The second oldest person in Britain who claimed the secret to her long life was a daily tipple of boiled CABBAGE WATER has died – just weeks before her 112th birthday.
Spinster Dorothy Baldwin, who was the 38th oldest person in the world, passed away at the Springfield Care Home in Bulwell, Nottingham, on New Year’s Day.
Born to Victorian parents on February 8, 1902, before the common use of electric light or gas cookers, Dorothy lived through 24 Prime Ministers, five Monarchs and survived two World Wars.
Dorothy had no siblings and never married and put her longevity down to drinking boiled cabbage water every day.
Her second cousin, Kay Hazlewood, 85, said: “She was such a character and I think it was that character, which was in her heart, which kept her going for so long – and the spartan, simple life she led.”
Dorothy lived in Nottingham her whole life and attended High Pavement School, in Stanley Road, where she enjoyed studying history and geography.
She started working as a cashier for the London City and Midland Bank just one week before the end of the First World War and remained there for 38 years.
A keen pianist, Dorothy became an Associate of the London College of Music and performed with the Nottingham Symphony Orchestra.
Mrs Hazlewood added: “She was very contented in her later life and she was really feisty, if she didn’t want to do something, she wouldn’t.
“I didn’t know her until her 90th birthday. She was 104 by the time she could no longer live in her own home.”
Lucy Wells, senior carer at Springfield Care Home, paid tribute to her most famous resident saying: “She was an inspirational lady who I had known for almost nine years.
“I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone who will have an effect on me the way she did. She was an amazing lady.”
The oldest person in Britain remains Ethel Lang, of Barnsley, South Yorks., who is 113.
The world in 1902;
April 2 – first motion picture theatre opens in Los Angeles, US.
April 13 – A new car speed record of 74 mph (119 km/h) is set in Nice, France, by Leon Serpollet.
Apr 18 – Denmark is first country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals.
August 9 – Edward VII is crowned king after the death of Queen Victoria.
July 11 – Lord Salisbury retires as prime minister.
October 16 – The first borstal (youth offenders’ institution) opens in Borstal, Kent.
