Unknowns

Most folks looking for information about The Ghosts of My Friends are more than likely looking for information on the Cecil Henland version of the book. That's certainly what piqued my interest at first, and drove my research into who Cecil was. 

The later version by Capini Vequin, the pen name for Elizabeth Vernon Quinn, turned out to the the richer biographical vein. I've been able to get a pretty decent picture of Elizabeth, at least a technical picture based on public records. But even in Elizabeth's case, I'm still left with many questions and theories. 

These are the current questions, theories, observations, and interesting threads I'm picking at. 

Similarities

Researching these two women, it's hard not to notice some similarities. Though I don't think they ever crossed paths in person, Elizabeth clearly at least knew Cecil's name. The Ghost of My Friends was published in the U.S. by Frederick A. Stokes, Co. as early as 1905. Elizabeth began work as an editor at Stokes that same year. 

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Neither author has their name in the book as "by". Rather, Cecil is listed as arranger and Elizabeth is listed as compiler. I've been curious if there is a specific meaning of this. In a similar book of the time, Faces of My Friends, the responsible party is identified as "arranged by H.S.F.R." In a modern understanding of the word, it could mean this is the person that arranged the publication of the book, as in financially. Other books of the time also use "compiler" as the 1938 edition from Elizabeth. 

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It would be a delight to find some shred of information that hinted at why Elizabeth's pen name was attached. Was it her idea, or did it come from someone else at Stokes who needed a known childrens author's name to tack on? This question will likely never be answered, but there was at least one moment when both Cecil and Elizabeth shared the same soil as Elizabeth was traveling to Europe after World War I. 

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Beyond The Ghosts of My Friends, both Cecil and Elizabeth have titles about card games. Likely not a big coincidence, considering the popularity of card games at the time. And beyond publishing, both had a vested interest in childrens welfare. It'll never be known if they ever met, but I like to think they would have gotten along well.

Cecil

Cecil never remarried and seems to have socially disappeared after being widowed. Without personal accounts, it's near impossible to know why. We do know that she had a business selling antiques, Merchant Adventurers, that she retired from in the early 1920s. After that, she only shows up in official records. 

It seems she came from a bit of means. In 1891, Cecil's mother is noted as "living on her own means" in the jersey Island census. Cecil did marry into some wealth, and when she died, her effects were valued at £22,000 (2025 value of £450,000). She could clearly support herself through the rest of her life. It's also curious her probate leaves her belongings to a bank. While this may just be a legal step, it makes me wonder what her relationship to the rest of the Percival clan was. By her death, she would have had several nieces and nephews through her husband's family.

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No known grave has been found to date, though she was likely cremated. It's worth noting her sister, brother-in-law, and nieces were all cremated. Without any living blood relatives, it's possible there was no one to erect a monument or bury her.  

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Cecil's known works must have all come before 1907, when the first copy I have seen with Cecil's name in it appears with her "also by" list on the title page. I've only been able to find one of those books, which does not list any other publications. That may be because it was the first, or that book just didn't include the list. By the names and sparse descriptions, all of Cecil's books seem to fall in line with the parlor game genre. Does this mean she never wrote a book? And why did her production cut off in 1907. 

Elizabeth

Her obituary says she was a ghost writer, but there's no known list of what she ghost wrote. Without a bit of dumb luck, this may never be known. 

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She was an editor at Stokes at a very young age (and a woman, to boot). What would this have been like for her? She was also sent as a correspondent to Europe after World War I. Again, such an interesting experience she msut have had. 

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Did she have anything to do with the early TGOMF books? She would have worked at Stokes when they first came out circa 1905. 

Gerald Villiers Stuart

In the two books from Cecil that exist, each has a poem from Gerald Villiers Stuart. What possible connection could there be? 

A lot of good information about Gerald Villiers Stuart can be found in "Gerald Villiers Stuart 1869-1951" by Donald Brady (2024). In it, Brady mentions the Ghosts of My Friends books, but doesn't make a connection other than Villiers Stuart's poem appearing at the beginning of the books.