Violet Brown [Also known as Violet Mosse-Brown or Violet Moss Brown] was a Jamaican supercentenarian who from the death of Italian Emma Morano on 15 April 2017 until her own death on 15 September 2017 at 117 years, 189 days was the oldest verified living person in the world.
She was the fifth oldest person in recorded history and along with Nabi Tajima of Japan was one of the last two living people known to have been born in the 19th century.
Ms.Brown died on 15 September 2017 at a hospital in Montego Bay, Saint James Parish, of heart failure complicated by dehydration. Ms.Brown was one of four children born to John Mosse, who was a sugar boiler, and Elizabeth Riley.She was baptized at the age of 13 in the Trittonvile Baptist church, in the district of Duanvale, Trelawny, the church of which remained a member today until her death. She assisted the church in the capacities of organist, choir mistress and secretary, for many years until it became time for her to retire.
She married Augustus Gaynor Brown, the Cemetery Keeper whose job was to document those buried in the Duanvale Cemetery. After his death in 1997 she took over his responsibilities as the record keeper.
She had six children in total--sons Harland (Harold), Irving, Barry and Strickland and daughters Peggy and Hydelin --four of whom were still living at the time of her death. Her eldest child, Harold Fairweather, who was believed to be the world's oldest living child with a parent alive, died on 19 April 2017 aged 97 and 4 days.
The last weeks of Ms Mosse-Brown's life were marked by conflict as relatives quarreled over who should assume Harland's role as his mother's caregiver.
Ms. Brown was also the last living subject of Queen Victoria, having been born one year before the monarch died when Jamaica was still part of the British Empire. She was born 62 years before Jamaica attained independence from the British Empire. A post slavery survivor, Ms Brown worked as a plantation worker cutting cane for her "masters", working as a maid in their homes. In later years she owned her own property, cultivated her own sugarcane became an entrepreneur having the only bread depot in the district.
She was a music teacher and seamstress for the community. A community worker all her life, she carried shingle on her head from the mountain and neighboring places to assist in the reroofing of The Methodist Church which housed her school with the aid of her classmates after it was damaged in an earthquake in 1939.
The Waldensia-Trittonville Circuit of Baptist Churches honored Ms Brown as "their extra-precious super-centenarian whom they affectionately call Sister Vie or Sister Brown" during a celebration of her then-116 years of life, according to the January 2017 edition of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter.
Sources:"Jamaican church stalwart Violet Brown becomes world's oldest person at 117", The Daily Telegraph 18 April 2017; The Violet Mosse Foundation;Jamaican Baptist becomes oldest living human", Baptist News Global April 17, 2017; "World's oldest woman snatched", The Gleaner, Jamacia WI, September 15, 2017; "World's oldest person: an 'extra-precious' Baptist", The Baptist Press, April 18, 2017
~
The world's oldest person, 117-year-old Violet Moss Brown has died, her son Barry Russell, 85, has reported.
Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900, became the world's oldest woman in April, following the death of Emma Morano, who was born on November 29, 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy.
Moss Brown died at the Fairview Medical Centre in Montego Bay, St James at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
This morning, The Gleaner reported that Moss Brown was caught in the middle of a tug of war between members of her family, as one group claiming that she was not getting the best of care had snatched her from her Duanvale, Trelawny home and refused to say where she was.
Russell said his mother didn't look well on Saturday and was taken to a doctor who said she had irregular heartbeat and was dehydrated.
Since becoming the world's oldest person less than a year ago, Brown has brought much visibility to Duanvale.
She has had visits from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen; Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Opposition leader Dr Peter Phillips; and president of Jamaica Baptist Union, Dr Devon Dick.
She was slated to be visited by personnel from The Guinness Book of World Records.
Extracted from posts from The Gleanet, Jamaica
~
Gravediggers reportedly turned up at the Duanvale cemetery in Trelawny last Thursday, ready to prepare Violet Moss Brown's final resting place. When her husband, Augustus Gaynor Brown, died in 1997, he was buried in the cemetery, and a space was reserved beside his grave for her.
