A proud Buddie who has lived in Paisley his whole life has marked his 100th birthday surrounded by his family.
Harold Hornby was joined by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for the milestone celebration at Westerfield Care Home.
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The youngest family member - and Harold’s namesake - his nine-month-old great grandson Harry even joined in the celebrations.
The centurion was born on December 3, 1919, at his childhood home in Howard Street.
Growing up in the town, Harold has lived through a number of historical events, including the 1929 Glen Cinema disaster, the Second World War and even helped set up tours of Sma’ Shot Cottages, which now feature items from his own childhood
home.
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His son, Paul Hornby, 54, said: “He has taken it all in his stride. He definitely has led an interesting life.
“He grew up in Paisley and has always lived here and has seen so many things in the town.
“He was supposed to go to the Glen Cinema they day of the disaster, but he wasn’t well and his mum kept him home.
“A few years after that he caught scarlet fever, diphtheria and the measles – three things which should have killed him back then, but he survived.
“He was one of the first to give tours at Sma’ Shot Cottages and he did that for a number of years even after he went blind. He remembered where everything was.
“Now he’s 100 he jokes he is still hanging on.
“We had a great day with all the family and we managed to celebrate for his sister Olive too, who turns 90 on December 6.
“His nephew even flew all the way from Australia to celebrate with us.”
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Harold lived on Howard Street with his parents Richard and Olive and his sister Olive.
He went on to work at Singers in Clydebank during the Second World War, returning home to Paisley just an hour before the Clydebank Blitz began in March 1941.
He later joined the National Guard in 1946 and travelled to Palestine before returning home and working at the Paisley mills and then the Rolls Royce factory, where he remained until his retirement in 1982.
Great grandfather Harold has lived at Westerfield Care Home for a year since the death of his beloved wife Lilian last year.
Harold and Yorkshire woman Lilian met at a badminton course in Largs and married in Lilian’s hometown in Yorkshire in 1961 before moving back to Cochran Street, in Paisley, shortly after their wedding.
They celebrated the birth of their two children Sandra, 56, and Paul – who both went on two have two children.
In 1973, they relocated to Foxbar, where Harold remained until last year.
Lilian was well-known in the community for her role as the principal biology teacher at Castlehead High School.
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Keen photographer Harold was also a member of the Paisley Colour Photographic Society for a number of years, with his photos of Paisley in the 1960s and 70s still shared and enjoyed by locals online.
