IT is a big day for identical twins Joan and Betty as they celebrate their 100th birthday.

Sadly the Williams sisters will not be together on this special day, with Betty living in Saltash and Joan down in Penzance - however, each will receive a special celebration and of course, that all important card from the King.

They have lived a long and prosperous life, whether they were together or apart - overcoming illness, the war years and the problems that come with twin sisters who can share clothes...

But throughout it all they have had each other and will certainly be celebrating this milestone with their families in style.

The family of Betty have kindly supplied us with the life story of these two incredible women.

On January 22, 1925, Mrs Emily Williams of Hayle, Cornwall gave birth at home to a healthy daughter, Joan. It then became apparent, to everyone’s surprise, that Emily had been carrying a second child, who was born a few minutes later, but appeared to be very weak and was put aside whilst mother and firstborn were tended to. But when attention was given to the second child, later to be called Betty, it was clear that she would survive. The Williams twins had arrived.

The two little girls, always beautifully turned out in identical clothes, became a well-known sight in Copperhouse and Foundry. Although the twins were identical in appearance, their personalities developed in different ways: Joan, mischevious and outgoing, Betty, studious and a little quieter. Both had a talent and love for music and began piano lessons at an early age. This gave them and any company that they were in, great pleasure throughout their lives. Although possessing contrasting personalities, Betty and Joan shared a bond of affection, as twins often do, and a tendency to buy the same items - even to share the same physical pain, when miles apart. When the girls were three years old their brother, Kenneth, was born.

Their education began at Bodriggy School and continued at Hayle Grammar School. During their teenage years Joan’s love of music was focused on the swing bands, crooners and dancing, whilst Betty took more advanced classical studies, which she resumed later in life. Like his sisters, Ken became a very good pianist, besides having a fine tenor voice. The family home was filled with music during those happy times.

It was during those years that Joan suddenly became very ill with a rare disease of the blood and was taken into St Michael’s Hospital, Hayle (now St Julia’s Hospice). She was given a number of transfusions and there was concern because of her rare blood group, but fortunately her father and a maternal uncle were found to be suitable donors. The mystery illness which local doctors had never previously encountered, was ultimately cured by injections of snake venom. On a happier note, during her mid-school years, Betty was chosen to be Hayle Carnival Queen.

After grammar school Joan began an apprenticeship with the Crysede company in St Ives, which produced internationally acclaimed block-printed silk dresses. She stayed there for a few months, but was not happy travelling on her own on the train in the dark evenings, so she transferred to the Hayle Co-op, where her exceptional ability with mental arithmetic made her an asset to the grocery store. Betty took evening classes in shorthand and typing at the start of her employment with Primrose Dairy at St Erth.

During the war years American GIs were stationed at bases near Hayle and dances were held in local halls. Although the twins were allowed to attend, providing they were home reasonably early, Mr and Mrs Williams, aware of Joan’s outgoing personality, placed responsibility with Betty to keep an eye on her, which led to a number of arguments between the sisters! There was also a time when Joan ‘borrowed’ one of Betty’s dresses for a dance, not expecting her sister to be there, and literally bumping into her.

During the thirties and the immediate post-war years, Joan and Betty’s mother was often prevailed upon by members of the family living in other parts of the country to offer bed and breakfast during the summer. Hayle has a beautiful sandy beach, ideal for children and their parents. She was always happy to accommodate distant members of the family and they enjoyed her wonderful cooking, especially her delicious pasties. It was during one of these times that one of the visitors was John Rolton, who lived in Abbey Wood and was a Draughtsman at Woolwich Arsenal. He and Joan were attracted to each other and married in 1948. This resulted in Joan moving to Abbey Wood - over three hundred miles from Hayle. She and John rented a house a few doors down from from his lovely mother, who looked after Joan as if she was her own daughter. But post-war London, with its bombed out buildings, spivs and smogs, was a world away from Cornwall’s smaller scattered communities and its climate driven by the surrounding ocean. Not surprisingly, Joan became very homesick. However, in February 1949, she gave birth to a beautiful daughter. Within a few days, Betty was on the train for Waterloo and holding in her arms, her niece, Elizabeth.

