Arthur Conan Doyle

NAME Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Creator of the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes, and a prolific writer of other genres including science fiction, historical novels, and fantasy.

BIRTH Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, at 11 Picardy Street, Edinburgh, Scotland.

FAMILY BACKGROUND He was the first son and the third of ten children born to Mary and Charles Doyle. His mother, Mary, was a lively and intelligent woman who encouraged his love for storytelling. His father, Charles, was a civil servant and an artist but struggled with alcoholism and epilepsy, leading to his eventual confinement in an asylum.

CHILDHOOD Arthur was his parents' favorite child and showed an early talent for storytelling, writing his first story at the age of six. During his teenage years, he led a street gang, which later inspired his concept of the Baker Street Irregulars in the Sherlock Holmes stories.

EDUCATION Encouraged by his mother, Arthur attended Stonyhurst College, a strict Jesuit public school in England. He later studied medicine at Edinburgh University, where he earned his medical degree.

It was at Edinburgh that Doyle was taught by Dr. Joseph Bell, a professor known for his exceptional powers of observation and logical reasoning—qualities that inspired the character of Sherlock Holmes.

 In 1885, Doyle received a doctorate for his dissertation on syphilis.

CAREER RECORD During his studies Doyle took various minor assistantships, and served as ship's doctor on a Greenland whaling boat.

1882-90 Practised as a family doctor at Southsea. His income was so small that Doyle begins writing to help make ends meet.

1887 His novel A Study in Scarlet appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual, and introduced readers to Sherlock Holmes. 

1891 Moved to London as an eye specialist. 

1892 Gave up medicine to take up writing full time. 

1900 Senior physician of a field hospital in South Africa during the Boer War

1906 he was defeated as the parliamentary candidate for Hawick District, standing as a Unionist (Conservative). 

APPEARANCE Arthur Conan Doyle was a tall and imposing figure, standing at 6 feet 2 inches (1.89 meters) tall, with a strong, broad build. He had a prominent, aquiline nose and a thick moustache in his later years.

Doyle's facial features were equally striking. He had sharp and piercing eyes that were a bright blue color. His face was characterized by heavy, dark, and bushy eyebrows, a thin, hawk-like nose, and thin, firm lips. He also possessed a prominent and square chin, which was indicative of his determination.

In addition to his height and facial features, Doyle weighed 220 lbs (100 kg) and had black hair. His overall appearance was often described as striking and commanding, with his tall stature and distinctive features making him a notable presence.

Portrait of Doyle by Herbert Rose Barraud, 1893

FASHION Doyle dressed in Victorian-era suits, often favoring waistcoats and bow ties. As he grew older, he adopted a more distinguished, formal style with hats and coats befitting a gentleman of his status.

CHARACTER Doyle was known for being a man of strong convictions, with a keen sense of justice. He was also described as being generous, kind, and somewhat idealistic. Doyle had an energetic, adventurous, and curious nature. Though he was deeply logical—like Sherlock Holmes—he also had a strong belief in spiritualism and the supernatural,

SPEAKING VOICE Arthur Conan Doyle had an articulate and educated manner of speaking, which aligns with his background as a writer and his social status. 

SENSE OF HUMOUR  Arthur Conan Doyle incorporated subtle pieces of humor into his novels and short stories. For example, in The Red-Headed League, Sherlock Holmes makes a seemingly modest statement that is actually quite boastful: "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labor, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else" (1).

He occasionally crafted lines worthy of Oscar Wilde, such as "It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles"

RELATIONSHIPS From 1882 to 1890, Arthur Conan Doyle practiced medicine in Southsea, England.  It was there that he met and married his first wife, Louise Hawkins on August 5, 1885. Their meeting was facilitated by Doyle's role as a cricket captain; Louise was a local woman, considered ordinary in appearance but possessing an annual allowance of £100.  

Their marriage was initially happy and devoted, producing two children in the first eight years. However, their happiness was shattered when Louise was diagnosed with tuberculosis.  Doyle cared for her for 18 months with the assistance of Jean Leckie, who would later become his second wife. 

During Louise's illness, Doyle and Leckie maintained a platonic relationship out of respect for Louise.  Jean, described as cheerful, dark-haired, and attractive, was 14 years younger than Arthur and possessed a fine singing voice.  Following Louise's death in 1906, Arthur married Jean on September 18, 1907 at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. The ceremony was conducted quietly, with the location kept secret until the day of the wedding.

They had three children together: two sons and a daughter, Jean Conan Doyle, who later became director of the Women's Royal Air Force.  Tragically, Doyle's eldest son, Kingsley, died in World War I, a loss that intensified his interest in psychic phenomena. 

