Wed Apr 7, 5:06 AM
LONDON (AFP) - He served in the Crimean war before retiring to a life in the countryside. Now, at the ripe old age of around 160, Britain's likely oldest resident -- Timothy the tortoise -- has died.
Timothy's retirement had been a particularly long one, around a century shuffling around the gardens of Powderham Castle in Devon, southwest England, the Daily Telegraph said Wednesday.
The pet of several Earls of Devon, the tortoise would hibernate during the winter in the castle's rose garden, bearing the written tag: "My name is Timothy. I am very old -- please do not pick me up."
However before joining the family in 1892, the paper said, Timothy had led a particularly active life for a tortoise.
He was a mascot on British naval ship HMS Queen, which bombarded Sebastopol in 1854 during the siege of the city -- now called Sevastopol, in Ukraine -- as part of the Crimean War.
Timothy later saw active service in both the East Indies and China, naval historian Captain George Cardew told the newspaper.
"This entitled Timothy to both service medals. It was typical of the tortoise's modesty that he chose not to wear them," Cardew said.
Even when retired to a stately home, Timothy had one surprise left for his owners.
An attempt to mate him in 1926 ended in failure, after which it was established that Timothy was female.
"They did try with a tortoise called Toby," Lady Gabrielle Courteney, the 91-year-old aunt of the present Earl of Devon, told the paper.
"But it was not a success."
LONDON (AFP) - He served in the Crimean war before retiring to a life in the countryside. Now, at the ripe old age of around 160, Britain's likely oldest resident -- Timothy the tortoise -- has died.
Timothy's retirement had been a particularly long one, around a century shuffling around the gardens of Powderham Castle in Devon, southwest England, the Daily Telegraph said Wednesday.
The pet of several Earls of Devon, the tortoise would hibernate during the winter in the castle's rose garden, bearing the written tag: "My name is Timothy. I am very old -- please do not pick me up."
However before joining the family in 1892, the paper said, Timothy had led a particularly active life for a tortoise.
He was a mascot on British naval ship HMS Queen, which bombarded Sebastopol in 1854 during the siege of the city -- now called Sevastopol, in Ukraine -- as part of the Crimean War.
Timothy later saw active service in both the East Indies and China, naval historian Captain George Cardew told the newspaper.
"This entitled Timothy to both service medals. It was typical of the tortoise's modesty that he chose not to wear them," Cardew said.
Even when retired to a stately home, Timothy had one surprise left for his owners.
An attempt to mate him in 1926 ended in failure, after which it was established that Timothy was female.
"They did try with a tortoise called Toby," Lady Gabrielle Courteney, the 91-year-old aunt of the present Earl of Devon, told the paper.
"But it was not a success."
