# Arthur Conan Doyle

> An Edinburgh-trained doctor who wrote his first Sherlock Holmes story while waiting for patients in Southsea, then spent much of his life wishing he were remembered for something else.

- Novelist and doctor · Sherlock Holmes · The Lost World
- Known for: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who appear in four novels and 56 short stories, and the Professor Challenger adventures that began with *The Lost World*.[10][9]
- Born: May 22, 1859
- Died: July 7, 1930
- Last updated: 2026-11-14
- Editorial review: approved 2026-11-15
- Web page: https://authorbackstories.com/classic/arthur-conan-doyle/
- Reading list (PDF): https://authorbackstories.com/classic/arthur-conan-doyle/reading-list.pdf

## Featured book: Best known

*The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1902). Holmes and Watson investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville on the Devon moor and the legend of a spectral hound; the novel was serialized in 1901–02, after Doyle had killed Holmes off.[12][4][6]

## At a glance

- Born: May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, the second of the ten children of Charles Altamont Doyle and Mary Foley Doyle[4]
- Education: Jesuit schooling at Stonyhurst; medicine at the University of Edinburgh, 1876–1881[4][6]
- Medicine: Ship's surgeon on an Arctic whaler, then a doctor in Southsea, near Portsmouth, from 1882[6]
- Honours: Knighted in 1902[4][8]
- Married: Louisa Hawkins in 1885 (she died in 1906), then Jean Leckie; five children[4][6]
- Died: July 7, 1930, at his home, Windlesham, in Crowborough, Sussex[4]

## Arthur Conan Doyle's Backstory

### Early life

Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, the second of the ten children of Charles Altamont Doyle, a civil servant, and Mary Foley Doyle; his parents were Irish Catholics.[4][5] From the age of nine he boarded at Stonyhurst, a Jesuit school in Lancashire, where he was a strong cricketer and often in trouble for his temper.[7][4]

### Medicine

He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh from 1876 to 1881.[6] One of his teachers, Dr. Joseph Bell, impressed him with how much he could deduce from close observation, and Bell became the model for Sherlock Holmes's methods.[7][4] As a student he sailed as doctor on the whaler *Hope* to the waters off Greenland, and after graduating he was ship's surgeon on a voyage to West Africa.[8][6] In 1882 he set up a practice in Southsea, near Portsmouth; patients were few, and he began writing to bring in money.[6][4]

### Sherlock Holmes

*A Study in Scarlet*, which introduced Holmes and Dr. Watson, appeared in *Beeton's Christmas Annual* in 1887, and *The Sign of Four* followed in 1890.[4] In 1891 he began a series of Holmes stories in *The Strand Magazine* and left medicine to write full time.[5] He soon tired of the detective and killed him off in "The Final Problem" in December 1893, but public demand brought Holmes back, first in *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (serialized 1901–02) and then in new stories through 1926.[7][6][4]

### Other books and public life

Doyle expected to be remembered for his historical novels, among them *The White Company* (1891) and its companion *Sir Nigel* (1906), and he also wrote the Brigadier Gerard stories of the Napoleonic wars and the Professor Challenger books that began with *The Lost World* (1912).[4][9] He married Louisa Hawkins in 1885; she died in 1906, and he then married Jean Leckie.[4] During the Boer War he worked as a volunteer doctor at a field hospital in Bloemfontein in 1900.[8] He was knighted in 1902: Britannica connects the honour to that hospital work and other war services, while Doyle himself believed it was for his writing defending Britain's part in the war.[4][8] He twice stood for Parliament without success, and he campaigned for George Edalji and Oscar Slater, two men he believed had been wrongly convicted.[8][7]

### Spiritualism and last years

The death of his son Kingsley in the First World War deepened his interest in psychic phenomena, and from *The New Revelation* (1918) on he wrote and lectured for spiritualism, which he considered his most important work.[5][4] He died on July 7, 1930, at Windlesham, his home in Crowborough, Sussex.[4] He was buried in its rose garden and later reburied with his wife in the churchyard at Minstead, Hampshire.[8]

