In the historic market town of Lewes, Jeremiah Simmons was born into a world still trembling at the name of Napoleon. Born in 1808, his life began before the Industrial Revolution had fully reshaped England. His childhood was defined by a singular, historic moment: standing in the streets at age seven to cheer the victory at Waterloo and witnessing the defeated Emperor Napoleon’s empty, mud-spattered carriage roll through his town.

Jeremiah grew into a skilled gardener, tending the estates of the wealthy gentry, including the family of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. He migrated from the quiet hills of Sussex to the exploding metropolis of Brighton, witnessing its transformation from a fishing village into a Victorian boomtown. Through three marriages and over a century of change, he remained a constant figure, clean-shaven, pipe in hand, and known to locals simply as "The Prophet."

By 1908, Jeremiah was a celebrated relic of a bygone age. At one hundred years old, he refused to wear glasses and famously scolded reporters who tried to help him read. He became a living headline, sharing his simple, if unconventional, secrets to longevity: an eighty-year smoking habit and a nightly glass of whisky and water.

Jeremiah’s story is a remarkable testament to human resilience. He was a man who bridged the gap between the era of powdered wigs and the age of flight, transforming history from dry dates into vivid, lived memories. He leaves behind a legacy not of conquest, but of endurance, proving that sometimes, the most extraordinary thing a person can do is simply witness the world change.