Reginald Titheridge aged 99 - was he the oldest family member?

The last blog got me wondering 

“Who was or is the eldest family member?”
“Has any family member made it to a century?”

I was only able to check the English death records so there may be other individuals who have reached a greater age than those shown below. (Note ages are as shown in official death records)

If you know someone who can be added to the list below, either someone who is still living or someone who has died, please add a comment

Women who have reached 95 or more

Louisa Titheridge(nee Forder)

born 1852 in West Tisted, Hampshire and died in 1947 in Basingstoke, Hampshire age 95. Wife of John Titheridge and mother of 7 children.

Gertrude Carrie Titheridge

born 1898 in Droxford, Hampshire and died in 1993 in Alton, Hampshire aged 95. Unmarried daughter of Charles Bernard Titheridge and Edith Adela Aldridge.

Ellen Maud Titheradge (nee Clover)

born 1901 and died in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire in 1996 aged 95. Wife of Edward Albert Titheradge and mother of 3 children

Dorothy Florence Titheradge (nee Howarth)

born 1905 and died in Waltham Forest, Essex in 2001 aged 95. Wife of John Alfred (Jack) Titheradge. No children, adopted child died in WW2 aged 5.

Grace Maud Titheridge(nee King)

born 1890 and died 1986 in Shepway, Kent aged 96. Second wife of John Titheridge and mother of one son who was killed in WW2

Annie Elizabeth Titheridge (nee Cook)

born 1900 and died 1997 aged 97 in Brighton, Sussex. Wife of Reginald Herbert Titheridge. No known children.

Gladys Winifred Titheradge (nee Marshall)

Born 1907 and died 2005 aged 97 in Slough, Berkshire.  Wife of Edward Henry Titheradge and mother of three children.

Men who have reached 93 or more

James Titheridge

 born 1853 and died in 1946 in Surrey South West aged 93; unidentified individual.

Francis Titheridge

born 1847 and died in 1941 in Gosport, Hampshire aged 94; unidentified individual

Reginald Herbert Titheridge

born 1900 in Westhampnett, Sussex and died 1994 in Hove, Sussex aged 94; son of George Titheridge and Eliza Mills, husband of Annie Cook. No known children

Walter Thomas Titheridge 

born 1911 in Islington, London and died 2005 in Luton, Bedfordshire aged 94; Son of Walter Edward Titheridge and Miriam Thomas, husband of Joyce Welsted and father of two children

The oldest person found so far is

Reginald George William Titheridge

Born in 1910 in Droxford, Hampshire and died aged 99 in his hundredth year on 17 March 2010 at Shedfield, Hampshire. Son of William Titheridge and Beatrice Daysh, husband of Caroline Paice and father of two children.

Please add a comment if you can fill in any information on any of the above individuals or other family members who have reached a great age.

John Titheridge of West Tisted- the First Nonogenarian

West Tisted Church

The England Wales Death Index first started showing the age on death in the 1866 records.  Looking at these death records for all our family members you can see that the average age on death is gradually increasing.  In the first decade from 1866 – 1875 the average age on death was 28.1 years whereas by the last decade, 1996-2005, the average age on death was 77.9 years.  This is illustrated on the graph below.

The most noticeable change is that in the decade beginning 1866 47% of all recorded deaths were of babies and children under the age of 10 and just 5% of deaths were of individuals who had reached the age of 80 or more.  By the decade beginning 1996 the situation had reversed so that 0% of deaths were of individuals aged 10 and under and 46% of the deaths were individuals aged 80 plus.

Between 1866 and 1966 just 7 individuals reached the age of 90, the first of these was a John Titheridge who died in 1905.  On 31 May 1905 an article appeared in several national newspapers reporting the death of John Titheridge the oldest inhabitant of West Tisted Hampshire who had just died aged 99.  The piece went on to say that for 43 years he was clerk and sexton of the parish church, a post his father had filled for 50 years before him.  I was quite excited – here I had found our oldest family member.  I checked the West Tisted parish records only to find the entry

“John Titheridge buried 14 May 1905 having died in Alresford Infirmary aged 90”

This was confirmed by the England and Wales Death Index

However since John was christened on 2 April 1814 and buried 14 May 1905 I believe he was 91 on death. 
The motto is don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers – ALWAYS go back to original sources to check the data.

