NEWSPAPER stories about people reaching their 100th year are becoming more and more frequent as life expectancy improves.

In most card shops, centenary greetings sit on the shelf devoted to landmark ages from 18 onward.

Back in 1907, however, it was a rare person indeed who reached such a milestone – rare enough to warrant a newspaper photo when placing them was difficult and expensive.

Elizabeth Adams, whose death we reported in our November 15 edition, was one of only two people in Swindon Advertiser stories that year judged to merit an image.

The other was the new mayor, WH Stanier. By coincidence his photo appeared in the same edition.

Born in 1806 or 1807, Mrs Adams was alive during the sovereignties of George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria and Edward VII. She was a girl when the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, a middle aged woman America was torn by civil war and lived to see the dawn of powered flight.

“Born at Chiseldon,” we said, “Miss Gosling, as her name was, married Mr Adams, who was also well known in the district.

“For a time they lived at the ‘Spotted Cow,’ Coate, and later took the farm at Wanborough which is known as Earl’s Court.

“From there they went to Calais Farm in the same parish, where her husband died. That was about 20 years ago.

“Mrs Adams then lived with members of her family up to about a year ago last July, when she went to reside with Mrs Lawrence, of Lower Wanborough, who was able to devote more time to looking after her.

“As recently as Monday, October 28, she went for a walk in the garden, with the aid of her stick. She afterwards had tea and chatted until bed-time.

“She then retired, and did not leave her bed again, for she gradually lost strength and passed peacefully and happily away, just after midnight on Monday, November 4.”

New Swindon mayor Alderman William Henry Stanier had been chief clerk to GWR Chief Locomotive Engineer William Dean, and we reported that he was an accomplished student of disciplines as varied as chemistry, geometry and political science.

He had also been instrumental in establishing the borough of Swindon, and gave his name to one of its streets.

His son, Sir William Arthur Stanier, had an even more illustrious career, becoming chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish and giving his name to a highly-regarded class of locomotive.

We said of the Alderman: “He, probably more than any other man in Swindon, has devoted his very best efforts towards securing an educational standard in Swindon of which the town as a whole may be proud.

“Immediately upon his coming to the town in 1871 he interested himself in the science and art classes in connection with the Mechanics Institution, and for a number of years was a teacher in the classes for mathematics, chemistry and engineering subjects.”