## Fun facts

- He played in goal for Portsmouth Association Football Club under the name A. C. Smith.[8]
- He made ten first-class cricket appearances for Marylebone Cricket Club between 1899 and 1907.[8]
- On reading the early stories, Robert Louis Stevenson asked whether Holmes could be "my old friend Joe Bell," the Edinburgh teacher whose powers of observation Doyle drew on.[8]
- In 1891 he told his mother he was thinking of killing Holmes because "he takes my mind from better things"; he raised his fees to put off editors, and they paid anyway.[8]
- He taught Rudyard Kipling to play golf in Vermont in 1894.[7]
- In 1922 he showed the Society of American Magicians test footage of Willis O'Brien's animated dinosaurs for *The Lost World* and would not say where it came from.[13]
- He helped design his home, Undershaw, with the architect Joseph Henry Ball, and in 1912 sketched an extension for a hotel in Lyndhurst that was built close to his plans.[8]
- He publicly backed the claim that two girls in Cottingley, Yorkshire, had photographed real fairies, in *The Strand* in 1921 and in *The Coming of the Fairies* (1922).[4]

## Books

In order of first publication; each series is kept together in reading order.

His novels, the Holmes and Challenger books, and his principal story collections, poetry and nonfiction from the Victorian Web's list of his works, dated by first book publication, with the Holmes canon checked against Wikipedia; plays, pamphlets, most minor story collections and shorter spiritualist tracts are left out.[9][10]

- **Sherlock Holmes** (series, 9 books, 1887–1927). Four novels and five story collections, 60 adventures in all; numbered here in publication order.[10]
  - 1887: Book 1, *A Study in Scarlet* (Novel). The first Holmes story, published in *Beeton's Christmas Annual*.[4] ISBN 9780140439083. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780140439083) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780140439083)
  - 1890: Book 2, *The Sign of Four* (Novel). ISBN 9780140439076. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780140439076) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780140439076)
  - 1892: Book 3, *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes* (Story collection). Twelve stories first published in *The Strand Magazine*.[10] ISBN 9780241952900. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780241952900) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780241952900)
  - 1894: Book 4, *The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes* (Story collection). ISBN 9780143120155. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780143120155) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780143120155)
  - 1902: Book 5, *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (Novel). The novel that brought Holmes back.[6] ISBN 9780140437867. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780140437867) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780140437867)
  - 1905: Book 6, *The Return of Sherlock Holmes* (Story collection). ISBN 9780241952955. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780241952955) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780241952955)
  - 1914: Book 7, *The Valley of Fear* (Novel). The last Holmes novel.[10] ISBN 9780241952979. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780241952979) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780241952979)
  - 1917: Book 8, *His Last Bow* (Story collection). ISBN 9780241952924. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780241952924) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780241952924)
  - 1927: Book 9, *The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes* (Story collection). ISBN 9780241986608. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/131187/9780241986608) · [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780241986608)
- 1889: *Micah Clarke: A Tale of Monmouth's Rebellion* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Micah%20Clarke%3A%20A%20Tale%20of%20Monmouth's%20Rebellion%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1889: *The Mystery of Cloomber* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Mystery%20of%20Cloomber%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1890: *The Firm of Girdlestone* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Firm%20of%20Girdlestone%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1891: *The White Company* (Novel). A historical novel of the Hundred Years' War; *Sir Nigel* is its companion.[4] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20White%20Company%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1892: *The Great Shadow* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Great%20Shadow%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1893: *The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Refugees%3A%20A%20Tale%20of%20Two%20Continents%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1894: *Round the Red Lamp* (Story collection). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Round%20the%20Red%20Lamp%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1895: *The Stark Munro Letters* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Stark%20Munro%20Letters%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- **Brigadier Gerard** (series, 2 books, 1896–1903)
  - 1896: Book 1, *The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard* (Story collection). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Exploits%20of%20Brigadier%20Gerard%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
  - 1903: Book 2, *The Adventures of Gerard* (Story collection). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Adventures%20of%20Gerard%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1896: *Rodney Stone* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Rodney%20Stone%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1897: *Uncle Bernac* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Uncle%20Bernac%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1898: *Songs of Action* (Poetry). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Songs%20of%20Action%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1898: *The Tragedy of the Korosko* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Tragedy%20of%20the%20Korosko%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1900: *The Great Boer War* (Nonfiction). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Great%20Boer%20War%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1906: *Sir Nigel* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sir%20Nigel%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1907: *Through the Magic Door* (Nonfiction). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Through%20the%20Magic%20Door%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1909: *The Crime of the Congo* (Nonfiction). A call for reform in the Congo Free State.[8] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Crime%20of%20the%20Congo%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- **Professor Challenger** (series, 3 books, 1912–1926)
  - 1912: Book 1, *The Lost World* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Lost%20World%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
  - 1913: Book 2, *The Poison Belt* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Poison%20Belt%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
  - 1926: Book 3, *The Land of Mist* (Novel). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Land%20of%20Mist%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1918: *The New Revelation* (Nonfiction). The first book of his spiritualist campaign.[4] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20New%20Revelation%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1919: *The Vital Message* (Nonfiction). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Vital%20Message%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1922: *The Coming of the Fairies* (Nonfiction). On the Cottingley fairy photographs.[4] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Coming%20of%20the%20Fairies%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1924: *Memories and Adventures* (Memoir). His autobiography.[4] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Memories%20and%20Adventures%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1926: *The History of Spiritualism* (Nonfiction). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20History%20of%20Spiritualism%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 1929: *The Maracot Deep and Other Stories* (Story collection). [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Maracot%20Deep%20and%20Other%20Stories%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)
- 2011: *The Narrative of John Smith* (Novel). Written in 1883 and published in 2011.[9] [WorldCat](https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=The%20Narrative%20of%20John%20Smith%20Arthur%20Conan%20Doyle)

