Birthday celebrations for 100-year-old Gwen
Lillian Gwendoline Houlton, 100yrs old, 15th Feb
A MILESTONE age has been reached by a Driffield woman who recently celebrated her hundredth birthday.
On Friday February 15 birthday celebrations for Lillian Gwendoline Houlton - who goes by the name Gwen, began with over 30 friends and family visiting to wish her well.
The party was organised by Gwen’s daughter-in-law Elizabeth Houlton.
She also enjoyed receiving a birthday card from Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II.
Gwen, who has lived her whole life in East Yorkshire, was born in Hull in 1913, before moving to Hornsea where she attended school.
A family woman through and through, Gwen was the 10th born child of 11 siblings, with five brothers and six sisters - she however did not have children of her own and adopted her only son, David in 1950 and has one grandaughter Emma Victoria.
David, 63, of said: “She is a caring, loving person who would do anything for her family. If anyone was in trouble she would solve any problems they had. She has been a fantastic mother.”
In 1939 Gwen married George Dale Houlton who was employed in a a successful building company in Hull - Geo Houlton & sons Ltd.
However when George was sent to India during World War Two Gwen moved back to Hull, commuting to Beverley where she worked in a nursery.
She began her working life for her family’s buisness, S & E Wright - a grocers and bakery
A proficient pianist, Gwen often played to large audiences in Hornsea at the Floral Hall, and was frequently called upon to play the church organ.
“I remember enjoying mum playing the piano - she had a repertoire and I always knew when she was coming to the end because it was always the same songs,” said David.
Gwen moved to Driffield in 1998 and currently lives at Taylors field, in Kingsmill Road, Driffield where she still has an active social life, and spends time with her son and her friends.
- Notable events in Gwen’s birth year, were: The first Chelsea Flower Show; Emily Davison of the Suffragette movement runs out in front of the King’s horse at Epsom Derby and Henry Brearley invents stainless steel.
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Weather for Beverley
Wednesday 22 May 2013
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Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 13 C
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