Annie Turnbull

Who was Annie Turnbull?

Annie Ellis Turnbull was, at the time of her death, aged 111 years, 347 days, the oldest person in the United Kingdom since the death of Eunice Bowman on 16 July 2010. Turnbull had been the oldest person in Scotland since the death of Alexina Calvert on 19 September 2008. When asked about the secret of her long life, she said "keeping calm".

Born in Haywood, Lanarkshire, Turnbull moved to Stoneyburn, West Lothian, around 1902. After leaving school at the age of 14 she moved to Edinburgh. She went into service as a table-maid, a job she held for most of her life. She worked in private residences, where she met Rudyard Kipling and Gordon Jackson. She retired aged seventy-six. She lived without hot water until she was 92.

Turnbull moved into the Victoria Manor Care Home prior to her 110th birthday in 2008. She credited her longevity to hard work and a daily glass of sherry.

She had 2 daughters, 4 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren. She died on 3 September 2010 at the Victoria Manor care home in Leith, 18 days before what would have been her 112th birthday. After her death, 111-year-old Elsie Steele became the oldest living British person.