A Seaton woman celebrated her 100th birthday last month.

Connie Wellington reached her centenary on May 17, soon after fighting off a second attack of Covid which her family had been warned she might not survive. She had also contracted pneumonia and was being treated at the RD&E hospital, but recovered well enough to return home after a short stay. She told her family she had been motivated by not wanting to miss out on her 100th birthday and her card from the King.

Connie grew up in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. Her father fought in WWI as a sergeant major, and her mother was a lay Methodist preacher. She trained as a teacher during WWII and during one of her first jobs, at a school in Somerset, she made friends with the mother of Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury Festival.

She met her husband Gordon at a dance and together they expanded her father’s decorating and signwriting business, while Connie continued teaching part-time and brought up their five sons. A keen sportswoman, she captained Somerset Ladies’ Hockey team and ferried her sons around to football matches – also taking the position of goalie when they wanted to practise.

Midweek Herald: Connie Wellington with sons Timothy, Jeremy, Simon and Jonathan, before David was born

After moving to Seaton she ran a swimming club and still played tennis and football with her sons, as well as being very active with the local churches.

Her eldest son Timothy worked on world cartography and travelled with Chris Patten to oversee the handing over of Hong Kong to the Chinese. Jeremy, three years younger, used to be a professor at Sheffield University. The middle son, Simon, followed in his mother’s footsteps, teaching and then pursuing the signwriting and art family tradition. He also served as manager of Axe Cliff Golf Club between 2013 and 2021. Jonathan, three years younger than Simon, works for BANES council, and the youngest son, David, is a building site manager.

Midweek Herald: Simon, Connie and David Wellington

Simon said: “When I look back at the changes over Mum's lifetime with technology, medicines, transport etc, it is truly remarkable. Her father had the first car in Midsomer Norton and a crowd of people came out to see if it could traverse the steep hill called Silver Street coming out of Midsomer Norton. Mum and her two sisters had to jump out of the car and help push it up the hill.

“She saw the first black and white TV sets, then colour, then online TV. Telephones were just for the rich. There were no washing machines, just a boiler tub that she would pump the washing with a big heavy stick. This same bleached white stick was used to chase me around the garden to clobber me with.”

In her lifetime Connie saw five different monarchs on the throne and three coronations – George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and then King Charles III. Just days after watching the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla on television, she received her 100th birthday card from the royal couple.