However, in a move that has sent shock waves throughout the community, the family of Moss Brown, who died at 117 years old, has decided against burying her.
Thanksgiving service for the late Moss Brown, lovingly referred to as 'Aunt V', will be on Saturday October 7, at the Trittonville Baptist Church, Duanvale, Trelawny, at 11 a.m. Her body will be donated to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of West Indies, for scientific research. A monument in her honour will be established at the family plot in Duanvale.
"My mother will continue to live for many years to come," her 85-year-old son, Barry Russell, said.
BURIED BESIDE HUSBAND
But cemetery keeper Jackie Weir said Moss Brown, who at the time of her death was the world's oldest person, wanted to be buried beside her husband.
"Three months ago, Aunt V reminded me that I must save her grave spot right beside her husband," Jackie said. "'I want to die on my bed and bury right beside Gus,'" Weir said Aunt V told him.
Moss Brown died on September at a medical facility, nearly one week after she was ordered taken from her home by one of her sons.
Weir, like many persons in Duanvale, does not agree that Moss Brown's body should be given to science.
"They are only going to chop her body and throw away what they don't want into fire. Aunt V does not deserve that," he said.
Lloyd Cunningham, a Rastafarian, said Moss Brown wanted for her funeral to be held at the Trittonville Baptist Church, where she was baptised at the age 13 years old, and be buried beside her husband.
Telka Holt, a former councillor for the Sherwood Content Division, expressed shock at the decision to donate Moss Brown's body to science.
"I have been visiting her for years. At no time did she express any desire but that her funeral be held at the Baptist Church and she be buried beside her husband," Holt said.
Moss Brown's son, Harland Fairweather, who died just four days after his 97th birthday, was buried in the Duanvale cemetery on May 13.
Extracted from "Aunt V wanted to be buried' - Community members said centenarian wanted to be laid beside late husband" by Leon Jackson posted by the Jamaica Star.com on October 03, 2017
~
Civil registration records her birth on 10 Mar 1900 in Duanvale, Trelawny, Jamaica. A copy of her birth document can be found on familysearch.org. She had at least 7 siblings including a sister 3 years younger who could be a potential swap partner. It is also possible that birth records for some of younger siblings are missing.
Four children are also recorded; each one with just the mother's name Violet Moss, but the fathers were known and their family names were used later. The oldest was Harland Fairweather born 1920 who immigrated to England. He returned to his homeland in his later years and was himself notable in the record books as the oldest person with a living mother at age 97. His brother Irving Adolph Russell born 1923 immigrated to the United States where he died in 1989. Both of these brothers have living descendants in their adopted country. Irving had a twin sister Elsie Estelle Russell who outlived her mother. A third younger brother Beresford 1926-1927 died as an infant.
There are four other younger children of Violet Brown whose birth records we are unable to confirm online; Barrington Russell b. 1932, Sylvera B Russell b. 1935, Hydeline G Brown b. 1938, and Strickland Maurice Davis (birth year unknown). Five of her children were still alive at the time of her validation. For privacy reasons we will not give personal details beyond what is already known publicly.
As her children's names suggest, Violet Mosse Brown had several partners during her life. She reportedly married Augustus Brown who was the father of her youngest daughter, but we are unable to confirm this with a marriage record and the date of marriage is unknown. Augustus was a farmer who also took care of the village graveyard and kept its records. Some biographical reports give his year of death as 1997 but a death certificate from 1978 showing his daughter, H G Brown, as the informant, contradicts this.
Violet lived her life in a small village where anything unusual would be noticed. There are strong family resemblances between Violet and her sons where pictures are available. Most potential switch scenarios would have to defy the accepted history at several points. Testimony could go a long way towards completing a basic validation but until a report is available we cannot mark the validation as safe. It is possible that unreconciled differences between family members make further progress unlikely.
The high number of high longevity claims from Jamaica is a concern. In European countries where records are reliable we have seen about six supercentenarians up to 2020, per million of 1900 population. In Japan and the US the numbers could be around twice as high. In Jamaica the GRG is listing 26 claims born in Jamaica from 110 to 117 years of age. This is for a 1900 population of around 750,000…
Information extracted from Archicentenarians Wiki
Unconfirmed suggestion: middle name Henrietta
She was the fifth oldest person in recorded history and along with Nabi Tajima of Japan was one of the last two living people known to have been born in the 19th century.
