At the time of her death, on 20 January 1962, The Times reported that Mrs. Chesterton was 'in her nineties'. Writing in the Tablet, 10 February 1962, P. C. Heseltine was slightly more specific:
'Not only does nobody, now that she is gone, know her age, but there is abundant evidence that she did not know it herself. Reasonable estimates put it between ninety-two and ninety-eight.'
Miss Helen M. Palmer, however, has kindly supplied me with a copy of the death certificate, in which it appears that Mrs. (Ada Elizabeth) Chesterton died at the age of 93. This may possibly have been someone's guess, but I have given the date of her birth as 1869. G. K. Chesterton's anecdote about his sister-in-law does justice to only one small side of her literary activity: she was a prolific journalist, and her book In Darkest London not only gave memorable expression to her social conscience, but led to the foundation of Cecil Houses (Incorporated) — Women's Public Lodging Houses and Residential Clubs.