Centenarians in Debretts (Part 4) (2025)

[colinp]

This is a continuation of previous thread "Centenarians in Debretts (Part 3)

Centenarians in Debretts (Part 3)

[colinp]

Some potential centenarians for 2025:-

9th Baron Walsingham b 21 Feb 1925

Baron Christopher (LP) b 25 Apr 1925

 

Anstruther Bt - Evelyn Joanna Christian Claridge nee Rycroft, b 1925

 

Belhaven and Stenton B – Eileen Marjorie Smith nee Hamilton b 10 Feb 1925 (of ACT, Australia)

 

Carden Bt (1787) – Milton Carden b 1925 (his father seems to have died in New Zealand)

 

Elphinston Bt - Margaret, Lady Elphinston of Glack b Q4 1925 – of Cheshire

 

Gardner B (Dorm) – Marjory Julia Johnson nee Gardner b 14 Apr 1925

 

Hill Bt (1779) – Joan Maria Bailey nee Hill b 1925 (of Australia??)

 

Hutchison Bt (ext 1972) – Morna Lang nee Hutchison then Berry b 5 Aug 1925 (of Surrey)

 

Latham B – Hon Diana Dorothy Barringer nee Latham b 18 Sep 1925

 

Leinster D – Peter Charles Fitzgerald b 22 March 1925 (of Victoria, Australia – possibly died 2 Aug 1999?, Victoria probate search)

 

McLeavy LP – Hon Frank Waring McLeavy b 1925

 

Malet Bt (1791) – Olga Diana Valentine Rivers Heilingbrunner nee Malet b 1925 (of Ontario, Canada)

 

Manchester D – Katharine Anne Montagu b 21 Feb 1925 (is she the neuroscientist who d 1966?)

 

Oaksey and Trevethin B – Domini Margaret Morgan nee Lawrence b 8 May 1925, equestrian (Eastbourne)

 

Robbins LP – Hon Anne Johnson nee Robbins b 1925 (London N6)

 

Rycroft Bt (1784) – Evelyn Joanna Christian Claridge nee Rycroft b 1925 (Canterbury)

 

Waterford M – Marie Suzanne de la Poer Heysen nee Beresford then Bonnin b 11 May 1925 (of South Australia)

 

Wemyss and March E – Andrew Michael Wemyss of that Ilk b 3 Oct 1925 (of Fife)

 

Willshire Bt (ext) – Patricia Frederica Girardet nee Willshire then Baylis b 1925 (of Brighton)

 

 

 

Also the following are likely to be centenarians (from the date of their marriage) if still alive

 

Colgrain B – mother of the present Baron, Veronica Margaret Daniel nee Webster formerly Lady Colgrain (m 1945)

 

Coventry E – widow of the 12th Earl, Yolande Lucienne nee di Benedetto, m 12th Earl 1945

 

Decies B – Ida Horsley Beresford nee Kaye m 1941 Hon William Arthur Horsley-Beresford (USA?)

[Henry W]

Belhaven and Stenton B – Eileen Marjorie Smith nee Hamilton b 10 Feb 1925 (of ACT, Australia)

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/sqddT5EF6ic

Died 12 January 2006

McLeavy LP – Hon Frank Waring McLeavy b 1925

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/xUFmGmyzPgI

Died 13 April 2007

[Henry W]

Thank you for all your hard work in compiling this list Colin - always appreciated.

Some notes from me:

Anstruther Bt AND Rycroft Bt (1784) - Evelyn Joanna Christian Claridge nee Rycroft, b 1925
Found living 2023 Truro, Cornwall TR3 (electoral roll)

Elphinston Bt - Margaret, Lady Elphinston of Glack b Q4 1925 – of Cheshire

Full name is Margaret Doreen, nee TASKER.

