88-452: " The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire ", written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle , is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes stories collected between 1921 and 1927 as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes . It was first published in the January 1924 issues of The Strand Magazine in London and Hearst's International in New York. Holmes receives an odd letter that makes reference to vampires . Mr. Robert Ferguson, who comes to 221B Baker Street
176-661: A 21st-century murder investigation. Doyle was the doctor on the Greenland whaler Hope of Peterhead in 1880. On 11 July 1880, John Gray's Hope and David Gray's Eclipse met up with the Eira and Leigh Smith . The photographer W. J. A. Grant took a photograph aboard the Eira of Doyle along with Smith, the Gray brothers, and ship's surgeon William Neale, who were members of the Smith expedition. That expedition explored Franz Josef Land , and led to
264-561: A book on the war, The Great Boer War , as well as a short work titled The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct , in which he responded to critics of the United Kingdom's role in that war, and argued that its role was justified. The latter work was widely translated, and Doyle believed it was the reason he was knighted (given the rank of Knight Bachelor ) by King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours . He received
352-414: A booklet Is Spiritualism Based on Fraud? , in which he laid out evidence refuting Doyle's arguments and claimed that Doyle had been duped into believing in spiritualism through deliberate mediumship trickery. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (radio series) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an American old-time radio show that aired on US radio networks between 1930 and 1936. The series
440-506: A contemporaneous report by the Sunday Express quoted Doyle as saying "I should have to see it again before passing a definite opinion on it" and "I have my doubts about the whole thing". In 1920, Doyle and the noted sceptic Joseph McCabe held a public debate at Queen's Hall in London, with Doyle taking the position that the claims of spiritualism were true. After the debate, McCabe published
528-647: A goalkeeper for Portsmouth Association Football Club , an amateur side, under the pseudonym A. C. Smith. Doyle was a keen cricketer, and between 1899 and 1907 he played 10 first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He also played for the amateur cricket teams the Allahakbarries and the Authors XI alongside fellow writers J. M. Barrie , P. G. Wodehouse and A. A. Milne . His highest score, in 1902 against London County ,
616-501: A level intended to discourage them, but found they were willing to pay even the large sums he asked. As a result, he became one of the best-paid authors of his time. In December 1893, to dedicate more of his time to his historical novels, Doyle had Holmes and Professor Moriarty plunge to their deaths together down the Reichenbach Falls in the story " The Final Problem ". Public outcry, however, led him to feature Holmes in 1901 in
704-668: A man", and in his 1924 autobiography, he remarked, "It is no wonder that after the study of such a character [viz., Bell] I used and amplified his methods when in later life I tried to build up a scientific detective who solved cases on his own merits and not through the folly of the criminal." Robert Louis Stevenson was able to recognise the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: "My compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... can this be my old friend Joe Bell?" Other authors sometimes suggest additional influences—for instance, Edgar Allan Poe 's character C. Auguste Dupin , who
792-522: A medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea . The practice was not successful. While waiting for patients, Doyle returned to writing fiction. Doyle was a staunch supporter of compulsory vaccination and wrote several articles advocating the practice and denouncing the views of anti-vaccinators . In early 1891, Doyle embarked on the study of ophthalmology in Vienna. He had previously studied at
880-509: A member of the Portsmouth Literary and Philosophical Society, Doyle began a series of investigations into the possibility of psychic phenomena and attended about 20 seances, experiments in telepathy, and sittings with mediums. Writing to spiritualist journal Light that year, he declared himself to be a spiritualist, describing one particular event that had convinced him psychic phenomena were real. Also in 1887 (on 26 January), he
968-531: A platonic relationship with her while his first wife was still alive, out of loyalty to her. Most of Doyle's family including his mother were aware of the relationship, but it appears to have remained unknown to Louisa. Jean outlived her husband and died during wartime on 27 June 1940. Doyle fathered five children. He had two with his first wife: Mary Louise (1889–1976) and Arthur Alleyne Kingsley, known as Kingsley (1892–1918). He had an additional three with his second wife: Denis Percy Stewart (1909–1955), who became
