Anne Baker (biographer)

Anne Baker MBE
Born	Anne Salmond (1914-05-14)14 May 1914 (age 110 years, 219 days)
Education	Wirral Grammar School for Girls
Alma mater	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Occupation(s)	Writer, fundraiser
Spouse	Valentine Baker ​ (before 1979)​
Children	5
Father	Geoffrey Salmond

Anne Baker MBE (née Salmond; born 14 May 1914) is a British writer of historical biographies, fundraiser and supercentenarian.

Biography

Baker was born Anne Salmond just before the outbreak of World War I, the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Salmond who later became the professional head of the Royal Air Force. She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and lived with her father and mother in both Egypt and India. She married Valentine Baker (1910–1979) and has five children.^[1] She lives in Salisbury and turned 100 in May 2014.^[2] Baker received a merit award from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) at the charity's Salisbury fundraising branch on 28 April 2017 for more than 50 years of volunteer work.^[3] In July 2019, she was reportedly still fundraising at the age of 105.^[4]

Baker was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to the NSPCC.^[1] In May 2024, she turned 110. She was deemed the oldest person in Wiltshire.^[5]

Works

• Morning Star (1972), The life of Florence Baker, wife of the explorer Sir Samuel Baker^[6]
• Wings over Kabul: The First Airlift (1975), Account of the Kabul Airlift, co-written with Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman
• A Question of Honour (1996), The Fall and Rise of Colonel Valentine Baker
• From Biplane to Spitfire: The Life of Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond (2003)

References

1. "NSPCC charity fundraiser, 107, presented MBE in Salisbury". BBC News. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
2. Hannah White (21 May 2014). "Happy 100th for Anne". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
3. Rebecca Hudson (4 May 2017). "Volunteer Anne Baker, 102, receives award for more than 50 years of service to the NSPCC". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
4. NSPCC's oldest fundraiser, Salisbury's Anne Baker, raises £1,500 with garden party
5. Elkins, Jordan (14 May 2024). "Wiltshire's oldest woman celebrates 110th birthday". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
6. "Showing all editions for 'Morning Star: Florence Baker's diary of the expedition to put down the slave trade on the Nile, 1870–1873;'". WorldCat. Retrieved 13 December 2018.