ALEXANDRIA resident Bessie Irving this week celebrated her 106th birthday.

As well as receiving a telegram from Her Majesty the Queen, Bessie was also presented with a bouquet of flowers from Provost William Hendrie on behalf of West Dunbartonshire Council at Balquhidder House Care Home, where she has lived since earlier this year.

Bessie, born Elizabeth Louisa McRoberts, was born on April 25, 1912, and this week reached the remarkable age of 106.

She was born in Motherwell just 11 days after the infamous sinking of the RMS Titanic when it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Bessie attended school until the age of 14, years old and then took up various employments before visiting the employment agency in Glasgow and securing a general maid position at the Westerton House, just outside Balloch.

It was here that Bessie met her husband James, known as Jimmy. They were married in Motherwell on June 29, 1945 and spent their married life at Blairhosh Cottage until Jimmy’s death at the age of 53.

Bessie continued to live at the cottage with her two brother-in-laws, Tom and David. When they died the farm and cottage was sold and Bessie moved to Alexandria.

In 2018 Bessie moved into the privately owned Balquhidder House Care Home in Charleston Way, Alexandria.

Bessie loves nothing more than a plate of mince and tatties, a good cup of tea and a natter with her neighbours.

That notable month of April 1912, when Bessie was born, also saw the introduction in the House of Commons of a Bill for Irish home rule, the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, which would later become the RAF, and the successful flight across the English Channel by Harriet Quimby, the first female pilot to achieve the feat.

But it was also the month when news reached Britain that Captain Scott’s bid to become the first explorer to lead a team to the South Pole had been unsuccessful – and that Scott and his fellow Brits had died in the attempt.

Other notable events from April 1912, when Bessie was born, included The UK Parliament’s introduction of an Irish home rule bill, granting Ireland its own bicameral parliament and required to send a representative to the British House of Commons; Protestants in Ulster resisted.

The Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force), was formed.

And Harriet Quimby became the first woman pilot to fly across the English Channel.

Another famous piece of history from that was that British hopes were high that Robert Falcon Scott had reached the South Pole before Roald Amundsen of Norway. But they were ended when the Terra Nova arrived in New Zealand without Captain Scott on board, and the news that the Scott team had still been 150 miles from the Pole as of January 3. Amundsen’s party had reached the Pole on December 14. Scott’s party had arrived on January 17 then died in March while on the way back.

The oldest woman living in Scotland is thought to be Flora Smith, from the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden, who was born April 21, 1909, while the oldest Scot still alive today is Alf Smith, who was born on March 29, 1908 and lives in Perth.

The oldest living Scottish-born woman is believed to be Margaret ‘Peg’ Vivian, who was born Margaret Brown in Glasgow on February 25, 1906, and who has lived in Australia since she was 10 years old.