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#17328549120551056-564: A remake of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". The 59th Sherlock Holmes story adapted by Meiser was "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", which aired in late 1932. The story that was not dramatised, The Valley of Fear , would not be adapted for radio until 1960, when the BBC adapted it for radio for the 1952–1969 radio series . An adaptation of The Valley of Fear was not produced because
1144-651: A script based on the reference for the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . The script was used for an episode, titled "The Giant Rat of Sumatra", that aired on 9 June 1932. An episode with the same title also aired in the related radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on 1 March 1942. "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" was first published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in January 1924, and in
1232-667: A search for poltergeists in Devon. Doyle was also a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn . Doyle and the spiritualist William Thomas Stead (who would die on the Titanic ) were led to believe that Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers, and they claimed publicly that the Zancigs used telepathy . However, in 1924, the Zancigs confessed that their mind reading act had been
1320-566: A six-episode dramatization of The Sign of Four . There were 34 episodes, though the titles of two episodes are not known. The first episode was an adaptation of " The Adventure of the Empty House ", and the last episode was "The Corpse in the Cab", an original story based on " The Adventure of the Norwood Builder ". An adaptation of " The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle " aired on 28 December 1932 and
1408-494: A trick; they published the secret code and all other details of the trick method they had used under the title "Our Secrets!!" in a London newspaper. Doyle also praised the psychic phenomena and spirit materialisations that he believed had been produced by Eusapia Palladino and Mina Crandon , both of whom were also later exposed as frauds. In 1916, at the height of the First World War, Doyle's belief in psychic phenomena
1496-478: A vampire because of the power and fear such a creature inspires. He sees Stockton as a 'mentor' of sorts due to his seemingly vampire-like ability to charm women. The case concludes with Stockton dead in an accident; the villagers digging up Stockton's body and taking it to his family's old, burned-out house; Mrs. Ferguson's sucking blood from her maid's neck to remove poison introduced by Jack; Ferguson attempting to stake Stockton's corpse; and Jack throwing himself from
1584-535: Is allowed in. She takes Mrs. Ferguson her meals. Even before Holmes and Watson set off for Mr. Ferguson's house in Sussex , Holmes has worked out what is going on, and it has nothing to do with vampires. Holmes's trip is made simply to observe and confirm what he has already deduced. Upon their arrival in Sussex, Mrs. Ferguson's maid announces that her mistress is ill, and Dr. Watson offers to help. He finds an agitated woman in
1672-442: Is gazing at the window. He cannot imagine why his friend is doing this. Holmes then reveals the truth about what has been happening, much to the relief of Mrs. Ferguson as this is exactly what she has been hoping for: the truth to come from someone else's lips. It turns out that the culprit is Jack, Mr. Ferguson's elder son, who is extremely jealous of his young half-brother. Holmes has confirmed this by looking at Jack's reflection in
1760-705: Is mentioned, disparagingly, by Holmes in A Study in Scarlet . Dr. (John) Watson owes his surname, but not any other obvious characteristic, to a Portsmouth medical colleague of Doyle's, Dr. James Watson. A sequel to A Study in Scarlet was commissioned, and The Sign of the Four appeared in Lippincott's Magazine in February 1890, under agreement with the Ward Lock company. Doyle felt grievously exploited by Ward Lock as an author new to
1848-519: The British Library and the Library of Congress treat "Doyle" alone as his surname. Steven Doyle, publisher of The Baker Street Journal , wrote: "Conan was Arthur's middle name. Shortly after he graduated from high school he began using Conan as a sort of surname. But technically his last name is simply 'Doyle'." When knighted, he was gazetted as Doyle, not under the compound Conan Doyle. Doyle
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#17328549120551936-568: The Napoleonic Wars and features a character Gregory Brewster, written for Henry Irving ; The House of Temperley , the plot of which reflects his abiding interest in boxing; The Speckled Band , adapted from his earlier short story " The Adventure of the Speckled Band "; and an 1893 collaboration with J. M. Barrie on the libretto of Jane Annie . While living in Southsea , the seaside resort near Portsmouth , Doyle played football as
2024-551: The Spiritualists' National Union to accept an eighth precept – that of following the teachings and example of Jesus of Nazareth . He was a member of the renowned supernaturalist organisation The Ghost Club . In 1919, the magician P. T. Selbit staged a séance at his flat in Bloomsbury , which Doyle attended. Although some later claimed that Doyle had endorsed the apparent instances of clairvoyance at that séance as genuine,