John Titheridge was one of seven children born to Richard Titheradge (born 1779- died 1861) and Mary Harding (born 1780 - died 1855).  Richard was from Cheriton, Hampshire but settled in West Tisted about 1810 residing there until his death in 1861.

The children of Richard and Mary were

Sarah born 1802 Ropley, died 1883
Annie born 1804 Ropley, married William Oakley in 1826
Elizabeth born 1807 Ropley, married John Read in 1827
Harriett born 1810 West Tisted, married William Windebank in 1830
John born 1814 West Tisted, married Ann Paice in 1842, died 1905
James born 1817 West Tisted, married Edna Stevens in 1860, died 1868
Richard born 1820 West Tisted, married Ann Pullinger in 1845, died 1912

As well as John reaching the age of 90 his brother Richard died in 1912 at the age of 92.

Please add a comment if you can add any information about John or Richard.

  

100 Years Ago Today – The Sinking of the HMS Maori

The following report appeared in The Times on Monday 10 May 1915

A Destroyer Mined

Rescuers Fired on and Captured

Whilst operating yesterday off the Belgian coast, the torpedo destroyer Maori, Commander B W Barrow R.N., struck a mine about 2 miles north west of Weilingen lightship; the crew took to the boats when the ship was sinking.

HMS Crusader, Lieutenant-Commander Thomas K Maxwell, R.N., which was in company, lowered her boats to assist in picking up crew of Maori, but the enemy then opened fire from shore batteries, and Crusader, after being under fire for one and a half hours had to leave her boats and retire.

It is reported from German sources that the crew of Maori and the boats’ crew of Crusader, seven officers and 88 men in all, were taken prisoners into Zeebrugge.  The Maori was one of the F class, known as the “Tribal” class, which were the first “ocean going” destroyers in the Navy, having better sea-keeping qualities than the earlier types.  She was 1035 tons and she had Parsons turbine engines with yarrow boilers, capable of developing 15,500 h.p. Her armament was two 4in guns and two 18in torpedo tubes.  She was built by Messrs Denny.

The Crusader is of the same class, but is of 1045 tons, driven by oil fuel.

The German Account

Amsterdam May 8

An official telegram from Berlin states:- The British destroyer Maori was sunk off Zeebrugge. The British destroyer Crusader, which tried to come to her help, was forced to retreat and to leave behind the lifeboats which she had launched.

The entire crew of the Maori and the boats’ crews of the Crusader were saved by our vessel and taken to Zeebrugge.  The prisoners number 7 officers and 68 men in all.  Signed Behncke – Reuter

Two days later in the Times a list of seamen believed to be prisoners of the Germans was published and among the list of names was Jack George Ralph Titheridge.

So who was Jack George Ralph Titheridge?

Despite the unusual name care should be taken not to confuse Jack with his namesake and nephew Jack George Ralph Titheridge who was born in 1925 in Scotland.  The Jack George Ralph Titheridge from the Maori was born on 11 February 1895 in Portsea, Hampshire one of two sons born to John Titheridge and Amelia Maud Holland.  On the 1901 census the family were living at 148 Arundel Street, Portsmouth.  By 1911 census sixteen year old Jack had left home and was in the navy working as a boy first class at HMS Impregnable, a Boys training ship based in Devonport.  Jack married Mabel Steains in December 1918 at Paddington, London.  He married a second time in September 1940 to Annie (Nan) Middleton in Stafford, Staffordshire.  Emigration records show that on 24 September 1957 Jack, described as retired and a widow, travelled to Freemantle, Australia on the Iberia.  He died in Australia four months later aged 63 on 24 January 1958 in Perth, Western Australia.  Probate records show that Jack of 32 Manor Close, Havant left £4310 12s 11d.

As previously mentioned Jack was a boy sailor at 16, on his 18^th birthday he joined the navy for a period of 12 years.  His navy record shows he served on many ships between 1910 and 1925 including Ganges, Impregnable, Berwick, Victory, Achilles, Excellent, Forward, Dido, Attenwell, Maori and President.  The record also notes that Jack was missing believed a prisoner of war following the sinking on HMS Maori. And later records that he was a prisoner of war held at Giessen, Germany.  It was over 3 years before he was repatriated to England in October 1918.

