CELEBRATING her 100th birthday was not such a surprise to Madeline Marshall longevity runs in her family.

Mrs Marshall, who lives at the Kingfishers Nursing Home in Bourne End, has a sister, Dorothy, 94, and also has two cousins who are 95 and 90-years-old.

Mrs Marshall's grandmother also lived until she was 96 and her aunt until she was 98.

Known to her friends and family as Madge, Mrs Marshall was born on July 10, 1905.

In her youth Mrs Marshall sang Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. She was also a keen sprinter and hockey player.

She was a regular visitor to her Baptist Chapel and Sunday school, where she met her husband Harry.

They married in 1934 and their first child, Pamela, was born two years later.

During the war Mrs Marshall, who was then pregnant, was evacuated to Somerset where her son Alan was born in 1939.

Mr and Mrs Marshall celebrated their diamond wedding in 1994 but sadly lost their son to cancer a year later.

After the death of her husband in 1999, aged almost 92, Mrs Marshall remained in the family home with the aid of carers until 2004, when she moved into Kingfishers.

Mrs Marshall received a telegram from The Queen on her birthday and her extended family helped her to celebrate a very special occasion.