FAMILY and friends of a North Berwick woman gathered in the town to mark her 100th birthday.

Dorothea Rollo was joined by about 100 guests at the Macdonald Marine Hotel last Thursday as she they celebrated her milestone birthday.

East Lothian Lord Lieutenant Michael Williams, who was among the guests, presented her with a card from the Queen.

Mrs Rollo was born in Edinburgh on July 21, 1916, and went to boarding school in England as a child.

She spent time living in Kenya and India as a youngster, while also living in Lagos while her second husband Basil O’Shaunessey was working in the Nigerian capital, before following him to Ethiopia in the 1970s.

Their time in Ethiopia coincided with the downfall of Haile Selassie, while Dorothea, known as Thea, became trapped in the midst of a four-day general strike that paralysed the country.

Thea moved back to the UK and, after Basil’s death in the 1980s, moved north of the Border and settled in North Berwick.

She was reacquainted with Eden Rollo, a lifelong friend whom she first met while staying in India, and the couple later married.

Eden passed away a number of years ago but Thea was joined by extended family and her friends at her 100th birthday celebrations last week.

Lord Lieutenant Michael Williams told the Courier: “What a remarkable achievement.

“When you think of the life that she’s lived and the things she’s been through, it is astonishing.

“She was born in the middle of the Battle of the Somme and there have been so many changes in society, technology and almost every walk of life since then; it is wonderful that she has such a twinkle in her eye.”

Guests at the Macdonald Marine Hotel enjoyed champagne and a birthday lunch.

In her card, the Queen passed on her best wishes for Dorothea’s birthday.