Sunderland's oldest woman dies age 109

Jennie Morton was the oldest inhabitant of the North East and was the 18th oldest person in the country. Credit: Handout

A woman who was dubbed Sunderland's oldest woman has died age 109.

Jennie Morton passed away on New Year's Eve at Highcliffe Care Centre, Witherwack.

Ms Morton was the oldest inhabitant of the North East and was the 18th oldest person in the country, according to the website Oldest in Britain. 

Her nephew Ivor Morton said: "Jennie will never be forgotten for her generosity of spirit, her kindness to others and her pragmatic common sense.

"Her whole life was devoted to the service of others, which she carried out with true commitment and compassion in her heart, all blended with a tremendous sense of humour which made her so unique and so unforgettable.

"A life very fully lived."

Mr Morton has shared Ms Morton's life story, growing up in the North East and living through two world wars.

Until her death Jennie Morton was the oldest inhabitant of the North East. Credit: Handout

Jennie Morton was the youngest of four children and was born in May 1913.

Her brother Stanley died of meningitis, aged three in 1905, and her sister died of diphtheria, aged six, in March 1913.

Her eldest brother, William, was killed in the First World War in 1917 at Bullecourt, aged 19. 

Ms Morton, said she remembered the call at the door with the tragic news, so, by the age of four, she was the only child of the marriage left alive. 

Ms Morton's father, Thomas Morton, was a Sunderland compass maker of some note, winning prizes for his work.

Her grandfather, James Morton, had come to Sunderland as a compass maker from the Clyde. 

Ms Morton's father started as an apprentice to his father aged 14 and eventually took over the business, a workshop in Villiers Street, and a further shop at Mill Dam (the Custom House now a theatre), South Shields. 

He had aspired to be a ship's engineer, but his father wished him to work with him in the family firm.

Ms Morton's maternal grandfather, William Todd, owned 13 keels on the Wear taking coal down the river to load on to sailing ships at the mouth of the Wear to be taken down to London.

Jennie Morton was the youngest of four children and was born in May 1913. Credit: Handout

Ms Morton was a bronchitic child and missed a great deal of her first two years at school with illness and led quite a sheltered early life.

One year, when snow was on the ground, she was asked where she had sledged as a child and she said that she was not allowed to do so. Likewise, she was not allowed a bike.

Her father died in 1936. He was profoundly deaf after an accident when he was 17 years old.

Compasses had to be fitted into ships for trials and the compass maker went to sea and was then taken off the ship by pilot boat. 

Thomas, Ms Morton's father, was accompanying his father for a trial. When they came to get off the ship onto the pilot boat, there was a large swell and Ms Morton's grandfather missed the pilot boat, going into the water between it and the ship.

Ms Morton's father, leapt into the water and saved him but, by so doing, broke his eardrums. 

Ms Morton's way of communicating with her father as a child was to stand in front of him and act out what it was she was saying.

Jennie Morton at the age of 30, when she was serving in the RAF during World War Two. Credit: Handout

In the Second World War, Ms Morton was called up in 1941 and joined the WAAF where she trained in catering, eventually ending up at Birdlip Camp in Gloucestershire, near Cheltenham, where she cooked for the officers. 

Ms Morton was demobbed in 1946 and returned home to Sunderland to be with her mother and stayed at home looking after her mother until her death in 1962, aged 86. 

Ms Morton’s great friend, Jean Charman (they had started school on the same day), lived in Otto Terrace.

Ms Charman's family had a warehouse near Jackie White's Market in High Street and ran a wholesale flower business from there which Jennie joined , working there for seven years until the warehouse closed.

Ms Morton then worked in a Laings store in Murton Street selling clothes, shoes, paints and wallpapers, where she worked for three years until her retirement at aged 60. 

Ms Morton had a large family of cousins who all kept in close contact.

She had, of course, outlived them all.

In 1990, Ms Morton moved to a flat in the warden-assisted Peter Stracey House in Fulwell, a very happy home for her. She had a view of the windmill from her windows and lived there for 26 years.

At aged 102, Ms Morton felt she needed to be in care and became a resident of Highcliffe Care Home in Witherwack.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...