In total, Doyle had five children: Mary and Kingsley with Louise, and Jean, Denis, and Adrian with Jean.  

Doyle with his family c. 1923–1925

Doyle was deeply devoted to his family and, later in life, had a large circle of friends from various walks of life, including notable figures like Harry Houdini. His relationships with other prominent intellectuals, athletes, and public figures showed his wide-ranging interests and personal warmth.

MONEY AND FAME Though Doyle achieved fame for creating the iconic Sherlock Holmes, his financial situation fluctuated throughout his life. His success as a writer provided him with wealth, but his investments, particularly in spiritualism, did not always yield financial stability. Despite this, Doyle was never entirely concerned with amassing a fortune, preferring to focus on intellectual pursuits and personal passions. His fame, however, was undeniable, especially after Holmes became a household name.

A young £3 a week actor called Charlie once joked with Doyle during the rehearsal for one of their plays that Sir Arthur and he should pool their incomes and take half each for the rest of their lives. Sir Arthur declined "I don't think so Mr Chaplin" he replied. 

FOOD AND DRINK Doyle’s tastes were typical of his era, and he enjoyed hearty English fare. There are anecdotes of him indulging in elaborate dinners with friends, where the conversation was as rich as the meal. Like many of his time, he also drank tea regularly and was known to enjoy a glass of whiskey in moderation. Food and drink were often central to the social gatherings he cherished.

MUSIC AND ARTS Though Doyle’s primary focus was on writing, he had a deep appreciation for the arts. He was an avid supporter of the theater and even dabbled in writing plays. His personal library was filled with books on a variety of subjects, and he enjoyed attending concerts and plays. His sense of aesthetic also extended to his travel, as he admired the art and architecture of the places he visited.

SHERLOCK HOLMES After completing his medical degree, Arthur Conan Doyle set up shop as a doctor in Southsea, Portsmouth. It didn’t take long for him to discover that being a doctor was not quite as glamorous as he had imagined. Appointments, it seemed, were often conspicuously absent. With little else to do but twiddle his thumbs and stare at empty chairs, Doyle, not one to waste time, turned to writing short stories.

His first attempt at a full-length novel, The Narrative of John Smith, was lost en route to the publisher, vanishing into the ether like so many things in life that are inexplicably lost. But fate, as it often does, had a different plan for Doyle. In 1887, he published A Study in Scarlet, introducing the world to a detective who would go on to become more famous than anyone in the field of fiction, even if, at first, he hardly seemed likely to. It appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, and with that, Sherlock Holmes was born.

First edition in annual cover, 1887

But it wasn’t until 1891, with the publication of A Scandal in Bohemia in The Strand Magazine, that Doyle’s life was irreversibly altered. The story was an absolute sensation, catapulting him to fame across Europe and the United States, and making Sherlock Holmes a household name. The phenomenon only grew from there.

Then came The Hound of the Baskervilles, a tale so gripping that it sent readers into a frenzy. Based on the eerie legends of ghostly hounds on Dartmoor, it was serialized in The Strand and had such a profound impact that magazine sales soared and readers camped outside the offices, eagerly awaiting each new installment. The story’s influence spread even further—long after Doyle’s pen had gone dry, Vincent Price’s haunting line, “Must stand and face the hounds of hell,” from Michael Jackson’s "Thriller," was a clear nod to The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Yet, despite the success of Holmes, Doyle grew increasingly disenchanted with his creation. What began as a modest idea had ballooned into a “monstrous growth,” as he called it, and, frustrated with his literary offspring’s shadow over his career, he decided to do away with Holmes once and for all. In The Final Problem, he plunged the detective into the abyss at Reichenbach Falls, his diary entry for the day bluntly stating, “Killed Holmes.”

But, as is often the case with characters who refuse to stay dead, the public demanded Holmes’s return. Doyle, reluctantly, revived the detective in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, but, by the end of his career, had once again retired him, retreating to the tranquil life of beekeeping in the countryside, far from the chaos of his famous creation.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Holmes refused to fade into obscurity. The Abbey National Bank, which had moved into 221B Baker Street, began receiving such an overwhelming amount of fan mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes that it hired staff to respond. Their answer was always the same: the great detective was living out his golden years in quiet retirement.

LITERATURE Doyle was a compulsive writer. Though best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories, Doyle was not a one-trick writer. He wrote historical novels, including The White Company, which drew on his interest in medieval history. His exploration of spiritualism and the occult, particularly after the deaths of his loved ones, was another area of his literary focus. Doyle’s literary output reflects his intellectual curiosity and wide-ranging interests.

