatkinsFrederick Butterfield • Rose Heeley • Agnes Helyar • James Harrow • Sarah Morgan • Lilias WilliamsFlorence PannellJeanetta ThomasAlice Brewster • Anna Eliza Williams • Kate Begbie • Charlotte Hughes • Daisy Adams • Rebecca Hewison • Annie Scott • Rachel Wieselberg • Lucy Askew • Annie Jennings • Eva Morris • Amy Hulmes • Nellie Bradley • Gladys Hawley • Lucy d'Abreu • Judy Ingamells • Emmeline BriceAnnie Knight • Ada Mason • Florrie Baldwin • Eunice BowmanAnnie Turnbull • Elsie SteeleMargaret Fish • Violet Wood • Grace A Jones • Ethel Lang • Gladys Hooper • Bessie CammOlive BoarGrace C JonesGwen PayneHilda ClulowBob WeightonJoan HocquardLilian PriestGertrude KingstonMollie WalkerEthel Caterham

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