Approaching a century old, North Hampton’s Elizabeth Jewell -— Betty to her friends — still makes her almost daily visit to the ocean, visits her elderly day-care center, and still loves to lunch at Newick’s on a regular basis.

Born April 4, 1900 in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia, Elizabeth Pinkney is believed to be the oldest resident of North Hampton. Today she lives on Fern Road with her son, Ed Jewell.

"Betty loves the lobster stew at Newick’s, and she loves to sit by the beach. We come down here almost every day," Ed said earlier this month at North Hampton State Beach, his mother seated on the sea wall, listening to the surf pound the sand a few yards away.

"I love to come visit the beach," Mrs. Jewell said. "I come down here all the time."

Pinkney, one of seven children, was born near Digby, Nova Scotia on a farm that had been in the family for generations. Her father, George, was in the Canadian version of the merchant marines, and also farmed and fished.

"I grew up on the farm," she recalled. "We used to take care of the cows, and we had chickens, cats and dogs on the farm."

Mrs. Jewell married Lawrence Hopkins and came to the United States after World War I, settling in the Boston area. Her husband died in 1921 from the flu, though, and Betty moved to Stratham to care for her family. She has been a Seacoast resident ever since.

In 1927, she married J. Wilber Jewel. He owned gas stations here, got into the heating business, and dabbled in real estate. J. Wilber died In 1975.

Mrs. Jewell at first worked in her husband’s businesses, then became a housewife, and volunteered her time in church affairs and arts and craft organizations. She is a member of the Episcopal Church in Exeter, Eastern Star, the Ladies Union in North Hampton and the Women's Club of Exeter. Ed said his mother was a great hooked-rug maker, and exhibited her rugs.

"The house is filled with hooked rugs she made, and she sold them for a long time," he said.

Ed Jewell, born is 1935, spent much his career in the restaurant business, including the 72 Restaurant in Portsmouth and The Marriott in Newton, Mass. He is also a writer, with a concentration in poetry. "Betty worked as a waitress In Halifax (Nova Scotia), then in Exeter, but because of Dad's business, she never really had to work in her later years, so got involved in arts and crafts and in volunteer work. Today she still likes to get out of the house, and loves her days at the elderly center (Seaside Elderly Day-out daycare center in Hampton)," Ed said. "She is still active, and has a sense of humor."