George Frederick Ives | |
---|---|
Born | November 17, 1881 |
Died |
April 12, 1993 (aged 111 years, 146 days) | (aged 111)
Place of birth | Brighton, England |
Place of death | British Columbia, Canada |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | British Army |
Years of service | 1899–1902 |
Unit | Imperial Yeomanry |
George Frederick Ives (17 November 1881 – 12 April 1993) was the last surviving veteran of the Boer Wars. George Ives became known in the UK after a piece in the Peterborough Column in the Daily Telegraph. His record as oldest British veteran, at 111 years and 146 days, of any war was broken on 1 November 2007 by First World War veteran Henry Allingham.
Biography[]
Ives was born at Brighton, England.[1] The family worked for the Tidmarsh family. He worked in his father's work shop in Bristol until 1899.[2] That December, Ives was eager to enlist after hearing that the British had been defeated at Colenso, Magersfontein.[2]
In the Boer War, George fought with the Imperial Yeomanry, along with 122 other veterans, of the British Army in South Africa.[2]
Ives emigrated to Canada in 1903 with his father and purchased 160 acres (0.65 km2) of land for ten dollars.[3] He was rejected from service in World War I because of a heart murmur.[3]
In 1910, he married Kay Nelson.[3] The couple had three sons and three daughters.[3] Nelson disliked hard-life of the prairies, so the family moved in 1919 to White Rock, British Columbia.[3] Ives owned a farm there and eventually retired from it in 1941.[3] He looked and found another job because he said that his retirement was an excuse to change jobs. So until 1956, 15 years later, he worked in a shipyard building wooden scows, and confirmed his retirement.[3]
The couple had resided in that same house until 1984, until moving into a retirement home.[4] He attended the Albert Hall service on Remembrance day 1992 in England and met Queen Elizabeth and her mother; Baroness Margaret Thatcher, and Prime Minister John Major.[4] Ives died on 12 April 1993 at aged 111 years, 146 days in Canada.[4]
Notes[]
Sources[]
- Davies, David T. (1996). Canada From Afar. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-252-0.
External links[]
The original article can be found at George Frederick Ives and the edit history here.