Doug Elliott
Douglas Elliott (11 june 1948 - 26 august 2025) was a Canadian-Australian Doylean and Sherlockian expert. Doug wrote about the life and works of Arthur Conan Doyle for over thirty years. He was a member of many Sherlock Holmes societies : the Bootmakers of Toronto (25 years), the Baker Street Irregulars (invested in 2000 as Canadian Pacific Railway) and the Sydney Passengers (20 years). Doug was also a founding member and webmaster of the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of the Toronto Public Library.
Biography
Doug was born in Listowel, Ontario, and went to F. E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Waterloo in 1970 with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He spent most of his professional life in computer software, working across development, support, marketing, and sales.
His literary interests were closely linked to Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1989, Doug served as "Meyers" (President) of The Bootmakers of Toronto, the Sherlock Holmes society of Canada, and in 1990 he was named a "Master Bootmaker" from the same society, an award given for significant contribution to The Bootmakers and the Canadian sherlockian movement.
Bob Coghill remembers: "In the Bootmakers, Doug was a bright and cheerful member. He presented many talks and formal papers. He was Meyers in 1989 and earned his Master Bootmaker shoehorn in 1990. His papers, whether about fairies, magic or the Piltdown Man were professionally researched and perfectly presented. He won the Mostly Mysteries Award in 1982 and 1984. His organizational skills were a bonus to any committee on which he served. He was the Publicity and Promotion chair of the Lasting Impressions Symposium held at the Arts and Letters Club. He directed and produced 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' radio play that was presented at The Footprints of the Hound Conference and which was preserved as an audio disk. In the Sydney Passengers, Doug's presentations and papers continued to win awards. The Montpellier Award is an award presented to writers of articles published in 'The Passengers' Log.' Doug was a regular contributor to the journal and he won the award three times."
In 2005 he made a major life change: he and his wife, Dianne, moved from Toronto (Canada) to Sydney (Australia), and he began working as a freelance writer. Doug first turned to history writing, choosing subjects he genuinely cared about. He published articles in Australian Heritage and History Magazine on topics including the invention of television, the exploration of Antarctica, and the golden age of ocean liners. After several years of article writing, he shifted toward longer book-length projects.
He co-edited "Australia and Sherlock Holmes", a collection of Australian Sherlockian writing published in 2008, and "The Annotated White Company", a study of Conan Doyle's medieval adventure novel published in 2013. He described these editorial projects as extensive and rewarding, especially because they allowed him to work with long-time friends.
Doug also became a novelist. His historical thriller "The Link" was inspired by the Piltdown Man hoax, the famous case in which fossil remains presented in 1912 as evidence of an early human ancestor were later exposed as fraudulent. In the novel, Doug imagined what might have happened if the fraud had been detected in 1912. The story introduces Augustus Parker, a former Scotland Yard detective, as a central figure with potential for further adventures. On the same topic Doug previously wrote The Curious Incident of the Missing Link: Arthur Conan Doyle and Piltdown man (1988). He also wrote another novel "Departures" where Detective Inspector Harry Meyers and his mentor Augustus Parker investigate a deadly plot to sabotage Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic expedition.
In addition to all of his Sherlockian activities, Doug was active in his local Rotary chapter (he was a Paul Harris Fellow). He managed their website, edited their newsletter and worked on various club projects. In addition, he was an active volunteer as a Marine Rescue Radio Operator. And was also an amateur magician.
Bibliography
Editor
The White Company and Sir Nigel
(Introduction, 2005)
Doug wrote the introduction to The White Company and Sir Nigel, Arthur Conan Doyle's two medieval adventure novels about chivalry, war, and the making of the knight Sir Nigel Loring.
Australia and Sherlock Holmes
(Introduction, 2008)
Australia and Sherlock Holmes, edited by Bill Barnes and Doug Elliott, collects Australian Sherlockian essays from 1959 to 2007, showcasing the history, scholarship, popular culture, and playful "Game" tradition of Holmes studies in Australia.