2112-686: The University of Edinburgh Medical School ; during this period he spent time working in Aston (then a town in Warwickshire , now part of Birmingham ), Sheffield and Ruyton-XI-Towns , Shropshire. Also during this period, he studied practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. While studying, Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe",
2200-592: The English Amateur billiards championship in 1913. While living in Switzerland, Doyle became interested in skiing, which was relatively unknown in Switzerland at the time. He wrote an article, "An Alpine Pass on 'Ski ' " for the December 1894 issue of The Strand Magazine , in which he described his experiences with skiing and the beautiful alpine scenery that could be seen in the process. The article popularised
2288-597: The English version. The work was adapted a crossover between Young Miss Holmes and Dance in the Vampire Bund . Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ , DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet , the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson . The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in
2376-610: The Holmes oeuvre, The Lost World . His historical novels include The White Company and its prequel Sir Nigel , set in the Middle Ages . He was a prolific author of short stories, including two collections set in Napoleonic times and featuring the French character Brigadier Gerard . Doyle's works for the stage include Waterloo , which centres on the reminiscences of an English veteran of
2464-580: The Irish Easter Rising , Casement was found guilty of treason against the Crown, and was sentenced to death. Doyle tried, unsuccessfully, to save him, arguing that Casement had been driven mad, and therefore should not be held responsible for his actions. As the First World War loomed, and having been caught up in a growing public swell of Germanophobia , Doyle gave a public donation of 10 shillings to
2552-566: The Jesuit school Stella Matutina in Feldkirch , Austria. His family decided that he would spend a year there in order to perfect his German and broaden his academic horizons. He was raised Catholic but later rejected the faith and became an agnostic . One source attributed his drift away from religion to the time he spent in the less strict Austrian school. He also later became a spiritualist mystic . From 1876 to 1881, Doyle studied medicine at
2640-549: The London Times . He also wrote The Doings of Raffles Haw . After visiting Venice and Milan , he spent a few days in Paris observing Edmund Landolt, an expert on diseases of the eye. Within three months of his departure for Vienna, Doyle returned to London. He opened a small office and consulting room at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, or 2 Devonshire Place as it was then. (There is today a Westminster City Council commemorative plaque over
2728-666: The NBC's Blue Network. The fifth season aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System through September 1936. The show then moved to the NBC Red network in October 1936. On the NBC network, the episodes were broadcast live and have therefore not survived. The Mutual Broadcasting System required episodes to be recorded for future rebroadcast, so sound recordings from this era of the show survived. The George Washington Coffee Company , creator of
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-525: The Noble Bachelor ". The first episode was "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", and the last episode of the season was an adaptation of " The Adventure of the Abbey Grange ", titled "The Adventure of Abbey Grange". This series comprised some adaptations of Conan Doyle and original material devised by Meiser. The season had 33 episodes and aired from 17 September 1931 to 23 June 1932. The first episode of
2904-544: The Pole-Star" and " J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement ", both inspired by Doyle's time at sea. The latter popularised the mystery of the Mary Celeste and added fictional details such as that the ship was found in perfect condition (it had actually taken on water by the time it was discovered), and that its boats remained on board (the single boat was in fact missing). These fictional details have come to dominate popular accounts of
2992-622: The Portsmouth Eye Hospital in order to qualify to perform eye tests and prescribe glasses. Vienna had been suggested by his friend Vernon Morris as a place to spend six months and train to be an eye surgeon. But Doyle found it too difficult to understand the German medical terms being used in his classes in Vienna, and soon quit his studies there. For the rest of his two-month stay in Vienna, he pursued other activities, such as ice skating with his wife Louisa and drinking with Brinsley Richards of
3080-552: The Rifle Clubs Committee of the National Rifle Association . In 1901, Doyle was one of three judges for the world's first major bodybuilding competition, which was organised by the "Father of Bodybuilding", Eugen Sandow . The event was held in London's Royal Albert Hall . The other two judges were the sculptor Sir Charles Lawes-Wittewronge and Eugen Sandow himself. Doyle was an amateur boxer. In 1909, he
