Object of the Month: May

We continue with our series of blogs on our ‘Object of the Month’. The object of the month for May are sets of keys from the 19th Century and have an interesting history, which was nearly misplaced in our store cupboard! Well, everyone is always loosing their keys aren’t they and it seems that Havering Museum is no exception!

These three sets of keys were recently discovered in a jiffy bag in the museum’s storeroom. They were deposited with us by Havering Council before the museum opened, but were not listed with their other loans.

Two of these sets have a local connection. One opens the Roger Reede alms-house chest, formerly kept in the County Court in Romford’s South Street, but now on display here in the museum. The other opened the padlocks on an iron chest in the Grand Jury Room in the old courthouse in Romford Market.

The third set, tied to a recycled label from E. Howard, pork and poultry salesman, opened a safe for a business in Tokenhouse Yard, located near the Bank of England. It is unknown how it came to be in Havering Council’s possession.

All of these set of keys can be seen on display in the ‘Object of the Month’ cabinet near the entrance to the galleries in the museum.

Sets of 19th Century Keys. Donated by Havering Council.