Philip Mayne (22 November 1899 – 9 April 2007) was an English

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cente ...

who was thought to have been the last surviving

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the First World War until his death at 107. He is also thought to have been the oldest surviving alumnus of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

, of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Engineering Department, of

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

and indeed of the whole University of Cambridge. Mayne was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

. His father was a caterer. He won a scholarship to Christ's Hospital and then to King's College, Cambridge, but the First World War intervened. Mayne became a cadet in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

and was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in September 1918. Attending a training camp in Wales, he caught the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, and was not fit to be sent to the front before the war ended. Mayne was demobilised on 24 December 1918, and attended

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from January 1919, having missed only the first term of his first year. He studied mathematics and then mechanical, electrical and civil engineering. Mayne graduated in 1921 and joined the electrical department of the National Physical Laboratory. He moved to

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...

in 1924. Mayne worked in a

reserved occupation A reserved occupation (also known as essential services) is an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations are exempt or forbidden from military service. In a total war, such as the Second World War, w ...

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, making chemicals for explosives. He rose to the position of technical director before he retired in 1961. Mayne attributed his

longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

to a healthy lifestyle claiming that "I have never had too much to drink and have always cycled, swum and gardened". He died peacefully in his sleep in

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on t ...

on 9 April 2007, aged 107. Mayne was survived by his three children, eight grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. He was the paternal grandfather of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n journalist

Stephen Mayne Stephen Mayne (born 23 July 1969) is an Australian Walkley Award winning journalist, local government councillor, and self-described shareholder activist. Career Journalism Mayne worked for a number of media outlets and was a media adviser to ...

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne, Philip 1899 births 2007 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I People educated at Christ's Hospital English centenarians Men centenarians Imperial Chemical Industries people Military personnel from Hampstead Royal Engineers officers Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)