Margaret Ann Neve

Margaret Ann Neve ( Marguerite Anne Harvey; 18 May 1792 – 4 April 1903) was a Guernseywoman who was the second validated supercentenarian after Geert Adriaans Boomgaard. She lived in Saint Peter Port on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel.

Family history

Her family was well-established on the island. Her father, John Harvey, was born in Guernsey in 1771 to John (1736–1778) and Margaret Ann (née Parker; 1736–1790) Harvey. Her father was involved in merchant shipping and privateering, earning a great amount of wealth over the years, and married Elizabeth Guille when they were both 19. John died on 4 December 1820, aged 49, while Elizabeth lived with her remaining children in a house called "La Chaumière" ("The Thatched Cottage"), which he had bought in 1808. Elizabeth died in 1871 aged 99.

Personal life Margaret married John Neve, born 1779, from Tenterden, Kent, in St Peter Port (Town) church on 18 January 1823. On their honeymoon, they visited the Waterloo battlefield, 8 years after the battle. She lived in England for 25 years of marriage, but when her husband died in 1849, she returned to Guernsey. They had no children.

The census for 1871 shows Margaret A. Neve (78) and her sister Elizabeth Harvey (73) living at 'Chaumière', Rouge Huis, St Peter Port, Guernsey. Neve travelled abroad to various countries with Elizabeth. Their last trip was in 1872 when Neve was 80, wherein they visited the Polish city of Kraków (then part of Austria-Hungary). Despite her age, Margaret was found making marmalade the next morning by a reporter from The Times. She was reported as never being ill until the age of 105 when she had the flu, followed by bronchitis at 108. Aged 110, she climbed a tree to pluck an apple, explaining that they were much tastier when eaten straight from the tree.

A newspaper report records that she enjoyed a glass and a half of old sherry at lunchtime, followed by a weak whiskey and water at supper. She was in the habit of always rising early and abstaining from eating and drinking between meal times. Contrary to popular belief, she did not receive congratulations from Queen Victoria (who had died in 1901) upon reaching her 110th birthday (celebrated in 1902). However, the Harvey family (through Neve's niece Louisa) did exchange correspondence with the Royal Household, expressing gratitude for the signed photograph given to them on 4 May 1896 by the Queen.

Margaret Ann Neve died on 4 April 1903, at age 110 years, 10 months. She reportedly repeated a Psalm in a loud voice the day before she died. Flags in Guernsey were lowered to half-mast as a show of respect. Neve's great-niece was the mother of Glencairn Balfour Paul, who served as British Ambassador to Iraq (1969–71), Jordan (1972–75), and Tunisia (1975–77). In his 2006 memoir, Bagpipes in Babylon, Balfour Paul related how his mother "knew her well enough to send congratulations on her 110th birthday and to receive from her in reply a neatly written letter and photograph."