Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr Elliot and Ruyton-XI-Towns
Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr Elliot and Ruyton-XI-Towns is an article written by Christopher Roden & Alvin E. Rodin published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2, No. 1) in spring 1991.
A detailed historical investigation into Arthur Conan Doyle's medical apprenticeship in Ruyton-XI-Towns, focusing on his relationship with Dr. Henry Francis Elliot and the precise chronology of his stay. Drawing on census data, medical registers, correspondence, and local records, the article clarifies long-standing ambiguities and situates this formative period within Conan Doyle's medical and literary development.
Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr Elliot and Ruyton-XI-Towns
A need to help
From 1878 to 1881, during the last three of five years as a medical student at Edinburgh University, Arthur Conan Doyle found it necessary to assist his family with the burden of having a mature son at University by taking work as a medical assistant during his holidays. He writes of his first venture in his autobiography:
- It was clearly very needful that I should help financially as quickly as possible, even if my help only took the humble form of providing for my own keep. Therefore I endeavoured almost from the first to compress the classes for a year into half a year, and so to have some months in which to earn a little money as a medical assistant, who would dispense and do odd jobs for a doctor. When I first set forth to do this my services were so obviously worth nothing that I had to put that valuation upon them. Even then it might have been a hard bargain for the doctor, for I might have proved like the youth in Pickwick who had a rooted idea that oxalic acid was Epsom salts. However, I had horse sense enough to save myself and my employer from any absolute catastrophe. My first venture, in the early summer of '78 was with a Dr. Richardson, running a low-class practice in the poorer quarters of Sheffield. I did my best, and I dare say he was patient, but at the end of three weeks we parted by mutual consent. (1)
Following this initial setback, Conan Doyle moved to Clifton Gardens in Maida Vale, London where he stayed for a short while with his relatives. While in London, he renewed his advertisements in the medical papers and waited anxiously. Finally, there came a response from Dr. Elliot, "living in a townlet in Shropshire which rejoiced in the extraordinary name of Ruyton-of-the-eleven-towns."
Dating the Shropshire period
Dating this period of Conan Doyle's life is, as Owen Dudley Edwards has discussed, (2) a more difficult exercise than at first it appears.
Conan Doyle dates his short stay in Sheffield as 1878 and, presumably, the Ruyton episode immediately followed the few weeks which he spent in London. However, he confuses matters by telling us that:
- ... late in the same year I did volunteer as a dresser for the English ambulances sent to Turkey for the Russian War, and was on the Red Cross List, but the collapse of the Turks prevented my going out.
Again, this appears to refer to 1878; but how does this reconcile with Conan Doyle's advertisement for a "Third year's student, desiring experience rather than remuneration..." (3)
If we accept Conan Doyle's statement that he compressed a year's work into half a year, we may assume that, as he began studies at Edinburgh in 1876, his first two years' studies had probably been completed by the beginning of 1878, making him a third year student.
According to the 1879 catalogue of the University, the Summer Session for the medical school began on May 1st, and the Winter Session on October 28th. There were therefore two six month sessions in each twelve month period: each six month period being considered one year's credit. The standard four year progression would be to take four winter sessions or four summer sessions:
- In accordance with the Statutes of the University of Edinburgh, any four of the Medica Classes required for Graduation, or two complete Anni Medica, may be attended in this School, each of which Anni Medica may be constituted by attendance on two of the Six Months' Courses, or on one of these and Two Three Months' Courses. (4)
Pierre Nordon adds to the confusion, however, by reporting the following:
- Meanwhile in 1879 Charles Doyle had been obliged to retire into a nursing home, and so become a burden to his family. Obviously therefore his undergraduate son would have to pay his own expenses if he wanted to finish his education. At the end of his second year he began looking for a job as assistant to a doctor.
- His first venture that summer was with a Dr. Richardson at Sheffield, and a few months later he was taken on by a Dr. Elliot at Ruyton in Shropshire. (5)
The confirmation that the year we are dealing with is, in fact, 1878 is provided by Nordon in the original French text of his book, (6) where he quotes a letter written by Conan Doyle from Ruyton, dated 23 August 1878.
