Mrs Stewart was born in Elgin Terrace, Hillside, on March 31, 1908, the only child of Frances and William Bowman.
When she was just two years old her parents decided to emigrate and start a new life in Australia, with Mr Bowman leaving first to ge
t everything settled for the arrival of his wife and daughter.
Tragically, however, he died suddenly from peritonitis in Australia before the two had left Scotland.
As her mother now had to go out to work, the young Christina Bowman moved in with an aunt and uncle in 1910.
She went to Dalry Primary School and then Boroughmuir High School. By this time, around 1920, her mother was in charge of a newsagent's shop in Dalry Road, and she and Mrs Stewart lived in a house at the back of the shop.
When she wasn't at school or studying, the youngster would help out in the shop and deliver the newspapers.
Her mother became friendly with John Sutherland, who was the superintendent of Dalry Cemetery, and when they later married in November 1924, Mrs Stewart and her mother moved into the lodge house attached to the cemetery, where they stayed for several years, later moving to North Merchiston Cemetery Lodge in Slateford Road.
By the time she was 16, Mrs Stewart was working with the St Cuthbert's Co-operative as a book-keeper in Marshall Street.
It was here that she met her late husband George, who was one of the grocers in the store.
They were engaged for two years before marrying on August 31, 1931, at the Roman Eagle Halls in Johnstone Terrace.
After they married the couple moved into a house in Polwarth which would become their family home for the next 70 years.
The couple had two daughters – Frances and Marjorie.
Mrs Stewart was also closely involved with the nearby John Ker Memorial Church, and both her daughters were later married there.
Her two grandsons, Graeme and Derek, were also christened in the church.
Mr Stewart passed away in 1980, and not long after Mrs Stewart joined a Wednesday whist club at North Merchiston Church, where she made new friends and enjoyed going out for meals and going on trips to the theatre.
She also had the weddings of her two grandsons to enjoy and is now the proud great-grandmother of three great-grandsons – Darren, Scott and Jordan.
Mrs Stewart was also involved with the In-reach group of Polwarth Parish Church, where she enjoyed days out at the Trefoil centre and also afternoon teas on the barge at Ratho, sailing along the canal. She gave up her family home last year due to ill health, and has now settled into the Pentland Hill Nursing Home in Corstorphine, where she celebrated her birthday, and received the traditional telegram from the Queen for all centenarians.
The full article contains 495 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
