Charlotte Hughes
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Charlotte at home in Marske for a chat and a cup of tea.
Charlotte Marion Hughes (nee Milburn) was born on 1st August 1877, she became a schoolteacher at the age of 13. At the age of 63 after she had retired she married Noel Hughes who died in 1980 aged 103.
She kept in good health into extreme old age, on her 108th birthday she was invited to 10 Downing Street for tea with Maggie Thatcher. At 110 she became one of the oldest passengers to fly on Concorde to New York where she met the mayor and also appeared on American television.
Maggie Thatcher also payed Charlotte a visit in her own home in Marske before she had to move into a nursing home in Redcar in 1991. Although she had become wheelchair bound she still remained mentally alert and sharp to the end of her life.
Charlotte died on 17th March1993 aged 115 years 228 days the longest lived person in the United Kingdom.