Doyle considered his historical novels, such as Micah Clarke (1889) and The White Company (1891), to be his greatest literary achievements—far superior to his Sherlock Holmes stories. 

Aside from his novels and stories, he was known for writing letters to newspapers on a wide range of topics, from gout to the use of bicycles in trench warfare. 

NATURE A passionate outdoorsman, Doyle had a deep connection to nature. His travels often took him to remote and rugged parts of the world, where he could engage in activities like hunting, fishing, and hiking. His love for nature was also reflected in his writing, where many of his stories are set against the backdrop of wild, untamed landscapes.

PETS Arthur Conan Doyle owned at least one notable pet, a collie dog named Roy. Roy became the subject of a legal case in April 1913 when he was accused of killing a sheep belonging to a farmer named Arthur Hale.

Roy was described as a valuable and beautiful collie who was the playfellow of Conan Doyle's children5. The dog had a distinctive physical characteristic: a malformation of the jawbone that made it difficult for him to eat anything but the softest foods.

During the court case, which took place at Mark Cross Police Court in Tunbridge Wells, Conan Doyle personally defended Roy. He argued that due to Roy's jaw condition, the dog was physically incapable of killing a sheep. This claim was supported by evidence from a veterinary surgeon.

Conan Doyle's defense of Roy was successful, demonstrating not only his affection for his pet but also his skill in applying deductive reasoning to real-life situations. The case received media attention, with The New York Times reporting on it under the headline "Sherlock Holmes Wins."(2)

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Doyle was an accomplished cricketer, captaining Portsmouth Cricket Club and even taking a prestigious wicket—WG Grace’s—for 110 runs in 1900. His cricket prowess was further demonstrated when he took 7 wickets for 51 runs for MCC before lunch. 

He was also a pioneering skier, one of the first to promote skiing as an international sport, particularly in Switzerland. 

Doyle was a football player in his youth, serving as a goalkeeper for Portsmouth AFC in the 1880s. He once said “Better, that our sports should be a little too rough than that we should run a risk of effeminacy”. 

Doyle was a keen amateur boxer. He was one of the first members of London's National Sporting Club in 1891, where he excelled in boxing. He even built a garage at his home to use as a boxing rink and challenged visitors to matches.

In 1903, Doyle organized a rifle-shooting contest at his country house, Undershaw, where his team ranked second. He founded the Undershaw Rifle Club, which had 200 members.

Doyle was elected captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in Sussex for 1910.

Doyle started playing billiards after his 50th birthday. He won his first competition in 1913 and entered the English Amateur billiards championship that same year

Doyle was known for his role as a British official during the 1908 London Olympics marathon, where he helped oversee the event. 

SCIENCE AND MATHS Doyle's writings often included scientific elements, from medical mysteries to explorations of new technologies.

The treatise of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis Moriarity on the binomial theorem placed him as one of the world's leading mathematicians. 

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Arthur Conan Doyle came from an Irish Catholic family, but by the time he left school, he had rejected his Catholic upbringing and became an agnostic.

In his later years, Doyle became deeply interested in Spiritualism and other psychic phenomena, particularly after the deaths of his brother and son during the First World War. His belief in these subjects grew stronger, and by the 1920s, he was traveling the world, giving lectures as an evangelist for Spiritualism. 

While preparing an article for the Strand Magazine, Arthur Conan Doyle encountered a photograph depicting a young girl with four butterfly-winged, dark-haired sprites dancing on a bush.  Presented with other similar photographs, Doyle became convinced of the fairies' authenticity and championed their existence in his Strand article. This stance proved controversial, and many readers questioned Doyle's judgment, believing he had ventured into irrational territory.

Doyle's fervent belief in fairies and other supernatural entities led to some ridicule. Many questioned his sanity, as he failed to use Sherlock Holmes' skeptical reasoning on this matter.

POLITICS Doyle was politically active, twice running for Parliament as a Liberal Unionist. He contested elections in Edinburgh and the Border Burghs, where he received a respectable number of votes but was never elected.

SCANDAL One of the more unusual aspects of Doyle's life was his enthusiasm for the supernatural. His beliefs in Spiritualism and his promotion of fairy photos, combined with his lack of skepticism in these matters, led to public skepticism about his mental stability. This added a layer of controversy to his legacy.

One of the five photographs of Frances Griffiths with the alleged fairies

Arthur Conan Doyle was not only a writer of fiction but also a champion of justice.  He played a crucial role in overturning wrongful convictions in at least two notable cases.  The first involved George Edalji, a young Indian clergyman arrested in 1903 for a series of horse and cattle mutilations.  Despite questionable evidence, Edalji was sentenced to seven years of hard labor.  Doyle became convinced of Edalji's innocence, suspecting racial bias in the case.  Through persistent lobbying, he persuaded the government to establish a commission, which ultimately exonerated Edalji.  This case was instrumental in the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1907, meaning Doyle's efforts not only helped Edalji but also created a system to address future miscarriages of justice.

