9th October 1949

The Channel Islands’ oldest inhabitant dies

Mrs C Buttfield made it to the ripe old age of 104 before dying at St Helier. That made her the oldest resident of the Channel Islands but, while remarkable, her longevity certainly wasn’t unheard-of.

In 1885, Sarah Robinson, who had been the wife of the medical inspector general had also died aged either 104, as reported by some papers, or 114, as printed in the Aberdeen Evening Press of 30 November that year. A Mrs Guppy had reached 101 before dying in February 1928 at the Jersey Home for Infirm and Aged Women, and Mrs Poingdestre reached 103 before dying on the night of 8 October 1894.