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May 21, 2014 · In honour of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday (he was born on 22 May 1859 – fans of The Smiths may be interested to learn that this was exactly 100 years to the day before Morrissey’s birth), we’re here with five of our favourite fascinating facts about the man who gave us Sherlock Holmes.
Title page from Arthur Conan Doyle's thesis. Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. [5][6] His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was born in England, of Irish Catholic descent, and his mother, Mary (née Foley), was Irish Catholic. His parents married in 1855. [7]
- Sherlock Holmes and the Future of Crime. Sherlock Holmes: The Detective That Influenced Criminology | The Real Sherlock Holmes | Timeline. Doyle was always disappointed that his work on Holmes overshadowed his psychic, medical, and historical research.
- A Dark and Bloody Connection. The Final Hunt for Jack the Ripper: A Journey Through History | Murder Casebook | Real Crime. Doyle was many things: a historian, a researcher, a believer in spiritualism, a former sailor, an eye surgeon, an amateur detective, a novelist, an apologist for the British government, and most of all, a curious man who wanted to explore everything there was to explore about the world he loved so much.
- The Racism of the Times. The Adventure of the Three Gables (BBC Radio Drama) (Sherlock Holmes Radio Show) Doyle has been accused of being a racist, and many point to various things in his stories throughout the years, as well as his actions in life.
- A (Pseudo) Scientific Interest. Victorian Pseudosciences: Solving Murders with Eyeballs. While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a medical man, a historian, a failed parliamentary candidate, and so much more, he was also, more than anything, a man who wanted to be on the cutting edge of everything going on in the world.
- His Family Was Tragic
- His Childhood Was Cold
- Everything Changed
- He Wasn't An Instant Success
- He Was A Daredevil
- He Was A Bad Boy Doctor
- He Failed—Hard
- He Lost A Patient
- His Bride Was Ill
- His Wife Came Up with Sherlock Holmes
Did you know that throughout Doyle's many Sherlock Holmes stories, we never meet the detective's parents? Well, that strange omission might have something to do with Doyle's own unhappy family life. Doyle’s father Charles Alamont Doyle was an artist who failed to achieve any major success. Over the years, alcoholism and depression led him to a comp...
As Doyle's father descended into mental illness, the family entered a dark time. They lived in "squalid" conditions and had to rely on wealthy relatives to take care of the children. This meant that instead of staying home with his mother, nine-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle was shipped off to boarding school. Looking back, Doyle said that the school ...
After getting through his miserable days at boarding school, Doyle headed off to become a doctor. He attended the University of Edinburgh's medical school, where he met a man who would change Doyle's life—and English literature—forever: Dr. Joseph Bell. The Scottish surgeon's powers of deduction actually inspired Doyle's most famous character: Sher...
When Doyle wasn't busy attending lectures and studying the human body, he began to indulge a lifelong passion: Writing. There was just one problem. Doyle's first stories didn't exactly receive standing ovations. Blackwood's Magazine rejected his short fiction and it took until 1879 for Doyle to successfully get his first publication. But even then,...
Doyle wasn't content to just be a writer and a doctor—he was also a sportsman and a risk-taker. As a young man, he swam, played cricket and football, and boxed. Then, in 1880, he took his daredevil streak to the next level: He accepted a dangerous job as a doctor-at-sea. Doyle boarded a whaling ship and tended to sailors as they explored icy waters...
By 1881, Doyle returned to the mainland and wrapped up his medical studies with a badass flourish. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degree, Doyle sent a sketch of himself receiving his diploma to his mother. He captioned the drawing “Licenced to Kill." Even though that's James Bond's famous tagline, Doyle used the phras...
On paper, Conan Doyle was a licenced medical doctor, but in practice? Not so much. Doyle opened an opthamology clinic with his friend, but after months went by without a single patient, the men began to bicker. Eventually, after many fights, they closed their business and went their separate ways. Without a steady job, it was only a matter of time ...
In 1885, Doyle tended to a young boy with cerebral meningitis. He spent many long, stressful nights with his patient's family—but his efforts were for naught and sadly, the boy died. Doyle was so distraught (and, by this point, so close with the grieving family) that he hosted the funeral in his own home. To make matters even more complicated, Doyl...
Doyle and Louisa tied the knot in 1885—but just a couple years later, everything fell apart. Louisa became ill with tuberculosis. For the rest of her life, she was plagued by the disease. It made her cough to the point of exhaustion and she would spend most of her time in bed. While Doyle and Louisa loved each other and had two children, in time, h...
When it comes to the name Sherlock Holmes, we have Louisa to thank. Doyle originally planned to call his fictional detective Sherrinford Hope after the whaling ship Hope, where Conan Doyle spent his time as a medical student. His wife told him that was a terrible idea, leading Doyle to change the name to Sherlock Holmes. "Holmes" was a tribute to a...
Sep 16, 2024 · Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes, one of the most vivid and enduring characters in English fiction. His notable books included The Hound of the Baskervilles. Learn more about Conan Doyle’s life and career.
May 22, 2017 · Like his famed character, Doyle was a detective of sorts himself. For example, he used the Holmes method to solve the murder of Marion Gilchrist, a wealthy 82-year-old woman from Glasgow. He ran...
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Apr 3, 2014 · On May 22, 1859, Arthur Conan Doyle was born to an affluent, strict Irish-Catholic family in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although Doyle's family was well-respected in the art world, his father,...
