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Oldest Living Queenslander Officially a Supercentenarian

on Monday, January 11, 2016

There are only three living supercentenarians in Australia but as of last week, there are four.

Evelyn Vigor, born 9 January 1906, turned 110 - making her the oldest living Queenslander and the fourth oldest living Australian.

She has outlived her parents, siblings and children. With 12 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren, Evelyn celebrated with family members from across Australia including grandson Jason who is turning 40 on the same day.

Evelyn has lived through almost every technological breakthrough of the 20th century including radio, commercial air travel, penicillin, television, home computers, the internet and mobile phones.

Evelyn is a true-blooded Queenslander, being born on a lucerne farm in Laidley, west of Brisbane. Born premature, she wasn’t expected to survive when the doctor wrapped her tiny body in cotton wool, placed her in a wooden box and told her parents to "hope for the best".

While many centenarians and supercentenarians have shared their advice on how to live longer, Evelyn said she has no secret other than “depending on the Lord” to carry her through.  

Despite her insistence of no specific reason for her long life, the caring team at Carinity Aged Care – Clifford (where Evelyn has resided since 2012) have speculated it has to do with her love of horses.

“She told us she was a champion show jumper and was still riding into her mid-eighties,” Carinity Lifestyle Carer Lynette Harbour said.

“When she came here she’d been living alone in Eagle Junction and decided at 104 it was time to retire.”

Evelyn’s gorgeous wedding photo sits alongside many other residents’ pictures on the wall at Carinity Clifford. She met her husband James Edward Vigor, a Kingaroy dairy farmer at the 1929 Ekka and married him two years later. They were married for 50 years until James' death in 1981 and had three children.

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