3168-529: The Sussex Vampire" in season 1, episode 4 "The Wakasugi Family", setting it in modern-day Japan. The episode is fairly faithful to the original, but includes a secondary antagonist motivated by revenge. It was adapted into one of the books of the Hong Kong children's book series The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes , as "The Mystery of the Vampire" (吸血鬼之謎). It is Book #13 of the original Chinese version, and book #4 of
3256-641: The US in Hearst's International (under the title "The Sussex Vampire") in the same month. The story was published with four illustrations by Howard K. Elcock in the Strand , and with four illustrations by W. T. Benda in Hearst's International . It was included in the short story collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes , which was published in the UK and the US in June 1927. The story
3344-671: The accolade from the King in person at Buckingham Palace on 24 October of that year. He stood for Parliament twice as a Liberal Unionist : in 1900 in Edinburgh Central , and in 1906 in the Hawick Burghs , but was not elected. He served as a Deputy-Lieutenant of Surrey beginning in 1902, and was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1903. Doyle
3432-461: The activity and began the long association between Switzerland and skiing. In 1885 Doyle married Louisa (sometimes called "Touie") Hawkins (1857–1906). She was the youngest daughter of J. Hawkins, of Minsterworth , Gloucestershire, and the sister of one of Doyle's patients. Louisa had tuberculosis . In 1907, the year after Louisa's death, he married Jean Elizabeth Leckie (1874–1940). He had met and fallen in love with Jean in 1897, but had maintained
3520-444: The anti-immigration British Brothers' League . In 1914, Doyle was one of fifty-three leading British authors—including H. G. Wells , Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy —who signed their names to the "Authors' Declaration", justifying Britain's involvement in the First World War. This manifesto declared that the German invasion of Belgium had been a brutal crime, and that Britain "could not without dishonour have refused to take part in
3608-517: The aunt of a friend, at Liberton Bank House on Gilmerton Road, while studying at Newington Academy. In 1867, the family came together again and lived in squalid tenement flats at 3 Sciennes Place . Doyle's father died in 1893, in the Crichton Royal , Dumfries , after many years of psychiatric illness. Beginning at an early age, throughout his life Doyle wrote letters to his mother. Many of them were preserved. Supported by wealthy uncles, Doyle
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-550: The basic medical qualification in the UK) with a dissertation on tabes dorsalis in 1885. In 1882, Doyle partnered with his former classmate George Turnavine Budd in a medical practice in Plymouth , but their relationship proved difficult, and Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June 1882, with less than £10 (£1300 in 2023 ) to his name, he set up
3784-410: The classics. Doyle commented later in his life that this academic system could be excused only "on the plea that any exercise, however stupid in itself, forms a sort of mental dumbbell by which one can improve one's mind". He found the school harsh, noting that, instead of compassion and warmth, it favoured the threat of corporal punishment and ritual humiliation. From 1875 to 1876, he was educated at
3872-730: The end of the series. For the series, Meiser also wrote episodes inspired by cases alluded to in the Sherlock Holmes canon, namely "The Giant Rat of Sumatra" (June 1932 and July 1936), "The Case of Vamberry, the Wine Merchant" (December 1934), and "The Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch" (January 1935). Meiser also adapted two of Arthur Conan Doyle's non-Holmes stories, "The Jewish Breastplate" and " The Lost Special ". Both episodes aired in November 1934. The first four seasons aired on
3960-472: The field of crime fiction. Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger , and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard , as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, " J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement " (1884), helped to popularise
4048-451: The fifth-season episodes were ones that had been used previously on the show, partly because Edith Meiser was busy after signing a movie contract with RKO in May 1936. The scripts would have been modified slightly to allow for the change in sponsor and possibly the change in actors. The season featured 48 episodes, starting with "The Speckled Band" and ending with the six-part serial The Hound of
4136-484: The first instant coffee , sponsored the series, until the fifth season, when the Household Finance Co. became the show's new sponsor. Sherlock Holmes : Dr Watson : The announcer and narrator was actor Joseph Bell. Little information is available about other cast members. Agnes Moorehead played roles in many episodes. The show's writer Edith Meiser was also an actress and occasionally played parts on