And so, it is finally established that Conan Doyle was with Dr. Elliot in Shropshire during the Summer of 1878.
Ruyton-XI-Towns
- "It was not big enough to make one town, far less eleven."
Conan Doyle's description of the village of Ruyton-XI-Towns does little justice to the Shropshire hamlet which was first recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086. The village straddles the B4397, some ten miles north west of Shrewsbury and three miles east of the main A5 trunk road which carries hordes of tourists to the resorts of North Wales. The Welsh border is but a few miles due west. The Church of St. John the Baptist stands high on a hill overlooking both the village and the vale of the River Perry which flows to join the Severn some five miles further south. An interesting short history is found in the book which first discussed the location of Dr. Elliot's house in Ruyton, and which provides the interested reader with further information. (7)
Dr. Elliot's house
When Yoland Brown published her book in 1988, she demolished a myth which had existed in Ruyton for many years by stating that Dr. Elliot lived at Cliffe House. Until then, local tradition had it that Elliot's home was at The Grove: a belief founded on the fact that land attaching to The Grove, and running alongside the River Perry, was known as Doctor's Meadow. The simplest way of verifying who lived where was to examine local census returns. From those returns, (8) the following information has been extracted:
1871 Census
- Preamble: Ruyton Parish (part of); Part of the Parish of Ruyton comprising part of the township of Ruyton, from the National School taking both sides of the street to the Brownhill and Platt Bridge, to New Mills and all the houses and cottages at Cliffe Gate and Clifton House and also those eight cottages situate in Holden Lane:
The Grove
- Thomas Jones (head) Widower, 67, Farmer of 16 acres
- Ann Harries, 82 (Mother-in-law)
- Mary Scott, 68
- Ann Roberts (servant), 19
- Henry Harries, 12 (servant)
Cliffe House
- Thomas Sam Halton, 48
- Ann Clegg Halton, 48
- Mary Hale (Domestic/cook), 29
- Mary Ann Hale (Housemaid), 37
- Emma Davies (servant), 13
1881 Census
The Grove
- Thomas Jones (Retired Farmer), 76
- Mary Griffiths (Daughter), 39
- Mary Griffiths (Grand-daughter), 12
- Frances Griffiths, 11
- Bertie Roger (Grandson), 4
Cliffe House
- Henry F. Elliot (born Exeter, Devon) (Surgeon), 35
- Gladys N. Elliot (daughter), 2
- May N. Elliot (daughter), 1
- Lionel R. Elliot (son), 2 months
- Walter T. Campbell (Visitor) (Surgeon, Scotland), 23
- Anne (?) Vaughan (Nurse), 38
- Harriet Lydia Walters (under Nurse), 15
- Frances Green (Servant) (Cook), 20
- Mary Jane Beech (Servant, Housemaid), 23
- Albert Langford (Groom), 18
Here, then, is conclusive evidence that Yoland Brown's identification of Cliffe House as the home of Dr. Elliot, and therefore of Conan Doyle during his stay in the village, is correct. Dr. Elliot arrived in Ruyton sometime between 1871 and 1881, probably during the year of 1877. (9)
Dr. Elliot and his family
From the notes extracted from the record of Baptisms at Ruyton by Yoland Brown, 10 it appears that four children were born to Dr. & Mrs. Elliot during their time in Ruyton. The baptisms took place as follows:
- 30 November 1878: Dorothy Noyes Elliot
- 25 January 1879: Gladys Noyes Elliot
- 16 March 1880: May Noyes Elliot
- 11 April 1881: Lionel Noyes Elliot
It is interesting to note that, at the time of the 1881 Census, no mention was made of either Dr. Elliot's wife or the eldest child, Dorothy. There is no reason to believe that either Mrs. Elliot or the child died, and research does not indicate that this was the case. (11) A more likely explanation is that Mrs. Elliot was away visiting relatives and had taken the eldest child with her.
Although Conan Doyle makes only one brief mention of Mrs. Elliot, he must have had considerable contact with her during his time in Ruyton and, judging by the date of the baptism of Dorothy Noyes Elliot, that child's birth would have taken place either towards the end of his term in Ruyton, or shortly afterwards.
