IT takes a special occasion to bring together five generations of a big family.

And they don’t get much more important than celebrating a matriarch’s 100th birthday.

Henrietta ‘Hetty’ Corbett, who swears that doing a daily crossword has kept yer young and sprightly, spent yesterday beaming with pride, laughing and opening up dozens of birthday cards including one from the Queen.

The great-great-grandmother from Hampton Poyle, near Kidlington, was visited by her seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and little great-great-grandson Jack.

Alongside nieces, nephews, friends and others from all over the world, they toasted Mrs Corbett’s health and heard stories about her life.

Mrs Corbett, nee Dowling, who said she was “delighted’ to see her family all together, spent her early adult life working as a cook, living in the household of author Edith Wharton for a time.

She married husband Jack in 1938 and the couple lived around the country, in Lancashire, Scotland and Yorkshire.

They had two children, Pat and Ann, and lived to happily see many of their grandchildren growing up before Jack’s death in 1987.

Daughter Pat O’Gorman, 73, who lives in Hampton Poyle, said: “It is fantastic to see so many members of the family here and mum recognises them all.

“She is still out in the garden now enjoying herself, it has been such a day to remember.”

Mrs Corbett has become a well-known face in Hampton Poyle since she moved there nearly 20 years ago.

At the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the village earlier this month, she was handed a large basket of flowers in recognition of her place as the village’s oldest resident.

Some of her grandsons run O’Gormans Electrical Appliances in Bicester and Kidlington and many others live around the county.

Daughter Ann Beardsmore, 62, said: “It is not often you get such a big family together in one place.

“It takes something very special. And this is certainly that. It is a wonderful occasion. It has been a really fabulous day.

“Mum is the picture of health, she just keeps going.”

Mrs Corbett said she was “delighted” to see everyone and to reach such a landmark birthday.