Hutchison Bt (ext 1972) – Morna Lang nee Hutchison then Berry b 5 Aug 1925 (of Surrey)

May have moved to Hampshire. Morna B LANG found living 2021 Petersfield, Hampshire GU31 (ER)

Oaksey and Trevethin B – Domini Margaret Morgan nee Lawrence b 8 May 1925, equestrian (Eastbourne)

Found living 2021 Eastbourne BN21 (ER)

Wemyss and March E – Andrew Michael Wemyss of that Ilk b 3 Oct 1925 (of Fife)

I think his full name is Andrew Michael John WEMYSS based on ER searches. His birth registration (ScotlandsPeople) is as in Debrett's though.  Found living 2021 Dunfermline, Fife KY12 (ER)

Willshire Bt (ext) – Patricia Frederica Girardet nee Willshire then Baylis b 1925 (of Brighton)

Found living 2023 Brighton BN2 (ER)

Colgrain B – mother of the present Baron, Veronica Margaret Daniel nee Webster formerly Lady Colgrain (m 1945)

Found living 2024 Holt, Norfolk NR25 (ER)

Coventry E – widow of the 12th Earl, Yolande Lucienne nee di Benedetto, m 12th Earl 1945

Her residence was given in Debrett's 2008 as Caslano, Switzerland

[colinp]

Another centenarian could be Stella, Viscountess Ednam (unless she  married again) dau of Dr Don Miguel Angel Carcano KCMG KBE, sometime Argentine Ambassador in London, who m (as his 1st w) 1946 (div 1961) William Humble Ward, Viscount Ednam who later succeeded as 4th Earl of Dudley (1920-2013) and mother of the present Earl.

There are some photos on the National Portrait Gallery website which say she was b 1924

[RichardMH]

According to various sources online (Geni.com, Ancestry etc)  Stella Carcano was born 1915 and died in 2017.

[colinp]

DUNMORE E

DPB online have reinstated a female line including Beryl Miller Scott nee Balfour b 17 Apr 1922 m 1946 Rev Ronald Ian Scott (d 2004) with a s and 3 d.  Burke's states they are or were from Victoria, Australia

[colinp]

I overlooked:

EBRAHIM Bt - Zinet Ebrahim b 1925

[colinp]

Another possible centenarian, from the date of her marriage, may be:

CLARKE Bt – Gillian Ann Maclean, Dowager Lady Clarke nee Grant then (m 1945) Lady Forres (w of 3rd Baron) then de Zoete – of Bloxham, Oxon

[Tim]

Oaksey and Trevethin B – Domini Margaret Morgan nee Lawrence b 8 May 1925, equestrian (Eastbourne)

Died 4 January 2025 aged 99: 

https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/peerage-news/c/YJuc0F1qJZU

[colinp]

GARDNER B (dormant 1883)

DPB online now records that Francis Robert Gardner b 1920, Cherry Martha Tupper (nee Gardner) b 1913 and Ruby Maggie Gideon (nee Gardner) b 1915 (issue of Charles van Straubenzee Gardner) are now deceased (no years given).  

Also recorded as now deceased (again no year given) are Daniel Gardner b 1919, Caroline David (nee Gardner) b 1915 and Margaret Ruby Gardner (nee Gardner), who is described as "late" though not specifically as deceased, perhaps an oversight, (issue of Benjamin Gardner (1889-1937)

[colinp]

GARDNER B (dormant 1883)

I have overlooked the following possible Gardner centenarians:-

Queenie Paul nee Gardner b 1921

Phyllis Wright nee Gardner b 1920

[colinp]

From the first iteration of this post:

GRAHAM (1629) – Marjorie Barbara Stuart Walker nee Graham (descendant of the 5th son of the 8th Bt) b 28 August 1921 – of Alberta, Canada?

