John Tinniswood: British great-grandfather becomes world’s oldest living man at 111

A great-grandfather from Merseyside has become the world’s oldest living man.

John Tinniswood, who is 111 years and 223 days old, says he doesn’t pin his extraordinary longevity down to any particular lifestyle choice or diet but he does eat battered fish and chips every Friday.

The Briton lives in a care home in Southport, where staff call him a “big chatterbox”. He said: “I eat what they give me and so does everybody else. I don’t have a special diet.”

He also said his secret to longevity is “pure luck”, adding: “You either live long or you live short, and you can’t do much about it.”

The previous Guinness World Records title-holder was Venezuelan man Juan Vincente Mora, who died this week aged 114.

Mr Tinniswood, a lifelong Liverpool FC fan, does not smoke and rarely drinks alcohol. He listens to the radio to keep up with the news, and still manages his own finances.

His main advice for staying healthy is to practice moderation. “If you drink too much or you eat too much or you walk too much; if you do too much of anything, you’re going to suffer eventually,” he said.

Born in Liverpool on 26 August 1912, he met his wife Blodwen at a dance in the city and they married in 1942, during the Second World War. A year later, they had a daughter.

Mr Tinniswood worked in accounts for Shell and BP until he retired in 1972.

The couple were married for 44 years until she died in 1986.

Discussing his 111 years, Mr Tinniswood said: “The world, in its way, is always changing. It’s a sort of ongoing experience… it’s getting a little better, but not all that much yet. It’s going the right way.”

On discovering he had become a world record holder, he said: “Doesn’t make any difference to me. Not at all. I accept it for what it is.”

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Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera, who recently celebrated her 117th birthday, is the world’s oldest living person overall.

The oldest man ever was Jiroemon Kimura who was born in Japan in 1897 and lived for 116 years and 54 days before dying in 2013.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, born in 1875, was the oldest person to have ever lived, dying in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.