Ms.Brown died on 15 September 2017 at a hospital in Montego Bay, Saint James Parish, of heart failure complicated by dehydration. Ms.Brown was one of four children born to John Mosse, who was a sugar boiler, and Elizabeth Riley.She was baptized at the age of 13 in the Trittonvile Baptist church, in the district of Duanvale, Trelawny, the church of which remained a member today until her death. She assisted the church in the capacities of organist, choir mistress and secretary, for many years until it became time for her to retire.
She married Augustus Gaynor Brown, the Cemetery Keeper whose job was to document those buried in the Duanvale Cemetery. After his death in 1997 she took over his responsibilities as the record keeper.
She had six children in total--sons Harland (Harold), Irving, Barry and Strickland and daughters Peggy and Hydelin --four of whom were still living at the time of her death. Her eldest child, Harold Fairweather, who was believed to be the world's oldest living child with a parent alive, died on 19 April 2017 aged 97 and 4 days.
The last weeks of Ms Mosse-Brown's life were marked by conflict as relatives quarreled over who should assume Harland's role as his mother's caregiver.
Ms. Brown was also the last living subject of Queen Victoria, having been born one year before the monarch died when Jamaica was still part of the British Empire. She was born 62 years before Jamaica attained independence from the British Empire. A post slavery survivor, Ms Brown worked as a plantation worker cutting cane for her "masters", working as a maid in their homes. In later years she owned her own property, cultivated her own sugarcane became an entrepreneur having the only bread depot in the district.
She was a music teacher and seamstress for the community. A community worker all her life, she carried shingle on her head from the mountain and neighboring places to assist in the reroofing of The Methodist Church which housed her school with the aid of her classmates after it was damaged in an earthquake in 1939.
The Waldensia-Trittonville Circuit of Baptist Churches honored Ms Brown as "their extra-precious super-centenarian whom they affectionately call Sister Vie or Sister Brown" during a celebration of her then-116 years of life, according to the January 2017 edition of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter.
Sources:"Jamaican church stalwart Violet Brown becomes world's oldest person at 117", The Daily Telegraph 18 April 2017; The Violet Mosse Foundation;Jamaican Baptist becomes oldest living human", Baptist News Global April 17, 2017; "World's oldest woman snatched", The Gleaner, Jamacia WI, September 15, 2017; "World's oldest person: an 'extra-precious' Baptist", The Baptist Press, April 18, 2017
~
The world's oldest person, 117-year-old Violet Moss Brown has died, her son Barry Russell, 85, has reported.
Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900, became the world's oldest woman in April, following the death of Emma Morano, who was born on November 29, 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy.
Moss Brown died at the Fairview Medical Centre in Montego Bay, St James at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
This morning, The Gleaner reported that Moss Brown was caught in the middle of a tug of war between members of her family, as one group claiming that she was not getting the best of care had snatched her from her Duanvale, Trelawny home and refused to say where she was.
Russell said his mother didn't look well on Saturday and was taken to a doctor who said she had irregular heartbeat and was dehydrated.
Since becoming the world's oldest person less than a year ago, Brown has brought much visibility to Duanvale.
She has had visits from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen; Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Opposition leader Dr Peter Phillips; and president of Jamaica Baptist Union, Dr Devon Dick.
She was slated to be visited by personnel from The Guinness Book of World Records.
Extracted from posts from The Gleanet, Jamaica
~
Gravediggers reportedly turned up at the Duanvale cemetery in Trelawny last Thursday, ready to prepare Violet Moss Brown's final resting place. When her husband, Augustus Gaynor Brown, died in 1997, he was buried in the cemetery, and a space was reserved beside his grave for her.
However, in a move that has sent shock waves throughout the community, the family of Moss Brown, who died at 117 years old, has decided against burying her.
