Oxford shop worker Joan Shewry celebrates 100 years

Joan Shewry, who has worked in the since closed Webbers as well as Butlers and M&S, celebrated her milestone birthday with a card from King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla.

She started her shop worker journey at Webber’s, the grand draper’s shop that traded for 60 years from an imposing building close by the Covered Market, as an apprentice.

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“Webbers was patronised by many of the leading figures of the day so you had to be very smart, polite and efficient” she said.

“As an apprentice I began by collecting items for dressmaking and tidying up, picking up pins dropped by assistants who were fitting clothing, and fetching supplies from the stores.”

Joan has turned 100 (Image: Walfinch)

Later, she worked at Butler’s, a large store on the Cowley Road, where she covered several departments, including fruit, cake and general household goods.

She then went on to work at M&S in Cornmarket Street, where she was promoted to supervisor.

“I later worked for Unipart in Cowley in the early days of computerisation,” she said. “I worked in data preparation, punching information into reels of paper tape, which in those days were used to feed data into computers.”

Joan Shewry with her birthday cake and card from the king

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Ms Shewry is now looked after by Oxford homecare provider Walfinch. Carer Teresa Caboz said: “Joan is a lovely lady who likes pampering and feeling cared for. She’s very polite and nice. It’s an honour to care for her.”

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This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage.

Get in touch with her by emailing: gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @geeharland