In these years, Betty had progressed well at Primrose Dairy and had met her husband-to-be Jack Reed, from Wall. After being demobbed from the RAF, following months in Iraq as an engine fitter, he attended a training course in Truro to become a carpenter and joiner and began working for Harveys of Hayle. The couple began saving to buy a plot of ground on which to build a home of their own. In 1951 they married and began their married life in a flat above Phillips butcher’s shop in Copperhouse. They worked hard, but found time for Betty to sing in Hayle Ladies Choir and to play piano for them. Jack bought a Morris Eight tourer into which he fitted a reconditioned engine and new wooden floor. Betty’s niece loved the little car, and being taken out by her doting Uncle and Aunt. Jack was later promoted to the post of representative for Harveys and criss-crossed the county, measuring up roofs and giving professional advice.

Back up country, Joan’s husband having gained his Higher National Certificate, and obtained a post in Basingstoke. The family relocated to Basingstoke, which was at the time, a pleasant market town in North Hampshire - and for Joan a home fifty miles nearer to Hayle! By the late’ fifties, both Joan and John, who became a chartered engineer, were working full-time and moved from their original house to an attractive newly-built home on the south-west of Basingstoke - in fact a stone’s throw away from the A30 which also runs through Hayle. Their daughter Elizabeth, soon to be known as Libby, had done well at school and began her secondary education at Basingstoke High School for Girls, in 1960. Holidays, for the Basingstoke family always included a stay at the family home in Hayle.

Betty and Jack had also done well and bought a large plot of ground in Penmare, Hayle, which had once been part of the botanical gardens and still featured several palm trees and a stream running through the extensive rear lawn. Jack built a beautiful bungalow and the couple lived happily there, half a mile away from Betty’s parents. During those years Betty having held a managerial post at Primrose Dairy for some time, was compelled to retire early due to a serious problem with her leg which necessitated a long stay at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. But she continued with the choir, and earned many prizes at local fetes for her crochet work and baking. She also continued studies in musical theory at a local Technical College. In the early days, Jack built a small boat which he took out in St Ives Bay and fished, with his brother-in-law, Ken. Later Jack took up photography and besides having photographs reproduced in local calendars, gave slide shows with commentaries - his speciality being the many beautiful villages, coves and valleys of the Penwith peninsula.

Sadly, Joan and John parted but a few years later Joan married Fred a widowed scientist, with a young daughter, Victoria, and they moved to a new home in Basingstoke. Fred was an Aberdonian and the couple had many holidays in Scotland, besides regular trips to see Joan’s parents. In 1978, Joan bought a small holiday cottage in Market Street, Hayle. By this time Joan’s daughter, Elizabeth had married Paul in 1970 and they had a son and daughter, John and Jenni. The family spent several very happy holidays in the cottage, thanks to Joan.

In the late ‘nineties, following retirement, Jack designed and built a house in Marazion, overlooking St Michael’s Mount. He and Betty left their lovely bungalow and moved there in 2005. In the following years, they joined groups of veterans who visited the D-Day beaches and war graves on several occasions.

Mr and Mrs Williams died, Joan bought the family home and had it extensively refurbished. The little holiday cottage was sold as was their home in Basingstoke and in 1998, following their retirement Joan and Fred moved into the modernised family home. After approximately fifty years in Basingstoke, Joan was back in her childhood home.

Unfortunately in 2012, following a stroke, Jack had to go into Trevaylor Manor Care Home, where he was joined by Betty in 2017. He died in 2019. Joan remained at her home with increasing care packages after Fred’s death in 2014. In 2021, during COVID, she was moved from Penzance Hospital, recovering from a fall, to The Elms Care Centre in Saltash, where she is well cared for and very happy.

Today, they will both be the recipients of their 100th birthday cards from the King, may dabble in a slice of cake, or two, and know that they will always have each other - no matter how far apart they are.

Happy birthday Joan and Betty!