Conan Doyle's activities in Ruyton
- "There for four months I helped in a country practice. It was a very quiet existence and I had a good deal of time to myself under very pleasant circumstances, so that I really trace some little mental progress to that period, for I read and thought without interruption." (12)
Conan Doyle tells us little else about his activities in Ruyton, but there would have been local football and cricket to attract him. A few miles to the west, he could have walked into the Welsh hills, and it is interesting to speculate that such a day in the hills may have inspired his early short story That Veteran which was published in All the Year Round four years later in 1882. Certainly, his very full life in the four years following his stay in Ruyton suggests that he would have had little or no opportunity to gain the impressions he records on a further visit to Wales. If such supposition is correct, his forays into Wales had not left him in a particularly complimentary mood:
- "It was pleasant to meet anyone who could talk English among those barren Welsh mountains, and pleasanter still to find one who had anything to talk about. I had been toiling along for the last ten miles, vowing in my heart never to take a solitary walking tour again, and above all never, under any circumstances, to cross the borders of the principality. My opinions of the original Celt, his manners, customs, and above all his language, were very much too forcible to be expressed in decent society. The ruling passion of my life seemed to have become a deep and all-absorbing hatred towards Jones, Davis, Morris, and every other branch of the great Cymric trunk. Now, however, sitting at my ease in the little inn at Langerod, with a tumbler of smoking punch at my elbow and my pipe between my teeth, I was inclined to take a more rosy view of men and things..." (13)
Interesting though it may be, that episode is only speculation. A more likely local influence appears to have taken place with the story of The Bravoes of Market Drayton, credited to Conan Doyle by Chambers's Journal (14) and published in that magazine in August 1889. This story of true crime relates events which took place in the town of Market Drayton, some twenty or so miles north east of Ruyton. (15)
The very large number of public houses in Ruyton may have been the centre of social activity in the village, but it is unlikely that the impecunious young student, conscious of the problem of his own father's worsening alcoholism, would have found much attraction there.
Cliffe House
Cliffe House is an imposing Victorian mock-Georgian mansion which stands in extensive grounds and occupies an elevated position some 150 yards from Ruyton's main street. Externally, it will have changed little since 1878 and, when we were fortunate enough to see parts of the interior, in May 1990, some of the rooms and decorations were as they would have been in Conan Doyle's time. By now, however, the present owners will have carried out some internal changes.
The interesting feature, which further supports the view that the house was the home of a Doctor, is the "surgery" which is entered through a large side door. Above the surgery there is separate living accommodation and it may be that the young Conan Doyle was quartered there. If so, he would have looked out over Cliffe House's extensive stabling facilities.
Dr. Elliot and the Local Community
As one would expect of a Doctor serving in a rural community in late Victorian England, Dr. Elliot appears to have played his full part. Records show that he served as a Parish Councillor, 16 and that he was an active member of the local Temperance Society. The following report was made of a meeting of the Temperance Society for 15 March 1881:
- Dr. Elliot was unable to attend, but the President announced that, looking at the question in a professional point of view, the Doctor had spoken to him very strongly and wished to give his reasons why. Dr. Elliot will deliver an address on Monday April 4th. (17)
Elliot also appears to have possessed a sense of humour, as shown by a report of The Oddfellow's Fete on 10 July 1882:
- There were numerous facetious speeches... including one by Dr. Elliot. (18)
The last recorded mention of Dr. Elliot in Ruyton shows that he attended a meeting of the Parish Council in February 1883 and, as the biographical details at the end of this article show, 1883 appears to have been his last year in the village.
Conan Doyle's medical activities in Ruyton and his relationship with Dr. Elliot
- "My medical duties were of a routine nature save on a few occasions. One of them still stands out in my memory, for it was the first time in my life that I ever had to test my own nerve in a great sudden emergency. The doctor was out when there came a half-crazed messenger to say that in some rejoicings at a neighbouring great house they had exploded an old cannon which had promptly burst and grievously injured one of the bystanders. No doctor was available, so I was the last resource. On arriving there I found a man in bed with a lump of iron sticking out of the side of his head. I tried not to show the alarm which I felt, and I did the obvious thing by pulling out the iron. I could see the clean white bone, so I could assure them that the brain had not been injured. I then pulled the gash together, staunched the bleeding, and finally bound it up, so that when the doctor did at last arrive he had little to add. This incident gave me confidence and, what is more important still, gave others confidence." (19)
The location of this incident and the identity of the victim remain a mystery, although Yoland Brown suggests that the accident probably occurred at Park House which is now a private school. It appears that the family there had a habit of using a similar piece of artillery on festive occasions. One can imagine their horror at the accident — and at the arrival of an inexperienced medical assistant.