DPB online now states she died before 2008 - her husband David Sherwin Walker died 2 May 2008 having m (2) Claire Cooper

David Walker | Obituary | Edmonton Journal

In fact it appears Marjorie Walker died in 2000 (her name Barbara appears to have been a nickname) if this listing is correct

1959-1954 Edmonton Journal Index

[colinp]

Another possible centenarian (given the date of her marriage) would be:

GRANARD  -  Joan Forbes nee Smith m 1947 Hon John Forbes d 1982

[colinp]

From the first iteration of this thread:

"HATHERTON B – Margaret Anne Harder formerly Leech formerly Smitz nee Littleton (grdau of 2nd son of 2nd B) b 8 Sep 1921 – of California"

DPB online states she died in 2002

[colinp]

The following is certainly a centenarian (from the date of her marriage) if still alive:

HATHERTON B – the mother of the present Baron, Margaret Ann nee Sheehy of Canada m 1940 Mervyn Cecil LITTLETON - of PO Box 1341-2150 Moravia Costa Rica

[Henry W]

From Part 3:

Buxton Bt (1840) – Mary Violet Buxton nee Buxton b 11 July 1924 (of Grantchester, Cambs)

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/YXkiaw2rTLQ

Died 22 May 2025, aged 100

[colinp]

From Part 2  - Henry W's post;

KIRKPATRICK Bt  - Ellen Gertrude Corbin nee Elliott, former wife (m 1941 div 1953) of the 10th Bt (d 1954) – mother of the present Bt

I found an Ancestry tree (the Home Person appears to be a grandchild of Ellen's cousin) which states that she died 25 December 1994 in Illinois, USA.  There is a link to the Social Security Index which gives her name as Gertrude Corbin.  I have mixed feelings about this being accurate but felt I should report it anyway.

This doesn't give an answer but her 2nd h John Ogilvie CORBIN MB BS FRCS  appears to have died in Sarawak on 31 Dec 1971 -  Corbin, John Ogilvie (1910 - 1971)

[Ivan Prekajski]

Lionel Frederick John Stopford b. 16 Nov 1921 if alive is 103 and his cousin  John Walter Stopford b. 7 Mar 1926 is in his  100th year. 

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Hi Ivan.

John is shown as living in DPB Online, but Lionel died in 1991.

Brooke

[Ivan Prekajski]

Thank you Brooke. 

[colinp]

Stella Jane nee Duggan, Baroness Mabane (widow and 2nd w of the 1st and last Baron Mabane) was married in 1944 so it is likely she is a centenarian if still alive

[bx...@yahoo.com]

colinp,

I just checked DPB Online.  Apparenty, she died in 2017.

Brooke

[Tim]

In response to colinp's second post of 10 April on this thread: Margaret Ann LITTLETON née SHEEHY appears to be deceased, although I have so far been unable to find out the date of her death.

According to this MyHeritage family tree (on which her name is given as "Margareth Sheehy"), she was born in 1916: https://www.myheritage.com/names/margareth_sheehy (it's the first result on the list).

This obituary for her brother, Raymond SHEEHY, from 2022 states that he was "preceded in death" by a number of relatives including "sisters Margaret Littleton, Cathleen Stipe, Mary Ann Doherty". Therefore, Margaret Ann LITTLETON must have passed away some time before 18 May 2022 (the date of Raymond SHEEHY's death according to this obituary).
https://www.riemannfamily.com/obituaries/raymond-sheehy

She is also not mentioned as surviving in this obituary of her sister Cathleen STIPE from 2006, so it is possible that she already passed away some time before 5 February 2006 (the date of Cathleen's death): https://obits.dallasnews.com/us/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/name/cathleen-sheehy-obituary?id=27045001

Tim 

[Henry W]

GODSAL, Capt Walter Edward Browning RN 1924-2025

Born 3 December 1924 (from BLG 1952)

Died 15 July 2025

m a scion of the CHARLEMONT viscounts.

[colinp]

From the first iteration of this thread:

HERON-MAXWELL Bt – Rachel Mary Macnab nee Heron-Maxwell (dau of 8th Bt) b 30 August 1922 – of France

She died on 21 Dec 2023 aged 101 -  MACNAB, Mrs Roy (Rachel Mary nee HERON-MAXWELL) (1922-2023)

[Henry W]

From Part 2:

BLUNT Bt – Elizabeth Shirley Poustie b 1923 – of Devon

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/C67yHxRmcxs

Died 3 June 2024, aged 101.

