The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-08-02 00:00:00

A CENTENARIAN.

The causes of life and of death are, to some extent,
Identical. Influences which kill the weak, strengthen
the strong, and in the mutual reaction of a perfect
constitution and a mode of life free from those lethal
influences which no strength of constitution can resist
may he found the secret of extreme longevity. The
history of centenarians often illustrates this, but it is
not often that the conditions of their existence can be
accurately known.
Not long ago the death was announced, at the age
of 102, of the Rev. Canon Beadon, of Stoneham, the
particulars of whose life are in this respect of some
interest, Born in the year 1777, he succeeded his
father in the living of Stoneham in 1812, the living
having been held by the two, father and son, for more
than 100 years. His ancestors presented examples of
moderate, but not extreme longevity, his father hav-
ing died at 80 and his mother at 86.
Canon Beadon was probably the last person living
who remembered the Lord George Gordon Riots.
At the time (1780) he was three years of age, and he
distinctly recollected having been held up to the win-
dow by his nurse to see the soldiers in the streets.
His good health was almost uninterrupted; in early
manhood he had a slight illness the exact nature of
which is difficult to ascertain, since it occurred in the
year 1798. He was about sft. 9io. in height, broad.
shouldered and deep-chested, with very long arms and
large bands. In early life he possessed great muscular
power, which was wel linclicated by his frame. Even
when long past seventy his strength of wrist was remark-
able. He was fond of shooting and fishing; the
former amusement he kept up till ninty- four, the latter
till eighty-eight. When middle-aged he could walk
out shooting from morning till night, exposed to any
amount of cold and wet, and completely knock up
many younger men. He seemed quite impervious
to the ailments to which ordinary men are subject. He
never knew what a headache or rheumatism was. His
digestion appeared perfect, and he could eat anything
with impunity. He not only ate heartily at every meal,
but used often to eat biscuits, &c., between meals. He
was a " moderate drinker "—by no means a total
obstainer, and was to the last extremely fond of sweet
things. As he grew older his step became slower, but
he never tottered in his gait. To the last his com-
plexion was ruddy in tint, never showing the parch-
ment-like appearance so often an accompaniment of
extreme old age. His condition remained as in middle
age up to his death, neither stouter nor thinner.
At ninety-seven he had his first severe illness—an at-
tack of bronchitis, contracted through going out on a very
cold day, and he was never afterwards quite the same.
Up to this date he had taken service in his church
every Sunday and his three months' duty in Wells
Cathedral, his voice continuing distinct and powerful;
but after the attack of bronchitis he was more or less of
an invalid. Nevertheless, he was able to answer, him-
self, seventy letters of congratulation which he received
on his hundredth birthday. The late severe winter tried
him very much, and he had several colds and slight
attacks of bronchitis, from all of which he recovered,
and he died at last, peaceably and painlessly, from
mere "decay of nature." During the last year or
two of his life, if fatigued or oat of health in any
way, his mind was not perfectly clear, but he never
lapsed into anything like "second childishness."
He was possessed of a most imperturbable temper
and singularly even spirits, and would not allow any-
thing to worry him. The two places where he passed
almost the whole of his life—Wells and Stoneham—
are relaxing in climate. One of his nephews is now
living aged 86, two died last year aged 85 and 88 re-
spectively, and at the time of his death Canon
Beadon had great-great-great-nephews and nieces
living.—Lancet.