Daughter of wartime evacuee secures Somerset corn for funeral

Margaret Shoulder, left, and a childhood friend

The daughter of a woman who was evacuated to Somerset during World War Two has found some Somerset standing corn for her mother's funeral.

Margaret Shoulder, who was nicknamed "Joby", died unexpectedly on 4 July.

Her daughter Michelle Shoulder, from Berkshire, said her mother had such a deep love of Somerset she thought of it as her real home.

She appealed on Radio Somerset for the corn, to form part of the last rites at her mother's funeral.

Margaret Shoulder, nicknamed Joby, was evacuated from London in 1940

Michelle received two offers of help from local farmers and drove down to Somerset on Tuesday to collect three boxes of corn, which she says will be incorporated into a floral design of silk poppies and fresh roses, in the shape of her mother's nickname for the funeral.

"I can't believe how kind everybody has been," she said. "It's been a little bit overwhelming."

Mrs Shoulder - Joby - was evacuated to Long Load in Somerset in 1940, aged five, and given a home with Jack and Cathy Boobyer.

Ms Shoulder said Mr and Mrs Boobyer were a "fantastic couple who adored my mum and looked after her so well that later in life they became [known as] my grandparents".

Joby was given a new home by Jack and Cathy Boobyer

She said her mum's love of Somerset "never died. She hated being indoors, she had the love of outside and anything to do with farming or that sort of lifestyle," said Ms Shoulder.

"Every time I would pass through Somerset I would always stop at my grandparents' grave with flowers. And my mum would ask me to bring her back a handful of standing corn."

She said her mum, who was 88 when she died, could turn her Somerset accent on "at the drop of a hat... as soon as we came across the border".

"Jack and Cathy just taught her things she would probably never have experienced if she'd still been living in London."

Ms Shoulder said that Jack and Cathy became known as her grandparents

Jack, Joby and Cathy

Ms Shoulder said: "The story goes she was put on a train at the age of five, carrying her teddy bear… and when she got to the school hall in Long Load she was so scared that she hid under the table.

"It turned out she was the last child to be picked.

"And she said as she was hiding under the table cloth this huge big farmer's hand came along and picked up the table cloth. [He] put his head under the table and said 'Come on Joby, you're coming home with me'.

"So this gentleman called Jack nicknamed my mum 'Joby' and that's stuck with her ever since."

Ms Shoulder said that although she could get the standing corn from near her, in Berkshire, it "wouldn't have the same meaning".

Michelle Shoulder, right, has secured some Somerset standing corn for her mother's funeral

"So I thought I'd ask the good folk of Somerset if they'd help me out."

She had offers from two local farmers: Chris Baker, who is from near Yeovil, and David Sharland from Butleigh.

"As I drove down I saw a harvester in one of the fields and thought how much mum would have loved all this," Mrs Shoulder said.

Joby's funeral will be held on 21 August at St Hilda's Church in Ashford, Middlesex.