Lord Holdhurst
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Fictional character.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
- Lord Holdhurst was the uncle of Percy Phelps (NAVA 16).
- He was a prominent Conservative politician who, at the time, was Foreign Minister and a future Premier of England (NAVA 480).
- He entrusted Percy Phelps with the highly confidential treaty between England and Italy, instructing him to copy it in his Foreign Office room (NAVA 99).
- After the theft of the treaty, his political reputation was at stake, since the loss of the treaty could cause grave diplomatic consequences if it fell into foreign hands (NAVA 99).
- Later, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went to see him at Downing Street. He said he never mentioned the copying task to anyone, and stressed how disastrous it would have been if the treaty had fallen into foreign hands (NAVA 481).
- He also wrote to Percy Phelps, coldly but not unkindly, promising no decision about his career will be taken until his health is restored (NAVA 361).
