Margaret Humphries

by Mary Bevan

Margaret Florence Humphries was born on the 21st April, 1938, at Coldharbour, Wimborne St Giles – the only baby to be born into the house from that day to this. Although she shared her birthday date with the Queen she was not named after her.

Margaret was a particularly small baby so she fitted nicely into one of the drawers in an old chest of drawers that belonged to the family at that time. Margaret’s mum and dad both worked for Lord Shaftesbury on the Giles estate – her dad as a footman and her mother as a housemaid. In fact, they met and fell for each other when they were working there together.

Margaret remembers little about the war – except the air raids with the sound of doodle bugs falling while the family hid under the stairs. She does, however, remember a lot about her time at the local school in Wimborne St Giles which she attended until she was 15 years old. She loved her school days there and took part in all the activities. She was also a member of the Young Farmers Club and loved their meetings and get-togethers.

At 15 when she left school Margaret began her working life cleaning at a teacher’s house. This was the first of a series of jobs – at the Cranborne Egg Packing Station, in the Red Cross, as a Home Help for Dorset County Council and later still as a lunch-time supervisor and teaching assistant at Wimborne St Giles First School. Then, when she was 25, she met her husband-to-be, Alan, at a Young Liberal barn dance at West Knighton. They married and had two boys. One is a Chef and now works in a Bournemouth Care Home, the other is a tractor driver on the Shaftesbury Estate.

Alan soon became a District Councillor and that meant he and Margaret received an invite to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party which Margaret describes as an experience to remember. Alan was well-known for the many coach trips he organised for the locals, including a memorable trip to the Blackpool Tower and several to Balmoral. In fact Balmoral was to become a particularly important place for Margaret and Alan as they visited it many times and often watched the Royal Family leaving the church there. Alan was also an organist and regularly played the organ at musical evenings organised by the Electric Organ Society. In those days Margaret got around on a scooter. Unfortunately one day she fell off it and is now forbidden by her son from using it any more!

Sadly, Alan died in 2018. Now Margaret enjoys the company of her two grandchildren – a boy and a girl – who are both very sporty. She says she’s looking forward to having some great grandchildren one day. She is also a very accomplished needlewoman, doing embroidery and needlepoint and has brought along to our Jolly days some impressive examples of her work. She was one of the principal creators of the beautiful millennium tapestry that now hangs in Wimborne St Giles Village Hall. One of her special treasures is a piece cut from one of the Queen’s dresses – white satin embroidered with a gold fleur-de-lys.

One thing everyone who knows Margaret will agree on is that she is usually smiling and you can hear her laugh echoing around the room on Jolly days. Her philosophy of life, when I questioned her about it, goes along with this – always think positive and just keep going!  Well, it certainly seems to have kept Margaret in fine form.