Thanksgiving service for the late Moss Brown, lovingly referred to as 'Aunt V', will be on Saturday October 7, at the Trittonville Baptist Church, Duanvale, Trelawny, at 11 a.m. Her body will be donated to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of West Indies, for scientific research. A monument in her honour will be established at the family plot in Duanvale.
"My mother will continue to live for many years to come," her 85-year-old son, Barry Russell, said.
BURIED BESIDE HUSBAND
But cemetery keeper Jackie Weir said Moss Brown, who at the time of her death was the world's oldest person, wanted to be buried beside her husband.
"Three months ago, Aunt V reminded me that I must save her grave spot right beside her husband," Jackie said. "'I want to die on my bed and bury right beside Gus,'" Weir said Aunt V told him.
Moss Brown died on September at a medical facility, nearly one week after she was ordered taken from her home by one of her sons.
Weir, like many persons in Duanvale, does not agree that Moss Brown's body should be given to science.
"They are only going to chop her body and throw away what they don't want into fire. Aunt V does not deserve that," he said.
Lloyd Cunningham, a Rastafarian, said Moss Brown wanted for her funeral to be held at the Trittonville Baptist Church, where she was baptised at the age 13 years old, and be buried beside her husband.
Telka Holt, a former councillor for the Sherwood Content Division, expressed shock at the decision to donate Moss Brown's body to science.
"I have been visiting her for years. At no time did she express any desire but that her funeral be held at the Baptist Church and she be buried beside her husband," Holt said.
Moss Brown's son, Harland Fairweather, who died just four days after his 97th birthday, was buried in the Duanvale cemetery on May 13.
Extracted from "Aunt V wanted to be buried' - Community members said centenarian wanted to be laid beside late husband" by Leon Jackson posted by the Jamaica Star.com on October 03, 2017
~
Civil registration records her birth on 10 Mar 1900 in Duanvale, Trelawny, Jamaica. A copy of her birth document can be found on familysearch.org. She had at least 7 siblings including a sister 3 years younger who could be a potential swap partner. It is also possible that birth records for some of younger siblings are missing.
Four children are also recorded; each one with just the mother's name Violet Moss, but the fathers were known and their family names were used later. The oldest was Harland Fairweather born 1920 who immigrated to England. He returned to his homeland in his later years and was himself notable in the record books as the oldest person with a living mother at age 97. His brother Irving Adolph Russell born 1923 immigrated to the United States where he died in 1989. Both of these brothers have living descendants in their adopted country. Irving had a twin sister Elsie Estelle Russell who outlived her mother. A third younger brother Beresford 1926-1927 died as an infant.
There are four other younger children of Violet Brown whose birth records we are unable to confirm online; Barrington Russell b. 1932, Sylvera B Russell b. 1935, Hydeline G Brown b. 1938, and Strickland Maurice Davis (birth year unknown). Five of her children were still alive at the time of her validation. For privacy reasons we will not give personal details beyond what is already known publicly.
As her children's names suggest, Violet Mosse Brown had several partners during her life. She reportedly married Augustus Brown who was the father of her youngest daughter, but we are unable to confirm this with a marriage record and the date of marriage is unknown. Augustus was a farmer who also took care of the village graveyard and kept its records. Some biographical reports give his year of death as 1997 but a death certificate from 1978 showing his daughter, H G Brown, as the informant, contradicts this.
Violet lived her life in a small village where anything unusual would be noticed. There are strong family resemblances between Violet and her sons where pictures are available. Most potential switch scenarios would have to defy the accepted history at several points. Testimony could go a long way towards completing a basic validation but until a report is available we cannot mark the validation as safe. It is possible that unreconciled differences between family members make further progress unlikely.
The high number of high longevity claims from Jamaica is a concern. In European countries where records are reliable we have seen about six supercentenarians up to 2020, per million of 1900 population. In Japan and the US the numbers could be around twice as high. In Jamaica the GRG is listing 26 claims born in Jamaica from 110 to 117 years of age. This is for a 1900 population of around 750,000…
Information extracted from Archicentenarians Wiki
Unconfirmed suggestion: middle name Henrietta
Violet Brown [Also known as Violet Mosse-Brown or Violet Moss Brown] was a Jamaican supercentenarian who from the death of Italian Emma Morano on 15 April 2017 until her own death on 15 September 2017 at 117 years, 189 days was the oldest verified living person in the world.
