BRIDPORT: A former Bridport resident turned 100 this week and received a cable from HM The Queen to mark the occasion.

Dorothy Knight, born on September 3, 1914, in Streatham, London, is said to be ‘surprised’ in reaching the milestone according to family members.

Dorothy moved away from the area five years ago to a residential care home in Winchester. Dorothy’s daughter, Diana Perry, said: “We’re having a big family party on the Saturday after her birthday and we have 64 family members attending, including 24 great grandchildren. She is surprised to be 100. She said that she hasn’t got a secret behind her success other than the support from her family.”

Detailing key points in her mother’s remarkable life, Diana added that she graduated from Oxford in 1936, spending many years working as a teacher in West Dorset, including at Weymouth College.

“My father was rector of Symondsbury for many years and they both lived in Bothenhampton for many years. She has been president of Allington Art Club and was a teacher for many years in Weymouth having studied French from St Hughes’ College in Oxford, and was one of the first women to do so,” said Diana.