Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 36 on 14/12/2007.

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As sure as Sherlock

We look at the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish author and creator of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

Arthur Doyle was born into a prominent Edinburgh family on 22nd May 1859 (the Conan part was his middle name which he adopted later).

The Doyle family were Irish Catholic, and at aged nine he was sent to a Jesuit school in England. Despite his harsh schooling, Arthur graduated at 17 with no religion, and an innate sense of justice and sportsmanship that would shape his career.

Like so many other young luminaries of his time such as James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur went to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine.

It was here that he met Dr. Joseph Bell, the teacher who became the inspiration for his detective Sherlock Holmes. The doctor was a master at observation, logic, deduction, and diagnosis and it is claimed that Bell could sometimes diagnose a patient just by looking at them.

Afew years into his studies, Conan Doyle began writing short stories, and when they were published he realised that medicine was not the only way he could make a living.

In his third year he became ship’s surgeon on a whaling boat about to leave for the Arctic Circle. He wrote later that the Arctic had “awakened the soul of a born wanderer.” He was also employed as a medical officer on a steamer navigating between Liverpool and the west coast of Africa.

During the next few years, Conan Doyle divided his time between trying to be a good doctor and struggling to become a recognised author. He married a woman named Louisa Hawkins and rented a house in Portsmouth, England, to.....

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By Sally Toms

Section : Scotland Legends

Page number : 41