Funeral today for county's oldest man who was 109

Lancashire's oldest man, William Wright Staples, has died at the age of 109.

- by Post Reporter

Mr Staples passed away peacefully on November 2 in Chorley, just 34 days before his 110th birthday.

Born on December 11, 1915, he lived a long and remarkable life that spanned more than a century of Lancashire and British history. Known as Billy, he grew up in Shaw, near Oldham, where he worked in the mills alongside his older sisters.

He later moved to Birmingham to work at the Bakelite factory before settling in Horwich, where he worked as a hairdresser - and where he met his wife, Doreen.