The world’s oldest man, who once taught at a Presbyterian Church of England missionary school, recently celebrated his 112th birthday.

Born in Yorkshire on 29 March 1908, Bob Weighton, had his Guinness World Record confirmed despite current rules around social distancing.

Bob, whose wife Agnes died in 1995, has two sons and a daughter, 10 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

He told the BBC: "I have not lived my life avoiding being run over by buses or getting cancer or anything else. I've done nothing to deserve or achieve this age. I'm just one of the lucky ones."

One of seven children, Bob’s father paid an extra £3 per term to ensure Bob could stay in school until the age of 16.

From there, he began a marine engineering apprenticeship before he later moved to Taiwan where he spent a couple of years learning Mandarin before he began teaching at the missionary school.

He had met his wife while studying in England and they married in 1937. They decided to return to the UK in 1939, after their first child was born in Taiwan, but were diverted to Canada after the start of the Second World War.

The couple had two more children in Canada before returning to the UK following the end of the war in 1945. Bob then took up a teaching position at City University in London.

Bob, who now lives in a care home complex in Hampshire, shares the title of Britain’s oldest living person with Joan Hocquard, from Poole, Dorset, who was born on the same date.

Update:
Bob sadly died on 28 May 2020

_{Picture: A still of Bob Weighton with his Guinness World Record certificate. Guinness World Record/YouTube
Published: 1 April 2020
Updated: 12 June 2020}