Conan Doyle and Homes - Revision history

TCDE-Team at 20:56, 17 February 2026

2026-02-17T20:56:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:56, 17 February 2026
Line 3:		Line 3:
	\|author=Catherine Cooke		\|author=Catherine Cooke
	\|topic=Residences		\|topic=Residences
			\|summary=The article reconstructs Arthur Conan Doyle's residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding Conan Doyle's life in documented places and buildings.
	}}		}}
	''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.		''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.

TCDE-Team at 00:03, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T00:03:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:03, 7 February 2026
Line 97:		Line 97:
	{{footer_acd_society_article}}		{{footer_acd_society_article}}
	{{footer_periodicals}}		{{footer_periodicals}}
			{{footer_research_articles}}

TCDE-Team at 22:00, 6 February 2026

2026-02-06T22:00:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:00, 7 February 2026
Line 8:		Line 8:
	The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.		The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.

	See also the [[Conan Doyle and Homes (~~article 1990~~)\|~~article~~]] written by [[Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle\|Dame Jean Conan Doyle]] who corrected some errors spotted in the text below.		See also the [[Conan Doyle and Homes (errata)\|errata]] written by [[Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle\|Dame Jean Conan Doyle]] who corrected some errors spotted in the text below.

TCDE-Team at 20:35, 6 February 2026

2026-02-06T20:35:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:35, 6 February 2026
Line 8:		Line 8:
	The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.		The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.

	See also the [[Conan Doyle and Homes (article 1990)\|article]] written by [[Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle\|Dame Jean Conan Doyle]] who corrected some errors in the text below.		See also the [[Conan Doyle and Homes (article 1990)\|article]] written by [[Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle\|Dame Jean Conan Doyle]] who corrected some errors spotted in the text below.

TCDE-Team at 20:35, 6 February 2026

2026-02-06T20:35:09Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:35, 6 February 2026
Line 7:		Line 7:

	The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.		The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.

			See also the [[Conan Doyle and Homes (article 1990)\|article]] written by [[Lena Annette Jean Conan Doyle\|Dame Jean Conan Doyle]] who corrected some errors in the text below.

TCDE-Team at 23:01, 5 February 2026

2026-02-05T23:01:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:01, 6 February 2026
Line 5:		Line 5:
	}}		}}
	''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.		''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.

			The article reconstructs [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s residences throughout his life, tracing his movements from Edinburgh through medical practice, literary success, illness, and later spiritualist retreat. It argues that mapping these homes clarifies key phases of his career and corrects biographical gaps and errors by grounding [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s life in documented places and buildings.

TCDE-Team at 20:11, 4 February 2026

2026-02-04T20:11:22Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:11, 4 February 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
			{{Cargo_Research_Articles
			\|date=1989-09-01
			\|author=Catherine Cooke
			\|topic=Residences
			}}
	''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.		''Conan Doyle and Homes'' is an article written by [[Catherine Cooke]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 1, No. 1) in september 1989.

TCDE-Team at 10:36, 4 February 2026

2026-02-04T10:36:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:36, 4 February 2026
Line 2:		Line 2:


	== ~~In Conversation with... Jeremy Brett~~ ==		== Conan Doyle and Homes ==
	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1989-09-p53-conan-doyle-and-homes.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (september 1989, p. 53)]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1989-09-p53-conan-doyle-and-homes.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (september 1989, p. 53)]]
	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1989-09-p54-conan-doyle-and-homes.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (september 1989, p. 54)]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1989-09-p54-conan-doyle-and-homes.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (september 1989, p. 54)]]

TCDE-Team at 00:29, 4 February 2026

2026-02-04T00:29:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:29, 4 February 2026
Line 55:		Line 55:

	These, then, are the flats and houses which have been linked with the name of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] in the available literature. Where sources disagree, and it is not an uncommon occurrence, I have taken the word of the one who seems most likely to know the detail. For example, Rodin and Key refer to Argyle Terrace, Edwards to Argyle Park Terrace; Edwards, himself from Edinburgh, seems more likely to be correct. I await confirmation or refutation.		These, then, are the flats and houses which have been linked with the name of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] in the available literature. Where sources disagree, and it is not an uncommon occurrence, I have taken the word of the one who seems most likely to know the detail. For example, Rodin and Key refer to Argyle Terrace, Edwards to Argyle Park Terrace; Edwards, himself from Edinburgh, seems more likely to be correct. I await confirmation or refutation.