She was the fifth oldest person in recorded history and along with Nabi Tajima of Japan was one of the last two living people known to have been born in the 19th century.
Ms.Brown died on 15 September 2017 at a hospital in Montego Bay, Saint James Parish, of heart failure complicated by dehydration. Ms.Brown was one of four children born to John Mosse, who was a sugar boiler, and Elizabeth Riley.She was baptized at the age of 13 in the Trittonvile Baptist church, in the district of Duanvale, Trelawny, the church of which remained a member today until her death. She assisted the church in the capacities of organist, choir mistress and secretary, for many years until it became time for her to retire.
She married Augustus Gaynor Brown, the Cemetery Keeper whose job was to document those buried in the Duanvale Cemetery. After his death in 1997 she took over his responsibilities as the record keeper.
She had six children in total--sons Harland (Harold), Irving, Barry and Strickland and daughters Peggy and Hydelin --four of whom were still living at the time of her death. Her eldest child, Harold Fairweather, who was believed to be the world's oldest living child with a parent alive, died on 19 April 2017 aged 97 and 4 days.
The last weeks of Ms Mosse-Brown's life were marked by conflict as relatives quarreled over who should assume Harland's role as his mother's caregiver.
Ms. Brown was also the last living subject of Queen Victoria, having been born one year before the monarch died when Jamaica was still part of the British Empire. She was born 62 years before Jamaica attained independence from the British Empire. A post slavery survivor, Ms Brown worked as a plantation worker cutting cane for her "masters", working as a maid in their homes. In later years she owned her own property, cultivated her own sugarcane became an entrepreneur having the only bread depot in the district.
She was a music teacher and seamstress for the community. A community worker all her life, she carried shingle on her head from the mountain and neighboring places to assist in the reroofing of The Methodist Church which housed her school with the aid of her classmates after it was damaged in an earthquake in 1939.
The Waldensia-Trittonville Circuit of Baptist Churches honored Ms Brown as "their extra-precious super-centenarian whom they affectionately call Sister Vie or Sister Brown" during a celebration of her then-116 years of life, according to the January 2017 edition of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter.
Sources:"Jamaican church stalwart Violet Brown becomes world's oldest person at 117", The Daily Telegraph 18 April 2017; The Violet Mosse Foundation;Jamaican Baptist becomes oldest living human", Baptist News Global April 17, 2017; "World's oldest woman snatched", The Gleaner, Jamacia WI, September 15, 2017; "World's oldest person: an 'extra-precious' Baptist", The Baptist Press, April 18, 2017
~
The world's oldest person, 117-year-old Violet Moss Brown has died, her son Barry Russell, 85, has reported.
Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900, became the world's oldest woman in April, following the death of Emma Morano, who was born on November 29, 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy.
Moss Brown died at the Fairview Medical Centre in Montego Bay, St James at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
This morning, The Gleaner reported that Moss Brown was caught in the middle of a tug of war between members of her family, as one group claiming that she was not getting the best of care had snatched her from her Duanvale, Trelawny home and refused to say where she was.
Russell said his mother didn't look well on Saturday and was taken to a doctor who said she had irregular heartbeat and was dehydrated.
Since becoming the world's oldest person less than a year ago, Brown has brought much visibility to Duanvale.
She has had visits from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen; Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Opposition leader Dr Peter Phillips; and president of Jamaica Baptist Union, Dr Devon Dick.
She was slated to be visited by personnel from The Guinness Book of World Records.
Extracted from posts from The Gleanet, Jamaica
~
Gravediggers reportedly turned up at the Duanvale cemetery in Trelawny last Thursday, ready to prepare Violet Moss Brown's final resting place. When her husband, Augustus Gaynor Brown, died in 1997, he was buried in the cemetery, and a space was reserved beside his grave for her.
However, in a move that has sent shock waves throughout the community, the family of Moss Brown, who died at 117 years old, has decided against burying her.