Doyle also intervened in the case of Oscar Slater, a German Jew and gambling-den operator convicted in 1908 of murdering an 82-year-old woman.  Doyle was intrigued by inconsistencies in the prosecution's case and suspected that Slater had been framed. While the Edalji case saw a successful resolution, the outcome of Doyle's involvement in the Slater case is less clear.

MILITARY RECORD Arthur Conan Doyle served as senior physician at the Langman Field Hospital in South Africa during the Boer War from 1899 to 1902. Specifically, he arrived in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in April 1900 and worked at the hospital for about three and a half months during a severe typhoid epidemic. Doyle was motivated by patriotism and adventure to join the medical staff of this private field hospital, which was endowed by philanthropist John Langman.

During his time at the Langman Hospital, Doyle and his colleagues faced overwhelming numbers of typhoid patients. The hospital, originally set up on a cricket pitch, was meant to accommodate 100 beds but took in 50% more patients due to the extreme pressure of the epidemic. Doyle later recounted that as many as fifty men died in one day, with over 1,000 new graves testifying to the severity of the outbreak

Doyle's experiences in South Africa, including the conditions he witnessed and his role in supporting the British war effort, earned him a knighthood in 1902. He was particularly recognized for his pamphlet justifying England's role in the war.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Though Doyle suffered from heart trouble for several months before his death, his physical health was generally robust throughout his life. He was known for his active lifestyle, including a seven-month voyage as a surgeon on a whaling trip. During this journey, he earned the nickname "The Great Northern Diver" due to his tendency to fall off ice floes into freezing Arctic waters.

HOMES Arthur Conan Doyle's childhood was marked by frequent moves due to his father's financial instability.  He spent his early years at Picardy Place in Edinburgh until his family could no longer afford the rent.  For two years in the 1860s, he found refuge from his alcoholic father at 18th-century Liberton Bank House, also in Edinburgh.  

Doyle optimistically set up an eye surgery clinic at 2 Devonshire Place in London in 1891, only to discover that his skills were rarely in demand. Left with an abundance of free time (and a conspicuous lack of patients), he devoted himself to writing.

Following the publication of his first Sherlock Holmes story., Holmes upgraded to 2 Upper Wimpole Street. The detective was becoming a sensation, and Doyle’s living quarters improved accordingly.

The most famous of his homes, Undershaw in Hindhead, Surrey was a grand 10,000-square-foot house set on four acres, designed to accommodate the health needs of his first wife. Doyle lived here from 1897 to 1907, a decade during which he penned some of his most iconic works, including The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Façade of Undershaw with Doyle's children, Mary and Kingsley, on the drive. Victorian Society,

Following the death of his first wife in 1906, Doyle remarried and settled at Windlesham Manor in Crowborough, East Sussex, where he spent his later years. Though his detective may have been immortal, Doyle himself was slowing down—albeit in a setting befitting a literary legend. It was here that he passed away in 1930. He was initially buried in the rose garden of Windlesham Manor but was later re-interred at Minstead, Hampshire, when the estate grounds were sold.

TRAVEL Doyle traveled extensively throughout his life, not only for work but also for his personal interests. His travels took him to Africa, Europe, and beyond. His visit to the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland during a holiday with his wife provided the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes' dramatic demise.

DEATH Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930, from a heart attack at his home in Windlesham Manor. His last words were "You are wonderful," spoken to his wife, Jean Leckie. He passed away on Dr. Watson's birthday, a poignant detail considering Watson's close association with his most famous creation. Doyle's grave, located in the churchyard at Minstead, Hampshire, is marked with the epitaph: "Steel true. Blade straight. Arthur Conan Doyle. Knight/Patriot, Physician, and man of letters."

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Doyle’s most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes, has been portrayed in countless films, television shows, and other media adaptations. Holmes is considered the most portrayed fictional character in history, and his stories have shaped the crime genre, influencing writers and filmmakers worldwide.

ACHIEVEMENTS Sherlock Holmes: Created one of the most iconic fictional characters in history, whose methods influenced contemporary police practices.

Detective Work: Doyle applied his detective skills to real-life cases, successfully clearing the names of wrongly convicted individuals, such as George Edaljee and Oscar Slater.

Knighthood: Knighted in 1902 for his work during the Boer War and his contributions to the British war effort.

Literary Impact: His work popularized detective fiction and contributed significantly to the genre's development.

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