Britain’s oldest married couple

Britain’s oldest married couple, Sprightly Phyllis Tarrant and her husband Ralph, Phyllis celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday. They have been married for 75 years, a combined age of 205. They still love in their own home, Phyllis does her own cooking and her husband does shopping to the supermarket. They put their longevity down to ‘getting on with each other, a good diet, exercise, avoiding cigarettes and a tot of whisky each night’.

Phyllis was born in Sheffield in 1908 and worked as chief typist at a local steelworks. Ralph left school aged 13 and started work as an office boy at a local engineering firm before joining an insurance company where he remained until he retired in 1968. He also served in the RAF as a corporal in 201 Coastal Command during the war years.

They first met when Phyllis was 14 and four years later their romance began. They married on July 8, 1933, and have two daughters Brenda, 71, and Christine, 61, with seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Phyllis is a talented pianist, she loves opera and attends church every Sunday where she is also an active member of the luncheon club and also a life-long Sheffield Wednesday supporter.
The couple will be joined by family and friends for a party to celebrate their 75th anniversary and Phyllis’ birthday at a hotel in the city later this month.

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