Thanksgiving service for the late Moss Brown, lovingly referred to as 'Aunt V', will be on Saturday October 7, at the Trittonville Baptist Church, Duanvale, Trelawny, at 11 a.m. Her body will be donated to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of West Indies, for scientific research. A monument in her honour will be established at the family plot in Duanvale.
"My mother will continue to live for many years to come," her 85-year-old son, Barry Russell, said.
BURIED BESIDE HUSBAND
But cemetery keeper Jackie Weir said Moss Brown, who at the time of her death was the world's oldest person, wanted to be buried beside her husband.
"Three months ago, Aunt V reminded me that I must save her grave spot right beside her husband," Jackie said. "'I want to die on my bed and bury right beside Gus,'" Weir said Aunt V told him.
Moss Brown died on September at a medical facility, nearly one week after she was ordered taken from her home by one of her sons.
Weir, like many persons in Duanvale, does not agree that Moss Brown's body should be given to science.
"They are only going to chop her body and throw away what they don't want into fire. Aunt V does not deserve that," he said.
Lloyd Cunningham, a Rastafarian, said Moss Brown wanted for her funeral to be held at the Trittonville Baptist Church, where she was baptised at the age 13 years old, and be buried beside her husband.
Telka Holt, a former councillor for the Sherwood Content Division, expressed shock at the decision to donate Moss Brown's body to science.
"I have been visiting her for years. At no time did she express any desire but that her funeral be held at the Baptist Church and she be buried beside her husband," Holt said.
Moss Brown's son, Harland Fairweather, who died just four days after his 97th birthday, was buried in the Duanvale cemetery on May 13.
Extracted from "Aunt V wanted to be buried' - Community members said centenarian wanted to be laid beside late husband" by Leon Jackson posted by the Jamaica Star.com on October 03, 2017
~
Civil registration records her birth on 10 Mar 1900 in Duanvale, Trelawny, Jamaica. A copy of her birth document can be found on familysearch.org. She had at least 7 siblings including a sister 3 years younger who could be a potential swap partner. It is also possible that birth records for some of younger siblings are missing.
Four children are also recorded; each one with just the mother's name Violet Moss, but the fathers were known and their family names were used later. The oldest was Harland Fairweather born 1920 who immigrated to England. He returned to his homeland in his later years and was himself notable in the record books as the oldest person with a living mother at age 97. His brother Irving Adolph Russell born 1923 immigrated to the United States where he died in 1989. Both of these brothers have living descendants in their adopted country. Irving had a twin sister Elsie Estelle Russell who outlived her mother. A third younger brother Beresford 1926-1927 died as an infant.
There are four other younger children of Violet Brown whose birth records we are unable to confirm online; Barrington Russell b. 1932, Sylvera B Russell b. 1935, Hydeline G Brown b. 1938, and Strickland Maurice Davis (birth year unknown). Five of her children were still alive at the time of her validation. For privacy reasons we will not give personal details beyond what is already known publicly.
As her children's names suggest, Violet Mosse Brown had several partners during her life. She reportedly married Augustus Brown who was the father of her youngest daughter, but we are unable to confirm this with a marriage record and the date of marriage is unknown. Augustus was a farmer who also took care of the village graveyard and kept its records. Some biographical reports give his year of death as 1997 but a death certificate from 1978 showing his daughter, H G Brown, as the informant, contradicts this.
Violet lived her life in a small village where anything unusual would be noticed. There are strong family resemblances between Violet and her sons where pictures are available. Most potential switch scenarios would have to defy the accepted history at several points. Testimony could go a long way towards completing a basic validation but until a report is available we cannot mark the validation as safe. It is possible that unreconciled differences between family members make further progress unlikely.
The high number of high longevity claims from Jamaica is a concern. In European countries where records are reliable we have seen about six supercentenarians up to 2020, per million of 1900 population. In Japan and the US the numbers could be around twice as high. In Jamaica the GRG is listing 26 claims born in Jamaica from 110 to 117 years of age. This is for a 1900 population of around 750,000…
Information extracted from Archicentenarians Wiki
Unconfirmed suggestion: middle name Henrietta
She was the fifth oldest person in recorded history and along with Nabi Tajima of Japan was one of the last two living people known to have been born in the 19th century.
