WORLD'S OLDEST WOMAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21520, 17 June 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

WORLD'S OLDEST WOMAN

CELEBRATING 122 ND BIRTHDAY Mrs. Catherine Brickland, the world's oldest woman, celebrated her 122 nd. birthday at Roscrea, Ireland, on April 22. When called upon in the morning by an interviewer, at her country home at Ballycommon, North Oflaly, Mrs. Brickland was found in a very cheerfid mood. She has worked hard all her life. " I always loved work," she said, " and I attribute my long and healthy life to it." Mrs. Brickland says she remembers the introduction of the stage coach, and saw it make its first journey. It was verv dangerous to travel alone 111 those days, she i&id, as gunmen and bandits frequently held up the coach at the point of the pistol and robbed passengers of their jewellery. If a woman had no valuables in her possession the highwaymen would take her into captivity in the mountains and hold her for ransom. In the Irish Famine of 1847 Mrs. Brickland saw hundreds of people die on the roadside. When asked for her opinion of " Miss 1933," Mrs Brickland said: " 1 suppose youth must have its fling, and we must be content with the times."