Margaret Boothman

MARGARET Boothman, who died recently, was for 70 years a prominent figure in the St John Ambulance Brigade and later the Order of St John.

She was 19 years old when the Second World War began and at once enlisted as an auxiliary nurse, in St John uniform, serving at two London hospitals, where she helped to tend casualties of the Blitz.

After the war she married and moved to Buckinghamshire, and in her early 30s became County Superintendent of St John -– the youngest in the country at that time.

She held that position for nearly 20 years until 1972, when she moved to Jersey and immersed herself in both local and national St John activities. She established an appeals committee which over many years raised substantial funds to support the work of St John in the Island.

She was appointed to Chapter-General, the governing body of the Order, and later became a Dame Grand Cross, the highest rank attainable in St John.

But she never lost her enthusiasm for the grass roots of the movement and cared greatly for the many young cadets in Jersey and elsewhere, and those dedicated men and women who practise and popularise the first aid techniques which are at the core of St John.

In addition to her involvement with St John, she was an active supporter of other Jersey charities, in particular Riding for the Disabled.

A few weeks before her death in July she opened the gardens of her beautiful home in St Lawrence to raise money for the Jersey Association for Youth and Friendship. She leaves two sons and five grandchildren.