Australia’s oldest woman Lorna Henstridge dies in South Australia

Having lived through most of the 20th century, Australia’s oldest woman and great-grandmother Lorna Henstridge has peacefully passed away, aged 112.

Her daughter Jennie Jacobs, 80, confirmed the news saying her mother had “a good innings*”.

Ms Henstridge lived independently until she was 105, before moving into an aged-care facility at Bordertown in South Australia’s South East.

She was a great grandmother to nine children, grandmother to seven and mother to three.

Ms Henstridge still owned her home at Keith, which is about 225km from Adelaide and where she spent much of her life and regularly contributed to the local community.

Ms Henstridge was born in Adelaide in 1914, before she moved to live on a farm in Bute on the Yorke Peninsula with her two siblings.

She previously said it was in Bute that she developed her love of horses.

Eventually, Ms Henstridge moved back to Adelaide to live with her grandmother in her young adulthood before moving to Keith where she met her husband, Alan.

Throughout her life, the great-grandmother contributed to her community, whether she was fundraising for the Red Cross or helping army troops.

She even became the president of the golf club in Keith – the same club where her husband was the club champion.

Ms Jacobs said on her mother’s birthday this year on June 6 that it was “amazing” Ms Henstridge had reached 112.

She said her mum was still able to go out and have coffee as well as enjoy and hold a conversation.

“That’s probably the most amazing thing about it,” Ms Jacobs said.

WHO IS THE WORLD’S OLDEST WOMAN?
According to Guinness World Records (GWR), the world’s oldest person is the UK’s Ethel Caterham, who became the first-ever British person to reach the ripe old age of 117 on her August 21 birthday last month.

Born in 1909, Ms Caterham was named not just the world’s oldest woman but the overall oldest person in 2025, after confirmation from experts LongeviQuest, the GWR site states.

Since then, she’s been celebrated around the world and was even paid a visit by British monarch King Charles III himself.

A born adventurer, at 18 Ethel boarded a ship on her own in 1927 and made the three-week voyage to India to start a new life abroad*.

After working as a nanny for a British family, she met her future husband, Major Norman Caterham of the British Army, in 1931. He later rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Army Pay Corps.

Ethel and Norman married at Salisbury Cathedral in 1933. When Norman was posted to Hong Kong, Ethel moved abroad once more and went on to set up a nursery for both local and British children in Hong Kong.

Eventually settling back in England, the couple had two daughters, Gem and Anne.

Sadly, Ethel lost Norman in 1976 and has outlived both her daughters, but three loving granddaughters and five great-grandchildren remain on hand to celebrate her extraordinary and long life today.

“Her longevity* is becoming truly historic, especially in terms of the UK,” LongeviQuest CEO Ben Meyers said. “After becoming the first British person to reach age 116 a year ago, she is now the first British person to reach 117.

“She is consistently adding to her British longevity record, which was previously set by Charlotte Hughes, who passed away in 1993.”

Ethel is the 13th oldest person of all time and she remains the last living person born before 1910.

“Simply put, she is incredible,” Mr Meyers said.

Although she’s now lived longer than anyone else on Earth, the GWR site states that Ethel was once one of the babies of her family as the second youngest of eight children. Longevity runs in the family: Ethel’s sister Gladys Babilas lived to the age of 104 years and 78 days.

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GLOSSARY

• a good innings: as in cricket, this expression means someone has had a long and successful life
• abroad: overseas
• longevity: living for a long time

EXTRA READING

NSW’s oldest woman dies at 110

Australia’s oldest man turns 110

World’s oldest person dies at 119

QUICK QUIZ

1. How old was Australia’s oldest woman Lorna Henstridge when she passed away?
2. Ms Henstridge managed to live independently until what age?
3. Where was Ms Henstridge born and in what year?
4. Ms Henstridge had a particular love of which animals?
5. Who currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest woman and how old is she?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Living from 1914 to the present
Work with a classmate and brainstorm five of the biggest changes and innovations that would have taken place since 1914 until now.

Biggest changes since 1914 to present day:

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What are some future changes that current kids might experience if they live to be 112:

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Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Living to 112 allows you to experience two or even three more lifetimes than some people get to experience due to illness or accidents.

What would you like to experience in 112 years of living?

What do you think would be a good age to live to, to allow you to experience all life has to offer and see grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Lorna Henstridge was born in Adelaide in 1914, the same year World War I began. Imagine you were there living through that time too and had some role to play in little Lorna’s life as she had her first years in wartime and then grew up.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.