Eva Morris

Not to be confused with Neva Morris Eva Morris née Sharpe (8 November 1885 – 2 November 2000) was the oldest recognised person in the world, by the Guinness Book of Records, from December 1999 until November 2000. She was a native of Stone, Staffordshire, England.

Morris had become the oldest person in the UK following the death of Annie Jennings (12 November 1884 – 20 November 1999), who died only eight days after turning 115. Morris, for her part, died in her sleep at 1.25 am, just six days short of her 115th birthday at the Autumn House Nursing Home in Stone. She was the last surviving person documented as born in 1885 and the person with the earliest birthdate that lived into the year 2000.

There had been claims that a Dominican woman, Elizabeth Israel, was 125 years old, but the Guinness Book of Records said Morris had taken the title because her date of birth could be fully authenticated.

Morris attributed her longevity to whisky and boiled onions. She was said by friends to enjoy the occasional cigarette and to have ridden a bicycle.

She worked as a domestic servant and was widowed in the 1930s. Morris lived in her own flat until she was 107, when she moved to a nursing home after a chest infection. Her only child Winnie died of cancer in 1975 at the age of 62. Eva Morris died less than a week before her 115th birthday, making her the woman (and person) closest to have reached this age without actually doing so.