The Annotated White Company
(Introduction & Annotations, 2013)
The Annotated White Company reintroduces Arthur Conan Doyle's neglected medieval adventure novel through Doug Elliott and Roy Pilot's detailed annotations, historical illustrations, N. C. Wyeth's color artwork, and a foreword by Nicholas Meyer.
Sherlock Holmes Vol. 2 and Vol. 4
(Introductions, 2015-2016)
Doug wrote the introductions to Sherlock Holmes: Vol. 2 and Vol. 4 of the Knickerbocker Classics editions collecting Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels.
Fictions
The Link
(Novel, 2012)
A 1912 historical thriller in which Stephen McKay and former Scotland Yard detective Augustus Parker investigate the exposure of the Piltdown Man fraud, leading them into disappearance, deception, murder, and danger.
The Adventure of the Flash of Silver
in Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook (short story, 2018)
Holmes and Watson, during their 1890 Australian visit, become involved in a Sydney-area case connected with Brighton, two murders, a grand larceny, and a mysterious "flash of silver."
Departures
(Novel, 2021)
In 1910 London, Detective Inspector Harry Meyers and his mentor Augustus Parker investigate a murder and a sabotage plot threatening Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic expedition, while Harry struggles with a secret from his past.
Articles & Reviews
In Canadian Holmes (Magazine of The Bootmakers of Toronto):
- Sherlock Holmes as Conjurer! (Christmas 1982)
- Doyle and the Fairies (Spring 1984)
- The Great Doyle Impersonation (Winter 1990)
- Bootmakers All at Sea (Summer 1992)
- Review: A Sherlock Holmes Handbook (Winter 1993)
- From Toronto (Spring 1994) poem
- Review: Conan Doyle by Michael Coren (Spring 1996)
- Review: The Annotated Lost World (Autumn 1996)
- Review: FairyTale: A True Story (Winter 1997)
- A Clinking of Toasts 2002: Mrs. Hudson (Spring 2002)
- Top Ten Reasons Sherlock Holmes Should Join the Bootmakers (Summer 2002)
- A Clinking of Toasts 2003: A Certain Gracious Lady (Spring 2003)
- A Clinking of Toasts 2004: Doctor Watson (Spring 2004)
- Out of the Shadows (Winter 2004)
In The Passengers' Log (Journal of The Sydney Passengers):
- The Jewel and the Crown: Thoughts on writing The Mazarin Stone and The Crown Diamond (July 2007)
- New Volume Shines a Global Light on Holmes and Australia (October 2008)
- The Prophet: Conan Doyle in Sydney (April 2009)
- A Mind Divided: Arthur Conan Doyle and Spiritualism (October 2017)
- Another look at Thor Bridge (April 2022)
In ACD Journal (Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society):
- The Titanic Disaster: Letters to the Editor by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and George Bernard Shaw (1994)
- Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution (1996)
- The Case Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Blue Carbuncle (2000)
On The Conan Doyle Estate website:
- Lord John Roxton (2019)
In Books:
- Literary Dignity in Waterloo: A Case-Book on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Historical Play (1998)
- The Curious Incident of the Missing Link: Arthur Conan Doyle and Piltdown man (1988, revised in 2018)
Interview
Podcast The Fortnightly Dispatch: Roy Pilot, Doug Elliott, and Conan Doyle (september 2020)
Conferences
2001
- Radio drama "The Hound of the Baskervilles"
He directed the radio drama "The Hound of the Baskervilles" as part of the Footprints of the Hound held in Toronto, Ontario in October 2001.
2011
- A Study in Scandal (SinS) — 16 october 2011
During a Zoom conference organized by the joint Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection-Bootmakers of Toronto Conference "A Study in Scandal", Doug spoke about "The Piltdown Code: Arthur Conan Doyle and the First Englishman."