	FOOTNOTE:		FOOTNOTE:

	The ''Observer'' newspaper recently reported the sale of a very impressive-sounding ground floor flat at The Grange, 10 Grange Hill, London SE25. The agent's description claimed 'The flat is part of a beautiful, historic listed mansion (once owned by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]).....' I have been unable to corroborate this — the agents admit to having no documentation, nor any idea of the dates when [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] was in possession or if he ever lived there himself; they were merely repeating details given by a previous employee who has now left the firm. The [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] connection is also news to the Local History section of Croydon Public Libraries. Can anyone supply further details to confirm or deny this claim?		The ''Observer'' newspaper recently reported the sale of a very impressive-sounding ground floor flat at The Grange, 10 Grange Hill, London SE25. The agent's description claimed 'The flat is part of a beautiful, historic listed mansion (once owned by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]).....' I have been unable to corroborate this — the agents admit to having no documentation, nor any idea of the dates when [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] was in possession or if he ever lived there himself; they were merely repeating details given by a previous employee who has now left the firm. The [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] connection is also news to the Local History section of Croydon Public Libraries. Can anyone supply further details to confirm or deny this claim?


	BIBLIOGRAPHY:		BIBLIOGRAPHY:

TCDE-Team at 00:29, 4 February 2026

2026-02-04T00:29:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:29, 4 February 2026
Line 30:		Line 30:
	[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] lived in Bush Villas for just over seven years to December 1890, during which time he established himself, married [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise Hawkins]] and here they had their first child, [[Mary Louise Conan Doyle\|Mary]]. By the mid-1920's the building had been renamed [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Doyle]] House by the landlord. It was destroyed in a German fire raid on 10th January 1941 along with the church and the hotel. On 17th November 1982 a plaque was erected on the building which now stands on the spot, a low-rise block of Council flats, jointly by the City Council and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London: '[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle]] M.D. practised from 1882 until 1890 at No. 1 Bush Villas which formerly stood on this site. It was here that the first [[Sherlock Holmes]] story was written.'		[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] lived in Bush Villas for just over seven years to December 1890, during which time he established himself, married [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise Hawkins]] and here they had their first child, [[Mary Louise Conan Doyle\|Mary]]. By the mid-1920's the building had been renamed [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Doyle]] House by the landlord. It was destroyed in a German fire raid on 10th January 1941 along with the church and the hotel. On 17th November 1982 a plaque was erected on the building which now stands on the spot, a low-rise block of Council flats, jointly by the City Council and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London: '[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle]] M.D. practised from 1882 until 1890 at No. 1 Bush Villas which formerly stood on this site. It was here that the first [[Sherlock Holmes]] story was written.'

	From 5th January to 9th March [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] and his wife travelled to Vienna where he studied the eye. On their return to London they rented a flat at 23 Montague Place, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, moving in around 24th March 1891. The building, which stood on the north side, was demolished in 1908 to make way for the approach of the British Museum. The site is now		From 5th January to 9th March [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] and his wife travelled to Vienna where he studied the eye. On their return to London they rented a flat at 23 Montague Place, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, moving in around 24th March 1891. The building, which stood on the north side, was demolished in 1908 to make way for the approach of the British Museum. The site is now occupied by the Senate House complex of London University.

			[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] again looked for rooms in which to practise opthamology and settled on 2 Devonshire Place, not far from Harley Street: 'There for £120 a year I got the use of a front room with part use of a waiting-room. I was soon to find that they were both waiting rooms...'. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]], according to [[Memories and Adventures]], sat in his room in Devonshire Place from 10a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. every day, and it was here that he formed the idea of taking a character and writing a series of stories, each complete in itself, to combine the interest of the serial with the attraction of the short story: [[Sherlock Holmes]] shortly appeared in [[The Strand Magazine\|The Strand]]; the rest is history.

			Within a couple of months, [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] contracted a severe bout of influenza, nearly dying. Surveying his life he decided to devote himself to his first love — writing. Once up and about again he began to search for his new home, finding 'a suitable house, modest but comfortable, isolated and yet one of a row' at 12 Tennison Road, South Norwood. The [[Family\|Conan Doyles]] abandoned London and moved in on 25th June 1891 (though in his [[Memories and Adventures\|autobiography]] [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] gives the date as August). The house still exists as a private house, externally at least, little changed. A GLC plaque commemorates [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s time there.