Ms.Brown died on 15 September 2017 at a hospital in Montego Bay, Saint James Parish, of heart failure complicated by dehydration. Ms.Brown was one of four children born to John Mosse, who was a sugar boiler, and Elizabeth Riley.She was baptized at the age of 13 in the Trittonvile Baptist church, in the district of Duanvale, Trelawny, the church of which remained a member today until her death. She assisted the church in the capacities of organist, choir mistress and secretary, for many years until it became time for her to retire.
She married Augustus Gaynor Brown, the Cemetery Keeper whose job was to document those buried in the Duanvale Cemetery. After his death in 1997 she took over his responsibilities as the record keeper.
She had six children in total--sons Harland (Harold), Irving, Barry and Strickland and daughters Peggy and Hydelin --four of whom were still living at the time of her death. Her eldest child, Harold Fairweather, who was believed to be the world's oldest living child with a parent alive, died on 19 April 2017 aged 97 and 4 days.
The last weeks of Ms Mosse-Brown's life were marked by conflict as relatives quarreled over who should assume Harland's role as his mother's caregiver.
Ms. Brown was also the last living subject of Queen Victoria, having been born one year before the monarch died when Jamaica was still part of the British Empire. She was born 62 years before Jamaica attained independence from the British Empire. A post slavery survivor, Ms Brown worked as a plantation worker cutting cane for her "masters", working as a maid in their homes. In later years she owned her own property, cultivated her own sugarcane became an entrepreneur having the only bread depot in the district.
She was a music teacher and seamstress for the community. A community worker all her life, she carried shingle on her head from the mountain and neighboring places to assist in the reroofing of The Methodist Church which housed her school with the aid of her classmates after it was damaged in an earthquake in 1939.
The Waldensia-Trittonville Circuit of Baptist Churches honored Ms Brown as "their extra-precious super-centenarian whom they affectionately call Sister Vie or Sister Brown" during a celebration of her then-116 years of life, according to the January 2017 edition of the Jamaica Baptist Reporter.
Sources:"Jamaican church stalwart Violet Brown becomes world's oldest person at 117", The Daily Telegraph 18 April 2017; The Violet Mosse Foundation;Jamaican Baptist becomes oldest living human", Baptist News Global April 17, 2017; "World's oldest woman snatched", The Gleaner, Jamacia WI, September 15, 2017; "World's oldest person: an 'extra-precious' Baptist", The Baptist Press, April 18, 2017
~
The world's oldest person, 117-year-old Violet Moss Brown has died, her son Barry Russell, 85, has reported.
Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900, became the world's oldest woman in April, following the death of Emma Morano, who was born on November 29, 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy.
Moss Brown died at the Fairview Medical Centre in Montego Bay, St James at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
This morning, The Gleaner reported that Moss Brown was caught in the middle of a tug of war between members of her family, as one group claiming that she was not getting the best of care had snatched her from her Duanvale, Trelawny home and refused to say where she was.
Russell said his mother didn't look well on Saturday and was taken to a doctor who said she had irregular heartbeat and was dehydrated.
Since becoming the world's oldest person less than a year ago, Brown has brought much visibility to Duanvale.
She has had visits from Governor General Sir Patrick Allen; Prime Minister Andrew Holness; Opposition leader Dr Peter Phillips; and president of Jamaica Baptist Union, Dr Devon Dick.
She was slated to be visited by personnel from The Guinness Book of World Records.
Extracted from posts from The Gleanet, Jamaica
~
Gravediggers reportedly turned up at the Duanvale cemetery in Trelawny last Thursday, ready to prepare Violet Moss Brown's final resting place. When her husband, Augustus Gaynor Brown, died in 1997, he was buried in the cemetery, and a space was reserved beside his grave for her.
However, in a move that has sent shock waves throughout the community, the family of Moss Brown, who died at 117 years old, has decided against burying her.