4224-461: The front door.) He had no patients, according to his autobiography, and his efforts as an ophthalmologist were a failure. Doyle initially struggled to find a publisher. His first work featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, A Study in Scarlet , was written in three weeks when he was 27 and was accepted for publication by Ward Lock & Co on 20 November 1886, which gave Doyle £25 (equivalent to £3,500 in 2023) in exchange for all rights to
4312-498: The incident, and Doyle's alternative spelling of the ship's name as the Marie Celeste has become more commonly used than the original spelling. Between 1888 and 1906, Doyle wrote seven historical novels, which he and many critics regarded as his best work. He also wrote nine other novels, and—later in his career (1912–29)—five narratives (three of novel or novella length) featuring the irascible scientist Professor Challenger . The Challenger stories include his best-known work after
4400-483: The mutilations continued after their suspect was jailed. Apart from helping George Edalji, Doyle's work helped establish a way to correct other miscarriages of justice, as it was partially as a result of this case that the Court of Criminal Appeal was established in 1907. The story of Doyle and Edalji was dramatised in an episode of the 1972 BBC television series, The Edwardians . In Nicholas Meyer's pastiche The West End Horror (1976), Holmes manages to help clear
4488-473: The mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste , found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard. Doyle is often referred to as "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" or "Conan Doyle", implying that "Conan" is part of a compound surname rather than a middle name. However, his baptism entry in the register of St Mary's Cathedral , Edinburgh, gives "Arthur Ignatius Conan" as his given names and "Doyle" as his surname. It also names Michael Conan as his godfather. The catalogues of
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#17328549120554576-498: The name of a shy Parsi Indian character wronged by the English justice system. Edalji was of Parsi heritage on his father's side. The story was fictionalised in Julian Barnes 's 2005 novel Arthur and George , which was adapted into a three-part drama by ITV in 2015. The second case, that of Oscar Slater —a Jew of German origin who operated a gambling den and was convicted of bludgeoning an 82-year-old woman in Glasgow in 1908—excited Doyle's curiosity because of inconsistencies in
4664-417: The naming, on 18 August, of Cape Flora, Bell Island , Nightingale Sound, Gratton ("Uncle Joe") Island, and Mabel Island. After graduating with Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery (M.B. C.M.) degrees from the University of Edinburgh in 1881, he was ship's surgeon on the SS Mayumba during a voyage to the West African coast. He completed his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree (an advanced degree beyond
4752-561: The next morning, has become convinced that his Peruvian second wife has been sucking their baby son's blood. By his first wife, he has a 15-year-old son named Jack, who suffered an unfortunate accident as a child and now, although he can still walk, does not have full use of his legs. Since the start of the bloodsucking, Jack has unaccountably been struck twice by his stepmother, although Mr. Ferguson cannot imagine why. Ever since being found out by her husband, she has locked herself in her room and refused to come out. Only her Peruvian maid, Dolores,
4840-460: The novel The Hound of the Baskervilles . Holmes's fictional connection with the Reichenbach Falls is celebrated in the nearby town of Meiringen . In 1903, Doyle published his first Holmes short story in ten years, " The Adventure of the Empty House ", in which it was explained that only Moriarty had fallen, but since Holmes had other dangerous enemies—especially Colonel Sebastian Moran —he had arranged to make it look as if he too were dead. Holmes
4928-464: The one to tell her husband what Jack had done. In "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", Holmes mentions to Watson the case of the ship Matilda Briggs and the Giant Rat of Sumatra , identifying it as "a story for which the world is not yet prepared". This single reference has been expanded upon by a number of other authors and performers who have either created their own versions of the story or alluded to it in tales of their own. Edith Meiser wrote
5016-456: The poor showing of British troops in the Boer War had led him to believe that the general population needed training in marksmanship. He was a champion of "miniature" rifle clubs, whose members shot small-calibre firearms on local ranges. These ranges were much cheaper and more accessible to working-class participants than large "fullbore" ranges, such as Bisley Camp , which were necessarily remote from population centres. Doyle went on to sit on
5104-425: The present war". Doyle was also a fervent advocate of justice and personally investigated two closed cases, which led to two men being exonerated of the crimes of which they were accused. The first case, in 1906, involved a shy half-British, half-Indian lawyer named George Edalji , who had allegedly penned threatening letters and mutilated animals in Great Wyrley . Police were set on Edalji's conviction, even though
