The oldest person in Britain has died at the age of 112

Ellen Manning
Updated

The oldest person in Britain has died at the age of 112, her family has revealed.

Grace Jones, known to her friends as "Amazing Grace", died in her sleep at her home last Friday (June 7).

Born on September 16, 1906 - only five years after the death of Queen Victoria - she lived through 26 prime ministers, five monarchs and survived both world wars.

Grace, who took the title of the oldest UK person last summer after Olive Boar's death at the age of 113, put down her longevity to a daily dram of Famous Grouse whisky.

Grace Jones who is celebrating her 112th birthday today, Broadway, Worcestershire, 16.9.2018. See NTI copy NTIGRACE: Britain's oldest person is celebrating her 112th birthday today (Sun) and revealed the secret to her long life is a dram of WHISKY every day for the last six decades. Grace Jones, known to her friends as "Amazing Grace", reached the landmark age after the death of Olive Evelyn Boar, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, in August at the age of 113. And, by coincidence, she also takes the title from another Grace Jones, a South Londoner, born 1899, who also died at the age of 113, in November 2013.
Grace Jones, the oldest person in Britain, has died (Picture: SWNS)
FILE PIC - Grace Jones who turns 112 on sunday 16/09/18. See NTI copy NTIGRACE: Britain's oldest person is celebrating her 112th birthday today (Sun) and revealed the secret to her long life is a dram of WHISKY every day for the last six decades. Grace Jones, known to her friends as "Amazing Grace", reached the landmark age after the death of Olive Evelyn Boar, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, in August at the age of 113. And, by coincidence, she also takes the title from another Grace Jones, a South Londoner, born 1899, who also died at the age of 113, in November 2013.
Grace put her longevity down to her daily dram of whisky (Picture: SWNS)

Her daughter, Deirdre McCarthy, 80, said her mum was very fit and active right up until the very end.

She said: "Only last Wednesday we were playing carpet bowls. She got tired, as she would at her age, but she never grumbled and she was always active. She was her usual self last week.

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"Everyone at the home has been upset. She was very popular, the leading lady.

"What an age though, 112 and three quarters. She lived a very fulfilling life. She did everything with style."

Grace married husband Lenoard in 1933 (Picture: SWNS)
Grace married husband Lenoard in 1933 (Picture: SWNS)

Mrs Jones, whose father was a vicar, wed chief engineer Leonard Roderick Jones in 1933 in Liverpool. They were married for 53 years until he died in 1986, aged 79.

They had one daughter and spent most of their married life moving around the country - 28 times in total - living in Devonshire, Cheshire and North Wales.

She moved to a care home in Broadway, Worcestershire, in 2005 and got regular media attention as she hit milestone birthdays.

Asked for the secret to her longevity, she said: "I have a little drop of whisky with a drop of water every night.

"Whisky is very good for you. I started having a nightly tot of it when I turned 50 so I've been having it every night for the last 60 years and I certainly have no intention of stopping now.

"My doctor said 'keep up with the whisky Grace, it's good for your heart'.

"I don’t worry, I think that’s the worst thing you can do."

Grace’s funeral is being held at St Michael & All Angels CofE Church, in Church Street, Broadway, on Tuesday, July 2 from 2pm.

According to the Oldest in Britain website, the title of the oldest person is now understood to be passed to 111-year-old Dorothy Payne, of Sevenoaks, Kent, who was born on August 5, 1907.