An incident reported by Pierre Nordon suggests that, generally, the young Conan Doyle was quite popular with Dr. Elliot:
- "He now felt sure of his medical vocation and while with Dr. Elliot he took part in a medico-literary competition for the best essay on the evil effects of alcohol and drugs in general. Dr. Elliot glanced through his assistant's effort and seemed doubtful of his success: "I told Elliot I wouldn't sell my chance for £5", Conan Doyle wrote to his mother. "He said I had the bump of self-esteem largely developed but that he didn't like men who hadn't." (20)
Both Dickson Carr (21) and Pierre Nordon report an incident which suggests that the two medical men did not always see eye to eye. Presumably, the source is a letter to which both biographers had access, but which is currently bound up in the continuing litigation over the Conan Doyle papers. Nordon again confuses matters by writing of "an incident which occurred when he was assistant to Dr. Elliot at Ruyton in 1879 [sic]":
- "I said yesterday that I thought capital punishment should be abolished — a trite enough remark but he went into a fury, said he would not have such a thing said in his house. I said I would express my opinions, when and where I liked and we had a fine row. All right now."
Dickson Carr quotes a further incident, which ostensibly occurred at the end of Conan Doyle's term as a medical assistant at Ruyton. Carr gives no indication of his source for this quotation and, in view of the invention of much dialogue in that particular biography, it is difficult, without access to Conan Doyle's letters to his mother, to confirm that the reported conversation actually took place. However, if we accept the report at face value it allows us to conclude that Dr. Elliot influenced one of Conan Doyle's later characters. During the period with Dr. Elliot, no remuneration had been forthcoming indeed none had been stipulated. Nevertheless, the young student secretly hoped that there might be a small gesture of generosity. Summoning up his courage, he asked if he might be allowed his railway fare home:
- "My dear fellow," said Dr. Elliot, a business man, "the law stands thus. If an assistant has a salary, he is then a recognized person and can claim expenses. But if he has no salary he becomes, as it were, a gentleman travelling for his own improvement; and gets nothing."
The following extract from the opening pages of The Croxley Master (22) shows too great a similarity to the incident for us not to consider that either Dr. Oldacre was modelled on Dr. Elliot, or that Dickson Carr borrowed the idea to embellish his own narrative:
- His trouble was deeper and more personal. The winter session was approaching. He should be back again at the University completing the last year which would give him his medical degree; but alas! he had not the money with which to pay his class fees, nor could he imagine how he could procure it. Sixty pounds were wanted to make his career, and it might have been as many thousands for any chance there seemed to be of his obtaining it.
- He was roused from his black meditation by the entrance of Dr. Oldacre himself, a large clean-shaven, respectable man, with a prim manner and an austere face. He had prospered exceedingly by the support of the local Church interest, and the rule of his life was never by word or action to run a risk of offending the sentiment which had made him. His standard of respectability and of dignity was exceedingly high, and he expected the same from his assistants. His appearance and words were always vaguely benevolent. A sudden impulse came over the despondent student. He would test the reality of this philanthropy.
- "I beg your pardon, Dr. Oldacre," said he, rising from his chair; "I have a great favour to ask of you."
The doctor's appearance was not encouraging. His mouth suddenly tightened, and his eyes fell.
- "Yes, Mr. Montgomery?"
- "You are aware, sir, that I need only one more session to complete my course."
- "So you have told me."
- "It is very important to me, sir."
- "Naturally."
- "The fees, Dr. Oldacre, would amount to about sixty pounds."
- "I am afraid that my duties call me elsewhere, Mr. Montgomery."