5192-440: The prosecution's case and a general sense that Slater was not guilty. He ended up paying most of the costs for Slater's successful 1928 appeal. Doyle had a longstanding interest in mystical subjects and remained fascinated by the idea of paranormal phenomena, even though the strength of his belief in their reality waxed and waned periodically over the years. In 1887, in Southsea, influenced by Major-General Alfred Wilks Drayson ,
5280-603: The publishing world, and so, after this, he left them. Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the Strand Magazine . Doyle wrote the first five Holmes short stories from his office at 2 Devonshire Place. Doyle's attitude towards his most famous creation was ambivalent. In November 1891, he wrote to his mother: "I think of slaying Holmes, ... and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things." His mother responded, "You won't! You can't! You mustn't!" In an attempt to deflect publishers' demands for more Holmes stories, he raised his price to
5368-426: The room upstairs – she speaks of all being destroyed, and of sacrificing herself rather than breaking her husband's heart. She also demands her child, who has been with the nurse, Mrs. Mason, ever since Mr. Ferguson found out about the bloodsucking incidents. Holmes examines the South American weapons displayed in the house and meets the children. While Mr. Ferguson is doting on his younger son, Watson notices that Holmes
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#17328549120555456-496: The ruined Stockton house, believing he can fly as part of his delusion. When Holmes and Watson discuss the case as they wait for their train, Holmes suggests that the world may not be prepared for a report of this case. An episode of the animated television series Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century was based on the story. The episode, titled "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire Lot", first aired in 1999. The 2018 Japanese television drama Miss Sherlock adapted "The Adventure of
5544-452: The season was a remake of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", and the last episode was an adaptation of " The Adventure of the Second Stain ". The season included a four-episode adaptation of A Study in Scarlet , and a six-episode dramatization of The Hound of the Baskervilles . This series comprised some adaptations of Conan Doyle and original material devised by Meiser. The series aired from 5 October 1932 to 31 May 1933 and included
5632-426: The second husband of Georgian Princess Nina Mdivani ; Adrian Malcolm (1910–1970); and Jean Lena Annette (1912–1997). None of Doyle's five children had children of their own, so he has no living direct descendants. Doyle served as a volunteer physician in the Langman Field Hospital at Bloemfontein between March and June 1900, during the Second Boer War in South Africa (1899–1902). Later that year, he wrote
5720-410: The series mainly featured Richard Gordon in the role of Holmes until 1933 and Louis Hector from 1934 to 1935. Richard Gordon again played the lead role for the last season in 1936. Edith Meiser dramatised fifty-nine of the sixty Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, with the same actors, Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, playing Holmes and Watson respectively in the adaptations, including
5808-523: The show. Edith Meiser first pitched the idea of a radio series based on Conan Doyle's detective. Episodes for the series were adapted for broadcast by Meiser. The show was titled Sherlock Holmes , The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , and Sherlock Holmes Stories in different radio listings. The premiere episode featured an adaptation of " The Adventure of the Speckled Band " (October 20, 1930). It starred William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr Watson . The following episodes in
5896-486: The show. According to a contemporary review, Lucille Wall played "the star feminine part" in the first episode. Louis Hector played Professor Moriarty in a 1932 episode before playing Holmes in the show's fourth season. This series comprised only stories adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The season aired from 20 October 1930 to 15 June 1931 and included 35 episodes, including two broadcasts of "The Noble Bachelor", adapted from " The Adventure of
5984-445: The story adapted by Michael Hardwick aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1964, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson. "The Sussex Vampire" was dramatised for BBC Radio 4 in 1994 by Bert Coules as part of the 1989–1998 radio series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. It featured Michael Troughton as Robert Ferguson. In 2012,
6072-439: The story concerns labour relations in the Pennsylvania coalfields and was therefore thought to be potentially too political. Another Sherlock Holmes story, " The Final Problem ", was loosely adapted for episodes titled "Murder in the Waxworks" (March 1932), "The Adventure of the Ace of Spades" (May 1932), and "Murder by Proxy" (January 1933). It was not directly adapted because Meiser was concerned that broadcasting it might presage
