# Longest-serving Poppy Appeal collector dies

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/09/15/longestserving-poppy-appeal-collector-dies/
- Published: 2010-09-15T13:03:02+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The longest-serving poppy collector, who raised funds for the Poppy Appeal since
it began in 1921, has died in Devon at the age of 105. Noelle Benda Whitehead, Lady
Milverton, was born on 18 Dec 1904 and first volunteered for the Poppy Appeal at
the age of 16.**

She continued to distribute poppies and to collect for the Appeal, including while
she lived abroad, each November for the next 89 years.

![Lady Milverton](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2021/06/ladymilverton.jpg)

Lady Milverton

“She collected for the Poppy Appeal last year and as usual, her effort yielded the
biggest ‘tin’ returned,” said Peter Hearn, a Queen’s Messenger and Poppy Appeal 
organiser in Devon. “I spoke to the manager of her residence at Fleete House today,
and he told me that the place seems empty without her.”

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The wife of a Colonial Office high-flyer, she spent nearly 20 years in North Borneo,
Gambia, Fiji, Jamaica and Nigeria.

Lady Milverton’s contribution to the Poppy Appeal was recognised in her 100th year,
when she was the guest of honour at the Festival of Remembrance in Devon and received
80 years’ worth of Poppy Appeal collector awards from the Lord Lieutenant of Devon.

“She had a remarkable life and made a tremendous contribution to the Poppy Appeal,”
said John Pentreath, the [Royal British Legion](http://www.britishlegion.org.uk)‘
s County Manager for Devon. “We will ensure that The Royal British Legion pays its
full respects at her service.”

 [⌊Poppy Appeal⌉](https://www.flickr.com/photos/53941041@N00/12161666376/)

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