- "One moment, sir! I had hoped, sir, that perhaps, if I signed a paper promising you interest upon your money, you would advance this sum to me. I will pay you back, sir, I really will. Or, if you like, I will work it off after 1 am qualified."
- The doctor's lips had thinned into a narrow line. His eyes were raised again and sparkled indignantly.
- "Your request is unreasonable. Mr. Montgomery. I am surprised that you should have made it. Consider, sir, how many thousands of medical students there are in this country. No doubt there are many of them who have a difficulty in finding their fees. Am I to provide for all of them? Or why should I make an exception in your favour? I am grieved and disappointed, Mr. Montgomery, that you should have put me into this painful position of having to refuse you." He turned upon his heel, and walked with offended dignity out of the surgery.
Summary
Sheffield and Ruyton were not the only sites where Conan Doyle practised medicine as a student assistant. The following summer, in 1879, he established a more gratifying relationship with Doctor Reginald Hoare in Birmingham. He received the much needed income of £2 a month and developed an almost filial relationship with the family. During this time, he experimented on himself with a drug, gelseminum, and published the results in the British Medical Journal. (23)
Conan Doyle was to return to Birmingham several times while a student, and during the first year after graduation in 1881. His other experience as a student practitioner lasted for seven months in 1880, as ship's surgeon aboard the arctic whaler S.S. Hope. His medical services were not needed during the voyage, unlike the emergency which arose during his tenure with Dr. Elliot in Ruyton-XI-Towns. In total, his student practice experience not only provided him with badly needed funds, but also with experiences which he later used in his fiction.
Addendum
Dr. Henry Francis Elliot — Biographical Details
- Born: April, May or June 1846, St. Thomas, Devonshire (24)
Listings in The Medical Register (25)
| 1876 | Qualification: Lic. Royal College Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh, 1875. Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. |
| 1877-1879 | [Address changed to] Ruyton Eleven Towns, Shrewsbury |
| 1880-1883 | [As above plus] Member Roy. Coll. Surgeons, Edinburgh, 1879 |
| 1884-1887 | [As above except for address change] Markham House, Snaresbrook, Essex. |
| 1888-1891 | [Address change to] Brook House, Snaresbrook, Essex |
| 1892 | [Address change to] 6 Barnfield Crescent, Exeter |
| 1893-1896 | [As above plus] Fellow Royal College Surgeons, Edinburgh, 1892 |
| 1897-1908 | [Address change to] Sydney House, Sutton Court Road, Chiswick, London W. |
| 1909 | [Address change to] Widcombe Lodge, East Harptree, Bristol. |
| 1910-1914 | [Address change to] 16 Sackville Road, Hove, Sussex. |
| 1915 | [Last year that Elliot is entered in The Medical Register |
Listings in The Medical Directory (26)
| 1876 | Elliot Hy Francis, Exeter L.R.C.P. Edinburgh and L.M. 1875; LRCS Edin. 1875; (Devon and Exeter Hosp. and Univ. Edinburgh); Res. Phys. Edin. Roy. Infirm; late House Surgeon Chichester Infirm. |
| 1877 | Cliffe House, Ruyton Eleven-Towns, Salop — LRCP Edin. and LM 1875; L.R.C.S. Edin. 1875, (Devon and Exeter Hops. and Univ. Edin.); Member Brit. Med. Assoc.; Med. Off. and Pub. Vacc. 5th Dist. Oswestry Union; Late Resid. Phys. Edin. Roy. Infirm; and House Surg. Chichester Infirm. |
| 1878-1883 | [Same as above; no further listing after 1883]. [Note]: L.M. is Licentiate in Midwifery |
- Death: 24 August 1915 at Hove in the County of East Sussex; Age 70 [sic]
- Address: 16 Sackville Road, Hove
- Occupation: Medical Practitioner
- Cause of Death: Paralysis agitans. Exhaustion.
- Certified by: A. M. Daldy, M.D.
