Stanley Lucas

Who was Stanley Lucas?

Stanley Lucas from Bude, Cornwall was a British supercentenarian, he was the oldest living man verified in Europe since the death of Harry Patch on 25 July 2009. He was also the third-oldest man in the world. Lucas was born at Morwenstow and had two brothers and two sisters.

In 1908 the family moved to Marhamchurch, where he lived until 1948. He left school at 14 and was later called up for service in both the First and Second World Wars. Lucas, however, did not serve due to a pre-diagnosed heart condition. Instead, Lucas helped on the family farm during the First World War. Lucas married Ivy Nancekivell in 1926 and took over the family farm. Lucas was a breeder of Devon cattle and Devon longwool sheep and started a dairy farm in the early 1940s. In 1948 he relocated to live with his family at Poughill, where he continued to live after Ivy's death in 1963. In 1950, Lucas started playing bowls, which he continued to play until 2000, aged 100.

Lucas was a member of Bude Town Council from 1959–70, as well as vice chairman. His daughter said "He has worked hard in his working life and was a teetotaller and non-smoker and since he has been elderly has been well cared for". Lucas was the only verified male supercentenarian who died in 2010.