			In 1893 Louise developed consumption. Once the diagnosis was confirmed the family left Norwood, sometime after May, and spent the next two years travelling in Switzerland and Europe where the air was more conducive to a cure. In 1896 [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] purchased South View Lodge, Kent Road, Southsea, though there is no evidence that he or his family ever lived there. For several years a friend and colleague of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]], a Dr. Vernon Ford, lived at the house.

			On one of his periodic visits back home [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] met the author Grant Allen, who told how his own consumption had been markedly improved by the soil and air of Hindhead in Surrey, then in its infancy as a town. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]], who had resigned himself to the idea of an unnatural life at foreign health resorts, was delighted at the idea of living again in England and promptly rushed to Hindhead, purchased a plot, put an old friend, Mr. Bull of Southsea in charge of the architectural work, chose the builder and set the construction in motion before leaving England for Egypt in the autumn of 1895. [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise]], too, brightened at the thought of returning to England.

			They returned in May 1896 to find the house, to be called Undershaw, unfinished. They spent about a year (May 1896 to May 1897: Pearson talks of 'one year', Higham of 'several quiet months from May 1896') in a rented, unfurnished house, Greyswood Beeches at Haslemere, the Norwood home having been sold through friends during their time abroad. (Though Carr calls the house 'Greywood Beeches', the address given on several letters collected by Gibson and Green is 'Greyswood Beeches' and this seems more likely to be correct.)

			In fact, this period is somewhat confused. According to Carr, the family moved to a guesthouse, Moorlands, in Hindhead in January 1897 to be able to supervise the works more closely. Both he and Higham date the move into Undershaw as October 1897; Nordon in both the original French and in the English translation gives the move to Undershaw as October 1896. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] himself puts the move to Moorlands as 'the early months of 1897', and the move to Undershaw as 'about June of that year.'

			Undershaw, on the south-west comer of the cross-roads of the A3 and the A287, is now a hotel and substantially unchanged, apart from a new wing added after [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]]'s time. The hall boasts a massive window detailing all the arms of the family tree except [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s mother's; these have a window to themselves half-way up the staircase opposite. According to the story told by the owners, they were accidentally missed from the main window and hastily added to the stair window to avoid insult! The whole house was designed to make life easy for [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise]] — the stairs were built wide and shallow, the door knobs need not be turned to open doors merely pushed or pulled. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] himself had two bed-rooms. One had an inter-connecting door with [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise]]'s room, and here [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] started the night. Once he was sure that she was settled, he moved to the other. [[Louisa Hawkins\|Louise]] died here in 1906 and is buried in the churchyard at nearby Grayshott (along with [[Mary Josephine Elizabeth Foley\|Mary Josephine]] and [[Arthur Alleyne Kingsley Conan Doyle\|Kingsley Conan Doyle]]). The garden at Undershaw, and especially its steep curving drive, was severely hit by the great storm of October 1987 when many trees were lost.

			In 1907 [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] remarried, taking [[Jean Elizabeth Leckie\|Jean Leckie]] as his wife. They leased Undershaw and moved to Crowborough. where [[Jean Elizabeth Leckie\|Jean]] had relatives. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] bought Windlesham, nick-named 'Swindlesham' by his friends since he purchased it with money he had recovered after being defrauded of it! It remained the family's main home and it was here that [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] died on 7th July 1930. Both he and [[Jean Elizabeth Leckie\|Lady Conan Doyle]] were initially buried in the garden near the garden-hut he had used as a study. When Windlesham was sold in 1955, the graves were moved to the nearby church at Minstead. It is now Windlesham Manor Residential Hotel and bears a plaque stating '[[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] Author (1859-1930) lived here from 1907 onwards.'