[Henry W]

Another from Part 2: 

SUTHERLAND Bt – Nina Marguerite Munro Slater nee Sutherland b 19 May 1923 – of Northumberland

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/AHHFYtwC1HQ

Died 25 May 2024, aged 101.

[Henry W]

From Part 3

Rowley Bt (1786/1836) – June (Judy) Rose Opitz nee Rowley b 16 June 1924 (formerly of Darwin Aus, now of Cambourne, Cambs)

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/CMSKtfr77uo

Died circa April 2025 (exact date not known), aged 100.

[Henry W]

BELLINGHAM Bt - (Stephen) Ramsay BELLINGHAM, born 18 January 1924, of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, is a centenarian if still living.

[colinp]

Henry W posted this from a previous iteration of this thread:

I offer the following with reservations and hopefully a check from Debrett's 2019 for the most recent address

Kathleen Mary NELSON (grandmother of Earl Nelson) nee Burr m 1941 Capt Hon John Marie Joseph Horatio NELSON (d 1970) (NELSON E) [probate records indicate a Kathleen May Nelson d 26.02.2022)

Whilst Debrett's Online gives no address for her, my copy of Debrett's 2008 gives her address in Cape Town, South Africa. Is there any evidence she moved away from South Africa?

In fact DPB online now states she died in 2015

[Ivan Prekajski]

Baroness Horder nee Mary Ross McDougall was married in 1946. I could not find her death notice. Maybe she is alive iand if so liklely centenerian.

[S R Eglesfield]

With regard to Lady Horder, it would appear that her birth was registered in Croydon in Q3 1909 (note that there are two entries under the same reference on Free BMD - one shows her name as Mary Ross McDougall, the other shows it as Mary Rose McDougall). The marriage of a Mary R HORDER to a John M MILNE was registered in Salisbury in Q1 1957: since I can find no other Mary R Horder who this might be, I have surmised that this must be Lady Horder's second marriage. The death of a Mary Ross MILNE, whose year of birth is shown on the GRO index as 1909, was registered in Dacorum in Q2 2000, and I have concluded that this is very likely to have been the former Lady Horder.

[Ivan Prekajski]

I couldn't find her but I must agree with your conclusion. Thank you. 

[David Beamish]

What S R Eglesfield proposes can be further corroborated: the deaths index on ancestry.co.uk shows 11 Jun 1909 as the birthdate of Mary Ross Milne whose death was registered in June 2000. The relevant image on the 1939 register gives the same birthdate for Mary R McDougall (described as a professional singer) whose surname is shown amended to Horder. A notice in The Times of 8 July 1946, page 7, gives details of the wedding on Saturday 6 July:

Wing Commander the Hon. T. M. Horder and Miss M. R. McDougall

The marriage took place on Saturday at St. Marylebone Parish Church of Wing Commander the Hon. Thomas Mervyn Horder, R.A.F.V.R., only son of Lord and Lady Horder, and Miss Mary Ross McDougall, younger daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. W. S. McDougall, of Benloyal, Wallington, Surrey. The Bishop of Willesden officiated and gave an address. He was assisted in the service by the Rev. Hugh J. Matthews.

The bride was given away by her brother, Mr. John McDougall, and was attended by four children and by one older bridesmaid. Mr. James Robertson was best man. A reception was held at the Royal Academy of Music, by permission of Sir Stanley Marchant, the principal.

[Ivan Prekajski]

Stella Jane nee Duggan, Baroness Mabane (widow and 2nd w of the 1st and last Baron Mabane) was married in 1944 so it is likely she is a centenarian if still alive. 

I have her born 20 August 1908. 

[S R Eglesfield]

If Lady Mabane was born on 20 August 1908, it seems unlikely that she would still be alive. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_living_people, the world's oldest living person whose age has been validated was born on 21 August 1909. However, https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/william-mabane-24-13n3pcq gives Lady Mabane's year of birth as 1920, and if that is correct she could well still be alive.

