Happy 106th, Hilda

Hilda Jackson

THE Wright Brothers made their first flight, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for Physics, Delhi replaced Calcutta as the capital of India — and 1903 was also the year Hilda Jackson was born.

The great-grandmother — believed to be Lancashire’s oldest woman — celebrates her 106th birthday today.

The fiercely independent centenarian lived on her own in Harrow Avenue, Hollins, before moving to Werneth Lodge Care Home in Manchester Road when she was 102.

One of three sisters, Hilda’s father was a butcher who ran four shops in Oldham.

Her late husband, Herbert, was a maintenance engineer with the Co-op and Hilda was a telephonist at Platt Brothers Engineering during her working life.

Her only son, Peter, died following a heart attack in 2004. Hilda has three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Hilda will celebrate her special birthday with a party for fellow residents, staff and family members.

The former world’s oldest woman — Kazakhstanian Sakhan Dosova — died in May aged 130 while Europe’s former oldest woman, Amy Hulmes of Bury, died aged 114 earlier this year.

It is thought that Hilda is now the county’s oldest woman following the death of Hilda Nichols (aged 107) in Preston in February.

Catching Hilda up is Elizabeth Stott, who lives in a Bacup care home. She celebrated her 105th birthday in March.