			According to [[Hesketh Pearson\|Pearson]] it was about this time, 1907 or 1908, that [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] took a London flat at 15 Buckingham Palace Mansions, Buckingham Palace Road. However, the directories of the time do not list [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] until 1923; in 1922 the flat was empty; before that a Miss Stevenson is listed for number 15. The flat remained in [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s name to 1930; from 1931 it was put in [[Jean Elizabeth Leckie\|Lady Conan Doyle]]'s name. In 1935 it was vacant and seems to have been split into two, for from 1936 a Miss B. MacAndrew has flat 15A and from 1937 a Mrs. A. M. Hall has number 15. In fact a number of plans of flats in the budding survive in the City of Westminster Archives, though unhappily not those of flat 15. The flats were extremely spacious. The available plans show two basic layouts, both with three or four bedrooms and large reception rooms, nearly 23 feet by 16 feet in some cases. Some of the plans refer to drainage alterations, not surprising since they were drawn up by the City of Westminster Public Health Department, but many detail the conversion of one original flat into two, confirming that this was what happened to number 15. Indeed, all these conversions were carried out in the early to mid-1930's. Partly because of these conversions and partly because of the lack of more than about fifteen out of a total of at least thirty-nine flats' plans, it is impossible to reconstruct the layout of the block. It does seem to have had four floors above the ground floor and a basement, the latter housing the porter's flat. It seems likely that flat 15 was on the third floor.

			Buckingham Palace Mansions stood on the north-west side of Buckingham Palace Road between Lower Belgrave Street (or in our time to be more exact, between the passage to Eccleston Place) and Eccleston Street; it ran back as far as Eccleston Place, then Eccleston Street East. It seems to have been vacated by 1974, though 15 and 15A seem to have been vacated by 1971. Belgrave House, which now occupies the site, is listed from 1980.

			[[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] also purchased another house, this one around 1926, certainly by November of that year, to provide the total seclusion required for writing and for spiritualism: Bignell House, Bignell Wood, Wittensford Bridge, Hampshire. It was an extremely historic site, habitation dating back thirteen centuries. A small two storey cottage dating to 1700 was attached to the greenhouse: parts of the building were Saxon, these were incorporated into the living-room. [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] rebuilt the house in red brick, faced with wood beams and white plaster. Ivy and Virginia Creeper were grown up the walls. Locally the house gained a somewhat undesirable reputation due to [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]]'s spiritualist activities. Higham even reports that [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] was felt to haunt the house, producing 'extremely disquieting experiences' for Dr. McAll, his family and the patients of the new private psychiatric clinic opened in the 1950's. An exorcism was performed in 1961 which seems to have ended the manifestations. Bignell Wood is still a convalescent home.

			These, then, are the flats and houses which have been linked with the name of [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] in the available literature. Where sources disagree, and it is not an uncommon occurrence, I have taken the word of the one who seems most likely to know the detail. For example, Rodin and Key refer to Argyle Terrace, Edwards to Argyle Park Terrace; Edwards, himself from Edinburgh, seems more likely to be correct. I await confirmation or refutation.

			FOOTNOTE:

			The ''Observer'' newspaper recently reported the sale of a very impressive-sounding ground floor flat at The Grange, 10 Grange Hill, London SE25. The agent's description claimed 'The flat is part of a beautiful, historic listed mansion (once owned by [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]).....' I have been unable to corroborate this — the agents admit to having no documentation, nor any idea of the dates when [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|Sir Arthur]] was in possession or if he ever lived there himself; they were merely repeating details given by a previous employee who has now left the firm. The [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] connection is also news to the Local History section of Croydon Public Libraries. Can anyone supply further details to confirm or deny this claim?

			BIBLIOGRAPHY:

			* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\|DOYLE, Sir Arthur Conan]]. ''[[Memories and Adventures]]''. 1924. All unattributed quotations are from this work.
			* EDWARDS, Owen Dudley. ''The Quest for Sherlock Homes''. 1983.
			* GIBSON, John Michael and GREEN, Richard Lancelyn (eds). ''Letters to the Press''. 1986.
			* HIGHAM, Charles. ''The Adventures of Conan Doyle''. 1976.
			* LAMOND, John. ''Arthur Conan Doyle: a memoir''. 1931.
			* NORDON, Pierre Weil. ''Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: L'homme et l'oeuvre''. 1964.
			* OWEN, Tim and Heather. ''The Shingle of Southsea and the glades of the New Forest''. Sherlock Holmes Journal, 16(1), 1982.
			* PEARSALL, Ronald. ''Conan Doyle: a biographical solution''. 1977.
			* PEARSON. Hesketh. ''Conan Doyle: his life and art''. 1943.
			* RODIN, Alvin E. and KEY, Jack D. ''The Medical Casebook of Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle''. 1984.
			* STAVERT, Geoffrey. ''A Study in Southsea''. 1987.
			* SYMONS, Julian. ''Conan Doyle: Portrait of an artist''. 1979.