The photographs, dating from the 1940s, feature a glamorous Audrey Hepburn-lookalike travelling the world on cruise liners and attending weddings and parties.
Airmail love letters from a mysterious ‘Xavier’ are addressed to a Miss Anna Paton – presumed to be the woman in the photographs – who would now be in her 80s.
The fascinating love story was found, together with birth certificates and important documents, in a purple plastic bag on the back of a coach which terminated in Bristol in August 2008.
The bus company spent the last year trying to trace the owner without success and are now appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
The mysterious purple bag contained more than 70 black and white photos and airmail letters, with many bound together in delicate pink ribbon.
It was left on long-distance coach that terminated in Bristol in 2008 and either came from London or from Devon and Cornwall and was operated by First.
The letters all begin ”to my love” and are signed off ”god bless you my darling, my lover, X.”
The poems are clearly romantic in nature and one refers to the couple as ”mistress” and ”lover”.
One two-page poem is titled: ”The lovers’ complaynt on his evident incapacity to fulfil his mistress her task”.
In the poem the author speaks of his longing for Anna by asking: ”Simply to gratify my Anna’s curious pleasure is / It really honest to loot poor grave’s golden treasuries?
”(T’will be the only pinching I am likely to be allowed / Unless I goose her secretly in the middle of a crowd.)”
From addresses on the envelopes, it appears Miss Paton lived at addresses in Chelsea and Knightsbridge in London, St Ives in Cornwall and various overseas locations.
She also lived in Barcelona in Spain, Sydney in Australia, Antibes in France and Lisbon in Portugal during the 60s and 70s.
Anna Paton also spent time on board the Blue Star SS Auckland Star, calling at ports in Senegal in West Africa and Cape Town in South Africa.
Bus company First have written to every UK address on the envelopes to find the elusive Miss Anna Paton – but have so far received no response.
Karen Baxter, spokeswoman for First in the South West, said: ”These letters clearly have special significance to someone.
”Within the bag are also several love notes that would have been sent with bouquets of flowers, and there are also several handwritten poems.
”It would be wonderful to reunite this lost property with its owner. The photos are also amazing; really capturing the spirit of the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
”Looking at the photographs and the dates on the letters, it’s clear that the owner would probably be in their 70s or 80s now, and I imagine these letters and photos would mean a great deal to them, or their children.
”I genuinely hope we are able to trace their owner and return them to their rightful home.”
The letters were kept in First’s lost property for a month and were retained by the company after that due to their perceived importance to the owners.
Karen Baxter added: ”There’s definitely some kind of link to high society, given the extensive travelling this woman carried out during that era.
”It is obviously a love story with swathes of hand-written poetry and romantic letters.”
The lost bag also contained an Australian birth certificate in the name of Muriel Mayklim Jackson (the daughter of Isobel Paton Jackson nee Fitzsimmons and William Sydney Jackson).
There were also two deed poll name change documents, both dating from 1956. Isabel Paton Jackson changed her name to Isabel Paton, and Muriel Mayklim Jackson became Muriel Mayklim Paton.
There is also a newspaper cutting from 1953 showing the wedding notice of Miss Muriel Jackson to Mr Peter Heath, from the society pages of the Sunday Herald Newspaper in Australia.
Anyone with information should contact Karen Baxter, First’s PR manager, by emailing [email protected].