If anyone is related to Jack and would like to fill in more details or add a photograph please add a comment or email us.

 

Fareham Cemetery - X marks the spot

View of Fareham Cemetery

I was delighted when I recently found the records of Fareham Cemetery on line. The records were searchable, and gave the exact location of the graves which could be cross referenced with a map of the cemetery. The cemetery was just a mile detour from the route I was driving the next day. What’s more the cemetery contained not one family member but six Titheridge graves and one Titheradge grave.

Fareham is a parish in south east Hampshire. It is situated 12 miles south east of Southampton and 7 miles west of Portsmouth at the north west tip of Portsmouth Harbour on Fareham Creek.

I gathered together a little summary about each of these individuals that I now knew were buried in Fareham, hoping to glean a little more information from the headstones.  Research done I set off with my list and map, and travelled my 1 mile detour off the M27.  I quickly found the cemetery and began to explore on a glorious day eager to find more information for my research. I can only describe the trip as disappointing as grave after grave revealed no remaining headstone just a grassy spot.

I was quite despondent by the time I came to look for the last grave to be found - a Titheradge grave. This was the grave of Richard Cobby Titheradge who was buried in grave 3023. The search was not easy but just as I was giving up hope I spied the rather unusual grave, not with a headstone but in the form of a stone 5 feet long by 4 inches wide. The inscription read "My dear husband Richard Cobby Titheradge who passed away April 3 1936 aged 58 years"

Richard Cobby was the youngest of six children born to James Walter Titheradge and Mary Ann Blaik on 31 August 1877 in Southsea.  In his childhood the family lived in Somers Road and Claremont Terrace Portsea. In July 1898 he joined the navy, but was invalided out in November 1898 while serving on HMS Victory.  By 1901 census he was married to Annie Donaldson and was living at 12 Ivy Street Portsmouth and was a riveter in the dockyard.  By 1911 he was working as a labourer and living at Ranglegh Road.  Richard and Annie had three sons George Augustus born 1901, James Walter born in 1903 and Richard born in 1906.  He died in April 1936.  I would be interested to hear from anyone who can fill in more detail on Richard.

I photographed each area where I estimated there was a Titheridge grave and marked with a cross on the photo. The Titheridge graves belonged to:

1. John Edwin Titheridge who was buried 3 May 1955 in grave 4992.  According to the death records John Edwin was 82 when he died in the Winchester area in 1955. This suggested he was born in 1873 but birth record show he was actually born in 1876 in Swanmore son of William Titheridge and Eliza Merrit and husband of Annie Miles.

2. Ernest Reginald Titheridge who was buried 18 July 1925 in grave 2177.  Ernest was just 4 years old when he died.  He was born 1921 in Fareham, the youngest son of John Edwin Titheridge and Annie Miles.

3. Peter Albert Titheridge who was buried 2 April 1941 in grave 3574. Peter Albert was 1 when he died. He was born in Gosport in 1939 son of Leonard Titheridge and Doris Plummer.

4. Charles Henry Titheridge who was buried 25 October 1933 in grave 2814.  Charles Henry was 57 when he died in Gosport in1933.  He was born in 1875 in Shedfield son of Charles Titheridge and Elizabeth Emery and was married to Margaret Moon in 1923.

5. Francis Titheridge who was buried 1 April 1941 in grave 3572.  In the death records it shows Francis as aged 94 when he died in Gosport suggesting he was born in 1847.  I could find no records to match this date of birth and name.

6. Frank Titheridge who was buried 14 February 1942.  Frank Titheridge was 60 when he died in Gosport in 1942 suggesting he was born in 1882.  Again I could find no records to match this date of birth and name.

Can anyone tell us about their family graves or their local cemetery in either pictures or words?

General view of Fareham Cemetery



X marks grave of Richard Cobby Titheradge



Grave stone of Richard Cobby Titheradge

1. X marks probable grave of John Edwin Titheridge

2 &3. Xs mark probable graves of Peter Albert
and Ernest Reginald Titheridge

4. X marks probable grave of Charles Henry Titheridge



5. X marks probable grave of Francis Titheridge



6. X marks probable grave of Frank Titheridge