Calling all amateur detectives! !Secret compartments in old wooden writing box !!!?

Question

Recently discovered secret ompartments in an old wooden writing box, inside one side were five calling cards in the other lock of blonde hair

Names on cards were Mr Percy Catchpole, Mr H Keen, Mr Will Garner, Mr Clarence Clifford, Mr Thomas s Williams,

Traced Garner as william Langton Garner from Melton Leicester Born 1870, also (possibly ) found Percy and Clarence.

1)What do you think the pupose of hiding the cards and lock of hair would be?

2) how can we find out how these men were connected (apart from the obvious !) Any budding detectives ?

Answer 1

probably a ladies box and they were her admirers, maybe she kept the cards as keepsakes. or perhaps just filed them away and forgot them.  the hair may have been hers, or bestowed on her by a lover.  sounds like fun tracing them though. do you know who owned the box?

Answer 2

does the location of Garner, Percy and Clarence show any proximity.

If so check can you check local newspapers archives.

or museums etc.

At a guess those using calling cards would be of the gentry

or at least notable.

census and familty history sites may be worth a visit

but this would be a long process.

Answer 3

She had a weird sense of humor and knew that you would one day find the items and try to figure it out.  Pity she didn't leave some gold or money there as well.

By the way, "weird" is an exception to the rule of "i before e except after c".

Answer 4

It's all very intriguing,they were lovers of the woman who owned the writing box. She was a woman of position back in the day when it wasn't fashionable for a woman to have power. And these men admired her for it ,and she was very grapefruit.

Answer 5

dont think they were hidden, just kept as keepsakes and the lock of hair would be the beaus of whoever the writing box belongs to the calling cards are probably from her admirers

youll probably find the answers to ur questions by sourcing who owned the box, the area and looking at births and deaths of that time