[Henry W]

Debrett's Online records Lady Mabane's death in 2017.

[David Beamish]

The 1939 Register gives Lady Mabane's date of birth as 20 August 1908, and so it seems unlikely that she would have lived until 2017 and then died unnoticed.

[Henry W]

David - I found the same 1939 Register entry, nonetheless, there is some evidence she lived to a grand old age:

THE LADY STELLA JANE MABANE TRUST registered in Jersey in 2017, and lapsed by 2019.  Its difficult to summise what has gone on here, but:

- This doesn't mean she was resident in Jersey - the trust could have been registered there for reasons of tax efficiency.

- The registration in 2017 suggests she might have died that year, and the trust was a vehicle to help distribute her estate.

- More information would definitely help.

[Ivan Prekajski]

Thank you all for helping about Ladu Mabane.

[colinp]

For what it's worth Stella Mabane does not appear on the list "Deaths aged 107+ since 2009" as having died in 2017

Oldest People in Britain

[Tim]

HUTCHISON Bt (ext 1972) – Morna LANG nee HUTCHISON then BERRY b 5 Aug 1925 (of Surrey)

Mrs LANG turned 100 on 5 August and appears to still be living (as of 11 August):

https://www.ariacare.co.uk/stowford-house/a-heartwarming-visit-to-island-farm-donkey-sanctuary-2-2-2/

Tim

[S R Eglesfield]

Lady Mabane was part of the Irish diaspora in Argentina, where four Duggan brothers from Ballymahon, County Longford, including her grandfather, arrived in the nineteenth century. I note that her entry in the 1939 Register shows her christian names in English, but that they have also been entered in the margin there in Spanish (as "Estela Juana").

 

Lady Mabane was a daughter of Julián DUGGAN (23 II 1869 - 20 VI 1933) and his wife (married 19 IV 1899), Angela CASEY (27 X 1879 - 17 II 1953). Interestingly, one of her sisters, Angela Mary DUGGAN (25 III 1904 - 13 III 1956), was also married to a Peer, having become the first wife of the future 2nd Baron Windlesham on 6 June 1929. Another sister, Beatrice M DUGGAN (22 X 1922 - 2006) was the wife (married 11 VIII 1945) of Count Martin Robert Marie DE LESSEPS (4 XII 1915 - 24 VI 1981), a grandson of the developer of the Suez Canal.

 

Julián Duggan and his wife were both first cousins of Alfred Hubert DUGGAN (29 V 1875 - 5 XI 1915), whose father Thomas DUGGAN (18 XI 1838 - 8 VI 1913) was a brother of Julián's father, John DUGGAN (1828 - 22 II 1910), and whose mother, née Marcela Juana CASEY (16 V 1845 - 1922), was the sister of Eduardo CASEY (20 IV 1847 - 23 VII 1906), the father of Julián's wife, née Angela Casey.

 

Alfred Hubert Duggan was the first husband (married 1 V 1902) of Grace Elvina HINDS (14 IV 1879 - 29 VI 1958), whose second husband (married 2 I 1917) was the 1st and last Marquess Curzon of Kedleston. By her first marriage, the Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston, GBE, as she eventually became, had three children: Alfred León DUGGAN (1903 - 1964), a historical novelist; Hubert John DUGGAN (24 VII 1904 - 25 X 1943), MP (Conservative) for Acton from 1931 until his death, who was the first husband (married 1928, divorced 1929) of Joan Molesworth DUNN (1908 - 1982), the third daughter of Sir James Hamet DUNN, 1st Bt (29 X 1874 - 1 I 1956); and Grace Lucille Marcella DUGGAN (23 XI 1907 - 26 XII 1995), the first wife (married 18 V 1927, divorced 1961) of Edward Denis RICE (30 X 1899 - 1 IX 1973), of that landed gentry family, of Dane Court, Kent, by whom she was the mother of Caroline Helen RICE (21 V 1931 - 9 XI 2016), who was herself the wife (married 11 X 1950) of the 3rd Earl of Plymouth.

