Oldest twins in the world

[kettledrum]

There was an article in yesterday's Telegraph (World Bulletin p22) saying the world's oldest twins were 98 yesterday. This seems unlikely to me. I know (of) someone who is going to be 100 on Monday . born Joan Mary Vyvyan 27-9-10, married Richard Brinsley Ford in 1937. Until about a month ago (poss up to 3 months ago) she had a twin sister. I'd love to know who the sister was and hear any comments from all of you (Dotty?) who know about these things.

[craft1948]

Opre Vyvyan married Sir Hector MacLean, she died this year on 18th August.

[craft1948]

MacLEAN
Opre, widow of Vice Admiral Sir Hector MacLean, peacefully at home on
18th August 2010, 6 weeks short of her century. Much loved mother,
grandmother, great grandmother. Funeral at St Mary's Church, Burnham
Deepdale, PE31 8DD on Thursday 2nd September at 12 noon. Family
flowers only


She was the dau of Capt William Geoffrey VYVYAN (1876-ka1914, scion of
the Vyvyan Bts cr E 1644/5) and Frances Mary (c1874-1964) dau of
Edmund Salwey FORD of Pengreep, Cornwall, and Bayswater. She m 1933 V-
Adml Sir Hector Charles Donald MacLEAN KBE CB DSC DL (1908-2003) son
of Donald Charles Hugh MacLean DSO (c1876-1909) and Gwendoline
Katherine Leonora HOPE (1878-1970, a scion of the Marquesses of
LINLITHGOW). They had a son and two daus.

[dotty.]

To confirm they were indeed born twins, they were registered at Falmouth Cornwall in the 4th Quarter of 1910 and had matching references (conforming a multiple birth) 5c 115.

[kettledrum]

Thank you very much for all that information Craft. You have confirmed what I was led to believe.
It seemed so unlikely that this pair of twins (who as far as I am aware have never thought of themselves as the world's oldest) should be replaced by twins almost 2 whole years younger than them. Do you think the Telegraph has its facts right?

[craft1948]

Well it's the world's oldest surviving twins isn't it?

[kettledrum]

And thank you Dotty ...

Off at a tangent, but I'm very interested in Pengreep, which is still in the family, although owned by a relation whose surname is Mead. The Mead family 'invented' Yarg cheese which is made in the dairy at Pengreep.

[kettledrum]

Hi Craft! You (and the Telegraph) may well be right, but I just would have expected there to have been several pairs of twins between the Vyvyans and the 98 yr olds.

[craft1948]

Well 98 is a good age for anyone so the odds must be against twins surviving that long.....

[dotty.]

In 1901 there were quite a few residents at Pengreep, Edward Gould aged 25 was the head but also a second household had Caroline Ford aged 42 (married) as the head,

[dotty.]

Blimey, Elizabeth Ford was from Burnley Lancashire!!! Well By eck!

[dotty.]

She had a son James A Ford aged 20 in 1901, is he the father of Richard Brinsley Ford?

[dotty.]

Her 3 children including James were born in Paddington West London, maybe their (missing) father was in the army?

[craft1948]

^ look you've set dotty off now......

[dotty.]

sorry that was 1891, in 1881 it was more like a Manor House Farm and must have been broken up and the tenancies changed between 1881 and 1891, the head is Elizabeth M Williams aged 49 a widow born Redruth and she is a banker and farmer of 250 acres employing 6 men

[dotty.]

Lol, it's ok I'll not go any further back if kettledrum wants to do it themselves!

[kettledrum]

Dotty ...(Richard) Brinsley Ford was born 10 June 1908 in Petworth. Your James A. may have been an older brother, although I'm inclined to think Brinsley was an only son for some time, but then acquired younger 1/2 siblings when his father remarried. And I know that he married a distant cousin, so that all ties in with Craft's info & Pengreep.

[dotty.]

shall I go further back or not? It's up to you, I;m off work poorly today and so got plenty of time

[craft1948]

go for it dot..............his great-great-great-great grandfather was Sheridan, the playwright....

[dotty.]

Richard Sheridan who wrote the Rivals? I did that for A Level

[kettledrum]

Sorry Dotty .... I misread your answer as 'born in 1901'. Quite possible that James A was Brinsley's father. If you're interested (I'm not, really!) .... Richard Brinsley Ford was a very distinguished art historian and scholar and got a K for services to Art, so any pre-1999 Who's Who will tell you who his father was.
Genealogy isn't really my 'thing', but I can quite see that one keeps turning up fascinating facts and connections that lead onto further fascinating facts and connections, and I'm so grateful to you both for doing all the spade work for me.

At the beginning, I was only interested in there being such an enormous age gap - relatively speaking - between the Vyvyans and the 98 yr olds, and thought I'd like to know who / when about Joan Ford's sister, but then Craft pointed me in the direction of the Vyvyan cousins (called Mead) who make Yarg at Pengreep and so it goes on... I already knew about them but didn't know how they fitted in : of course, I still don't, but I know enough for my curiosity to be satisfied. And I'm not going to do any further research!