## Latest news

- June 2026: His 36-page manuscript of "The Death Voyage," a First World War alternate-history story, went unsold at a Bonhams online sale after bidding missed the reserve; the presale estimate was $30,000 to $50,000.[17]
- March 4, 2026: Prime Video released *Young Sherlock*, an eight-episode series with Hero Fiennes Tiffin as a teenage Holmes; it is based on Andrew Lane's novels, and Guy Ritchie directed the first two episodes.[15][16]

## Adaptations and other media

### Film

- *The Lost World* (1925). Based on *The Lost World*. A silent film directed by Harry O. Hoyt, with stop-motion dinosaurs by Willis O'Brien.[13]
- *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1939). Based on *The Hound of the Baskervilles*. Basil Rathbone's first film as Holmes; he went on to play the part in 15 films over seven years.[14]
- *Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows* (2011). A film with Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes.[14]

### Television

- *Young Sherlock* (2026). A Prime Video series with Hero Fiennes Tiffin, based on Andrew Lane's *Young Sherlock Holmes* novels rather than on Doyle's own books.[15][16]
- *Sherlock Holmes* (1984–1994). Based on *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes*, *The Return of Sherlock Holmes*, *The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes*, *The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes*. Granada Television's series for ITV, with Jeremy Brett as Holmes, ran to 41 episodes in four series named after Doyle's collections and adapted 43 of the 60 Holmes stories.[1]
- *Sherlock* (2010). Based on *A Study in Scarlet*. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's BBC series moved Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) to present-day London; its first episode, "A Study in Pink," loosely adapts *A Study in Scarlet*.[2]
- *Elementary* (2012–2019). Robert Doherty's CBS series, set in New York, starred Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson over seven seasons and 154 episodes.[3]

## Myth and record

- Claim: Sherlock Holmes's catchphrase, "Elementary, my dear Watson," comes from Doyle's stories.[11]
  The record: Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the *Yale Book of Quotations*, writes that the phrase is not in any of the four novels or 56 stories; the nearest line is "'Elementary,' said he" in "The Crooked Man," and the full phrase appeared in an American newspaper in 1909.[11]

