Grimesby Roylott
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Fictional character.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
Identity & Background
- Name : Dr. Grimesby Roylott of Stoke Moran. (SPEC 2)
- Lineage: He was the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. (SPEC 66)
- Family : He married a widow, Mrs. Stoner, with two daughters (Helen Stoner and Julia Stoner). After her death, he returned to England with his two stepdaughters. (SPEC 75)
- Profession : He had a medical degree, and went out to Calcutta (India), where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice. (SPEC 72)
Physical description
- A huge man (SPEC 238) with a large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and the high thin fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey (SPEC 241).
Character & Behavior
- Violent Temper : Violence of temper approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the family (SPEC 83). He hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream (SPEC 86).
- Isolation : Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in his house, and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path (SPEC 82).
- Unusual Pets : He had a passion also for Indian animals, and had a cheetah and a baboon, which wander freely over his grounds, and were feared by the villagers almost as much as their master (SPEC 88).
Motivation
- Financial Greed : After his wife's death, the two stepdaughters were entitled to a sum of money upon marriage. To keep control over their inheritance, he is suspected of preventing them from marrying (SPEC 285).
- Murder Plot : It is revealed that he used a deadly swamp adder (the "Speckled Band") to murder Julia Stoner and intended to do the same to Helen Stoner (SPEC 561).
Demise (spoiler)
- Dr. Roylott is killed by his own method : the venomous snake he trained turns on him. Holmes indirectly causes his death by interfering with the snake's path during its attack on Helen Stoner (SPEC 561).