[Henry W]

From the first iteration of this thread:

PELLY Bt – Ursula Elspeth Malloch Brown nee Pelly (descendant of the 5th son of the 1st Bt) b 31 Dec 1921

groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/OOtNuxSGF8Q

Died 1 August 2025

[colinp]

Interview with Jean Constance Toynbee nee Asquith b (Debrett's) 1920 (Burke's) 1921 and formerly of Somerville College, Oxford and scion of the Earls of Oxford and Asquith.  The interview confirms she was born 6 November 1920.

The oldest living Somervillian? - Somerville College Oxford

[colinp]

From the first iteration of this thread:-

PARKER Bt – Laurence Frederick Cyril Parker (descendant of 2nd son of 1st Bt) b 16 June 1922

Laurence Parker  died in 2003 -  PARKER, Laurence [Larry] Frederick Cyril (1922-2003)

[colinp]

PEASE Bt (1920) - Elizabeth Theresa Churcher nee Wilson b 30 Oct 1920  - the last Burke's P&B gives her address in Frankson, Victoria, Australia.  She descends from the yst dau of the 1st Bt - a deceased female collateral line restored in DPB online. 

[colinp]

She wasn't on my list but Hon Mrs Margaret Phyllis Davies nee Cocksworth died in 2020 aged 102. See note from Stockport Grammar School:-

Margaret Davies née Cocksworth (OS Former Member of Staff until 1944)

 Tuesday 27th October 2020

The School was saddened to receive the news that Former Member of Staff during the war, Mrs Margaret Davies née Cocksworth, has passed away aged 102.

Our thanks to Old Stopfordian Alan Worcester (OS 1944) for informing the school.

Last year we received the following recollections from Margaret’s daughter, Helen Johnson:

My mother, Margaret Davies, taught at the school during the war.  She had fond memories of teaching the younger boys, especially of their excitement about her readings from the newly published “Hobbit”.  She used to recount how they would greet her outside the classroom asking “Miss, Miss, is it the Hobbit today?”

Margaret Davies née Cocksworth - Stockport Grammar School

She was the d of John George COCKSWORTH and m 1942 Hon Francis Ronald DAVIES (1920-2008) yst son of the 1st Baron Darwen.  A probate search reveals she died on 2 Oct 2020, probate granted 9 May 2021

[colinp]

From the original iteration of this thread -

DILLON V - Arnold Charles Dillon (descended from 4th son of 1st Viscount) b 1920 - of Canada?

He died in 1987 - see his memorial stone  CPL Arnold C. Dillon (1920-1987) - Find a Grave Memorial

The other name is his father Capt Arnold Michael DIllon (1892-1955)

[colinp]

In fact I realise I didn't have on my list Arnold Dillon's sister Mary Louise Margarette Dillon b 1917 m 1944 Dennis Bishop, Flying Officer RAF Vol Reserve

[Ivan Prekajski]

 Hon Mrs Margaret Phyllis Davies nee Cocksworth died in 2020 aged 102 was born on July 30th 1918. 

[colinp]

Scotlandspeople records the death aged 101 (regd 2022 in Glasgow, Martha St) of Charmian Kathar[ine Chauncy] DUNLOP (DPB online states middle name Katherine), m/m/n Chauncy.  She m 1947 Capt William Beckett DUNLOP (1915-1970) yr s of Sir Thomas Dunlop, 2nd Baronet (cr 1916) 

[colinp]

From the 3rd iteration of this thread:-

PORTLAND E – Countess Sophie Mechtild Marie Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona nee Bentinck b 10 June 1924 

A poster on nobiliana has kindly confirmed that she died in 2015 according to Nederlands Adelsboek 2023 - her former husband Count Enrico Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona (b 1926) is shown as decd but no year given.