- Informant: May Noyes Elliot, Daughter, Hove (27)
References
1. Doyle, A. C.: Memories and Adventures; Hodder & Stoughton, 1924; Chapter 3
2. Edwards, Owen Dudley: The Quest for Sherlock Holmes; Mainstream, Edinburgh, 1983; p.233
3. Doyle, A. C.: Memories and Adventures; Chapter 3
4. The Edinburgh University Calendar 1979-1880, Edinburgh, James Thin Publisher, 1879 5.Nordon, P.: Conan Doyle; John Murray, 1966; p.25
6. Nordon, P.: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: L'homme et l'oeuvre; Didier, 1964; p.29-30 (footnote)
7. Brown, Yoland; Ruyton XI Towns Unusual Name, Unusual History; Brewin Books, 1988; pps. 92-94
8. Local Census Returns for part of Ruyton Parish for the years of 1871 and 1881. Listing of inhabitants of Cliffe House, Ruyton and The Grove, Ruyton from returns held on microfilm at The Local Studies Library, Shrewsbury
9. Kelly's Directory and The Post Office Directory held in The Local Studies Library at Shrewsbury, list Robert Broughton as the Surgeon for Ruyton in 1877. It seems likely that the directory would have been compiled from returns submitted towards the end of 1876, and it is reasonable to assume, therefore, that Elliot arrived in Ruyton in 1877, a date borne out by later reference to The Medical Directory. The Local Studies Library in Shrewsbury does not hold copy of the Directories for 1878.
10. Private research paper given to Christopher Roden by Yoland Brown
11. Shropshire Family History Society: Monumental Inscriptions of Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, 1541-1984; SFHS, 1985
12. Doyle, A. C.: Memories and Adventures; Chapter 3
13. Doyle, A. C.: That Veteran, 1882; See The Unknown Conan Doyle: Selected Stories; Edited and Introduced by John Michael Gibson and Richard Lancelyn Green; Secker & Warburg, 1982
14. Chambers's Journal: Some Notable Beginners; 19 January 1895
15. See A.C.D. The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society, Vol.1, No.1, pps. 16-19 and Strange Stories from Life and other narratives by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edited by Jack Tracy; Gaslight Publications, Bloomington, Indiana, 1988
16. The Ellesmere Ruridecanal Magazine; Parish Notes for Ellesmere 1879-83; p.42
17. The Ellesmere Ruridecanal Magazine; Parish Notes for Ellesmere 1879-83; p.67
18. The Ellesmere Ruridecanal Magazine; Parish Notes for Ellesmere 1879-83; (August '82)
19. Doyle, A. C.: Memories and Adventures; Chapter 3
20. Nordon, P.: Conan Doyle, John Murray, 1966; quoting letter to Mary Doyle, 23 August 1878
21. Carr, J.Doyle, A. C.D.: The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: John Murray, 1949
22. Doyle, A. C.: The Croxley Master. First published in The Strand Magazine, October-December 1899; later collected in The Green Flag and Other Stories of War and Sport: Smith, Elder & Co., 1900
23. Doyle, A. C.: Gelsminum as a Poison: British Medical Journal, 1:483, 1879
24. Births Index, June 1846, E G: St. Catherine House, London
25. The Medical Register, London. First published by The General Council of Medical Education and Registration of the United Kingdom. It was mandated by "An Act to Regulate the Qualifications of Practitioners of Medicine and Surgery," of 2 August 1858. It is published yearly. "Every registered Medical Practitioner should be careful to send immediate Notice of any Change in his Address to the Branch Registrar by whom he was originally registered, and also to answer, without delay, all inquiries that may be addressed to him by the Registrar in regard thereto, in order that his correct address may be duly inserted in The Medical Register, otherwise by Section 14 of the Medical Act (1858), such Practitioner is liable to have his name erased from The Medical Register... [The registrant] should also send to the Registrar any change or addition to his Qualification, which he may wish to be inserted in The Medical Register."
26. The Medical Directory, first published in 1845 by John Churchill, London as The London Medical Directory with the addition of a separate Provincial Medical Directory in 1847. Both were combined as the yearly Medical Directory in 1848. Also has listing of physician names by site. "Information is based on replies from circulars sent to names of Medical Practitioners supplied by the Registrar General and District Registrars... some who do not return the circular may not be listed."
27. Source: Death Certificate from St. Catherine House, London
(All photographs by Christopher Roden and Alvin E. Rodin)
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