Thanksgiving service for the late Moss Brown, lovingly referred to as 'Aunt V', will be on Saturday October 7, at the Trittonville Baptist Church, Duanvale, Trelawny, at 11 a.m. Her body will be donated to the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of West Indies, for scientific research. A monument in her honour will be established at the family plot in Duanvale.
"My mother will continue to live for many years to come," her 85-year-old son, Barry Russell, said.
BURIED BESIDE HUSBAND
But cemetery keeper Jackie Weir said Moss Brown, who at the time of her death was the world's oldest person, wanted to be buried beside her husband.
"Three months ago, Aunt V reminded me that I must save her grave spot right beside her husband," Jackie said. "'I want to die on my bed and bury right beside Gus,'" Weir said Aunt V told him.
Moss Brown died on September at a medical facility, nearly one week after she was ordered taken from her home by one of her sons.
Weir, like many persons in Duanvale, does not agree that Moss Brown's body should be given to science.
"They are only going to chop her body and throw away what they don't want into fire. Aunt V does not deserve that," he said.
Lloyd Cunningham, a Rastafarian, said Moss Brown wanted for her funeral to be held at the Trittonville Baptist Church, where she was baptised at the age 13 years old, and be buried beside her husband.
Telka Holt, a former councillor for the Sherwood Content Division, expressed shock at the decision to donate Moss Brown's body to science.
"I have been visiting her for years. At no time did she express any desire but that her funeral be held at the Baptist Church and she be buried beside her husband," Holt said.
Moss Brown's son, Harland Fairweather, who died just four days after his 97th birthday, was buried in the Duanvale cemetery on May 13.
Extracted from "Aunt V wanted to be buried' - Community members said centenarian wanted to be laid beside late husband" by Leon Jackson posted by the Jamaica Star.com on October 03, 2017
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Civil registration records her birth on 10 Mar 1900 in Duanvale, Trelawny, Jamaica. A copy of her birth document can be found on familysearch.org. She had at least 7 siblings including a sister 3 years younger who could be a potential swap partner. It is also possible that birth records for some of younger siblings are missing.
Four children are also recorded; each one with just the mother's name Violet Moss, but the fathers were known and their family names were used later. The oldest was Harland Fairweather born 1920 who immigrated to England. He returned to his homeland in his later years and was himself notable in the record books as the oldest person with a living mother at age 97. His brother Irving Adolph Russell born 1923 immigrated to the United States where he died in 1989. Both of these brothers have living descendants in their adopted country. Irving had a twin sister Elsie Estelle Russell who outlived her mother. A third younger brother Beresford 1926-1927 died as an infant.
There are four other younger children of Violet Brown whose birth records we are unable to confirm online; Barrington Russell b. 1932, Sylvera B Russell b. 1935, Hydeline G Brown b. 1938, and Strickland Maurice Davis (birth year unknown). Five of her children were still alive at the time of her validation. For privacy reasons we will not give personal details beyond what is already known publicly.
As her children's names suggest, Violet Mosse Brown had several partners during her life. She reportedly married Augustus Brown who was the father of her youngest daughter, but we are unable to confirm this with a marriage record and the date of marriage is unknown. Augustus was a farmer who also took care of the village graveyard and kept its records. Some biographical reports give his year of death as 1997 but a death certificate from 1978 showing his daughter, H G Brown, as the informant, contradicts this.
Violet lived her life in a small village where anything unusual would be noticed. There are strong family resemblances between Violet and her sons where pictures are available. Most potential switch scenarios would have to defy the accepted history at several points. Testimony could go a long way towards completing a basic validation but until a report is available we cannot mark the validation as safe. It is possible that unreconciled differences between family members make further progress unlikely.
The high number of high longevity claims from Jamaica is a concern. In European countries where records are reliable we have seen about six supercentenarians up to 2020, per million of 1900 population. In Japan and the US the numbers could be around twice as high. In Jamaica the GRG is listing 26 claims born in Jamaica from 110 to 117 years of age. This is for a 1900 population of around 750,000…
Information extracted from Archicentenarians Wiki
Unconfirmed suggestion: middle name Henrietta