## Timeline

- May 22, 1859: Born in Edinburgh.[4]
- 1876: Begins studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where Dr. Joseph Bell teaches him.[6][4]
- 1880: Sails as doctor on the whaling ship *Hope* near Greenland.[8]
- 1882: Sets up a medical practice in Southsea.[6]
- 1887: *A Study in Scarlet* introduces Sherlock Holmes in *Beeton's Christmas Annual*.[4]
- Dec. 1893: Kills Holmes off in "The Final Problem" in *The Strand Magazine*.[7]
- 1900: Volunteers as a doctor at a field hospital in Bloemfontein during the Boer War.[8]
- 1902: Knighted.[4]
- 1912: *The Lost World* introduces Professor Challenger.[9]
- 1918: *The New Revelation* begins his campaign for spiritualism.[4]
- 1928: Oscar Slater wins his appeal, with Doyle paying most of the costs.[8]
- July 7, 1930: Dies at Windlesham, his home in Crowborough.[4]
- June 2026: A manuscript of "The Death Voyage" goes unsold at Bonhams.[17]

## What came after

Prime Video has not officially confirmed a second season of *Young Sherlock*.[16]

## Sources

1. [Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(1984_TV_series)). Wikipedia. (reference)
2. [Sherlock (TV series)](https://bafybeiemxf5abjwjbikoz4mc3a3dla6ual3jsgpdr4cjr3oz3evfyavhwq.ipfs.4everland.io/wiki/Sherlock_(BBC).html). Wikipedia (2016 IPFS snapshot). (reference)
3. [Elementary (TV series)](https://ipfs.ssi.eecc.de/ipns/en.wikipedia-on-ipfs.org/wiki/Elementary_(TV_series)). Wikipedia (IPFS snapshot). (reference)
4. [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Conan-Doyle). Encyclopaedia Britannica. (reference)
5. [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Arthur-Conan-Doyle/274055). Britannica Kids. (reference)
6. [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle](https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/d/sirarthurconandoyle.html). Undiscovered Scotland. (reference)
7. [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://cd.visitportsmouth.co.uk/conandoyle/arthur-conan-doyle). Visit Portsmouth (Arthur Conan Doyle Collection). (website)
8. [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: 10 Facts About Sherlock Holmes's Creator](https://www.historyhit.com/sir-arthur-conan-doyle-facts-about-sherlock-holmes-creator/). History Hit. (website)
9. [Arthur Conan Doyle's works](https://victorianweb.org/authors/doyle/works.html). The Victorian Web. (reference)
10. [Canon of Sherlock Holmes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of_Sherlock_Holmes). Wikipedia. (reference)
11. [You can quote them: Elementary, my dear reader](https://yalealumnimagazine.org/articles/3670-you-can-quote-them-elementary-my-dear-reader). Yale Alumni Magazine. (reference)
12. [The Hound of the Baskervilles](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/34513/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-by-arthur-conan-doyle-edchristopher-frayling/9780140437867). Penguin Books. (primary record)
13. [The Lost World (1925)](https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-lost-world-1925/). The Public Domain Review. (website)
14. [From silent movies to 'The Irregulars': A brief history of Sherlock Holmes on screen](https://whattowatch.com/features/from-silent-movies-to-the-irregulars-a-brief-history-of-sherlock-holmes-on-screen). What to Watch. (news)
15. [Young Sherlock: Guy Ritchie Prime Video series gets a teaser trailer and a March premiere date](https://www.joblo.com/young-sherlock-teaser/). JoBlo. (news)
16. [Young Sherlock cast, release date, episodes](https://www.highonfilms.com/young-sherlock-cast-release-date-episodes-prime-video/). High On Films. (news)
17. [Conan Doyle's "The Death Voyage" manuscript at Bonhams (2026)](https://www.bestofsherlock.com/mss/death-voyage-2026.htm). The Best of Sherlock Holmes (Randall Stock). (website)