Conan Doyle, The Legion of Frontiersmen and the Motor Car
Conan Doyle, The Legion of Frontiersmen and the Motor Car is an article written by John D. Crouch published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 1, No. 2) in march 1990.
The article describes Arthur Conan Doyle's enthusiasm for early motoring, his involvement in automobile clubs, and his practical experience as a competitive and skilled driver in Edwardian Britain. It highlights his role in promoting the military use of motor cars, linking motoring culture to early experiments in mechanised transport and national defence.
Conan Doyle and Homes (errata)
The Motor Cars Act of 1903 made it possible for motorists to exceed the then speed limit of 12 m.p.h. without incurring the considerable wrath of the anti-motoring lobby, as represented by country policemen equipped with somewhat antiquated timepieces. However, it must be said that King Edward VII had become a motoring enthusiast following his first demonstration ride in 1896, and liked nothing better than to rattle across the countryside in a succession of Daimlers at a smart 45 m.p.h. or so. He consented to become the Automobile Club's Patron in 1903, and the wealthy and fashionable followed bis lead.
The Automobile Club (now the R.A.C.) was copied by a vast country-wide network of local clubs, one of which, the West Surrey Automobile Club, had Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for its Vice-President. According to the Automobile Annual for 1906, Conan Doyle owned a 20 b.p. Denis and a 10 b.p. Wolseley and was considered quite an experienced driver with some 7,000 miles to his credit. On 15 April 1905, be used the Wolseley to come first in a road trial at Hindhead, covering a distance of 2 miles, 1,500 yards in 9 minutes 56 seconds, with a handicap of 4 minutes 40 seconds. On 15 August in the same year, he presented the club's Challenge Cup to a Mr. E. Williams at a Gymkhana held in Prior's Field, Compton, Surrey.
The year 1905 was notable for the appearance in London streets of motor omnibuses; these increased from less than 20 at the start of the year to 230 at the end. They were considered highly beneficial as they replaced some 3,000 horses and their dung.
The Legion of Frontiersmen had been launched in the national press by Roger Pocock on Christmas Eve, 1904. The Earl of Lonsdale became its first President in 1905, and the Legion was recognised by the Secretary of State for War on 15 February 1906 as an Auxiliary Branch of the British Military Intelligence. Many who had served in the Boer War joined the Legion as members or supporters, and these included Prince Louis of Battenberg, Lord Birdwood, General Sir John French, H. Rider Haggard, C. B. Fry, Winston S. Churchill, Edgar Wallace, C. Aubrey Smith and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Conan Doyle's proposal for a mobile force of motorists, as set out in his letter (A.C.D. Vol.1,No.1; p.76), was taken up by Stenson Cooke of the emerging populist Automobile Association, and who had been trying to persuade the Editor of the Daily Mail to allow A.A. members to circulate a complete edition of the paper to twenty centres throughout Britain. As an alternative, he put the "auto-mobilisation" idea to the A.A. Committee. It was picked up by a Member, Colonel Arthur Du Cross, M.P. for Hastings, who presented the idea to the War Office. On St. Patrick's Day, 17 March 1909, a Battalion of His Majesty's Scots Guards was transported from London to Hastings in A.A. Members' cars.
Strictly speaking, the whole affair was a "stunt"; the Boer War had been fought over a vast area of South Africa, and in the course of it some 300,000 horses had been worked to death. This had impelled progressive minded men, such as Colonel Crompton the pioneer electrical engineer and road transport enthusiast, to advocate the use of the motor car for military purposes as early as November 1900 on his return from South Africa. Two steam lorries were sent to the Front and locally obtained steam Locomobiles were adapted to pull, and drive the dynamos for, searchlights. This led to the formation of the "Motor Volunteer Corps" in 1903. The Corps consisted of Volunteers who provided their own cars for the use of officers at military manoeuvres and similar functions.
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
