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09 November 2009
Emigrating to New Zealand at 103, Britain’s Eric King-Turner oldest immigrant
Britain’s oldest emigrant Eric King-Turner, who emigrated to New Zealand at the ripe old age of 103, has died.
Eric and his wife Doris, who was 87 at the time, left Southampton on a luxury cruiseliner to start a new life in New Zealand two years ago, arriving in Wellington to a tickertape welcome. Eric later became a celebrity in New Zealand and was famous for his love of fly-fishing.
Eric suffered a stroke at and died in hospital on Sunday aged 104.
New Zealand-born Doris, now 90, called her husband a “thorough English gentleman”.
The two swapped their retirement flat in Titchfield for a bungalow overlooking Tasman Bay on the South Island.
When they set foot on New Zealand soil in 2008, Eric – a former Royal Navy serviceman and dentist – entered the record books as the oldest person to emigrate to New Zealand and Britain’s oldest immigrant.
The New Zealand Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people emigrate to New Zealand.
