Indian-born woman Sant Kaur Bajwa, who was the UK’s oldest person, has died at the age of 115 years and 199 days.
She died at home due to a chest infection on Friday and her funeral will be held on Tuesday in a gurdwara in Southall and she will be cremated later.
She was born in Monde ke Mazeera, a small village in Sialkote district of undivided Punjab, which is now in Pakistan, in 1898.
“Her date of birth is registered in the passport, which was issued to her by the Indian authorities,” her grandson Sukh Rai said. “It shows her birth date as January 1, 1898.” Mr Rai, who was brought up Sant Kaur Bajwa after the death of his mother and daughter Surjit Kaur Rai at a young age of 36, says the family never approached the UK government to get her named as the oldest person in the UK. “There is no dispute about the veracity of her age. Her passport shows January 1, 1898 as her date of birth and looking at it the other way. My father and her son-in-law is approaching 90 now, so the dates can be verified that way too, he adds.
Sant, outlived her four children, migrated to Britain in 1966 to live with her daughter and son-in-law Ajit Singh Rai. “Her life was an interesting one as it touched three centuries,” says her grandson Sukh. “She managed to communicate in her own way and did not change her lifestyle or appearance on moving to England.”
“She didn’t change at all and was very determined person who didn’t compromise on her views, religious or others,” he recalls. “Everyone who met her came away saying what a charming lady.” Her longevity, according to her grandson, was definitely down to her lifestyle.