6160-407: The story was adapted for radio as an episode of The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , a series on the American radio show Imagination Theatre , with John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson. In a 1993 televised adaptation of this case entitled The Last Vampyre , produced by Granada Television and starring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, the case was altered. In
6248-464: The story. The piece appeared a year later in the Beeton's Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald . Holmes was partially modelled on Doyle's former university teacher Joseph Bell . In 1892, in a letter to Bell, Doyle wrote, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes ... round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up
6336-489: The televised version, Holmes was called by the town vicar to investigate the death of the Ferguson baby, with the prime suspect being the newly arrived Mr. John Stockton, a man of eccentric behaviour descended from a local family rumoured to be vampires. During this investigation, it is revealed that Jack Ferguson, driven to delusions by the childhood accident which cost him the full use of his legs, has come to believe himself to be
6424-449: The window while his father's attention was on the baby. Jack has been attempting to murder his half-brother by shooting poisoned darts at him, and his stepmother's behaviour of sucking the baby's neck is thereby explained: she was sucking the poison out. It also explains why she struck Jack, and why she was sick when Holmes and Watson arrived. The wounds, therefore, were caused by the darts, not by her biting. Mrs. Ferguson had not wanted to be
6512-433: Was E. W. Hornung , creator of the literary character Raffles ), as well as his two nephews, also died shortly after the war. His second book on spiritualism, The Vital Message , appeared in 1919. Doyle found solace in supporting spiritualism's ideas and the attempts of spiritualists to find proof of an existence beyond the grave . In particular, according to some, he favoured Christian Spiritualism and encouraged
6600-515: Was "The Jewish Breastplate", adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's non-Sherlock Holmes story "The Story of the Jew's Breast-Plate", which was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1899. The last episode of the season was "The Reigate Puzzle", a remake of an earlier episode adapted from " The Adventure of the Reigate Squire ". There were also several other remakes of older episodes. All the scripts for
6688-525: Was 43. He was an occasional bowler who took one first-class wicket, W. G. Grace , and wrote a poem about the achievement. His captaincy of the Authors XI lasted from 1899 to 1912, during which time his cricket scores were by far the most common entries in his diary. In 1900, Doyle founded the Undershaw Rifle Club at his home, constructing a 100-yard range and providing shooting for local men, as
6776-576: Was a supporter of the campaign for the reform of the Congo Free State that was led by the journalist E. D. Morel and diplomat Roger Casement . In 1909 he wrote The Crime of the Congo , a long pamphlet in which he denounced the horrors of that colony. He became acquainted with Morel and Casement, and it is possible that, together with Bertram Fletcher Robinson , they inspired several characters that appear in his 1912 novel The Lost World . Later, after
6864-739: Was adapted by Edith Meiser as an episode of the American radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . The episode aired on 16 February 1931, with Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. The script was used again for an episode that aired on 7 March 1936 (with Gordon as Holmes and Harry West as Watson). Meiser also adapted the story as an episode of the American radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that aired on 2 October 1939 (with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson), and another episode that aired on 14 December 1947 (with John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Watson). A radio dramatisation of
6952-460: Was adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes stories by scriptwriter Edith Meiser . For most of the series, Richard Gordon played Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell played Dr. Watson . The series included multiple original stories by Meiser, in addition to Meiser's adaptations of all of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories except one. Some episodes in the series were remakes of scripts that had been used for episodes in earlier seasons of
7040-451: Was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh , Scotland. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle , was born in England, of Irish Catholic descent, and his mother, Mary (née Foley), was Irish Catholic. His parents married in 1855. In 1864, the family scattered because of Charles's growing alcoholism. The children were temporarily housed across Edinburgh. Arthur lodged with Mary Burton ,
7128-681: Was initiated as a Freemason at the Phoenix Lodge No. 257 in Southsea. (He resigned from the Lodge in 1889, returned to it in 1902, and resigned again in 1911.) In 1889, he became a founding member of the Hampshire Society for Psychical Research; in 1893, he joined the London-based Society for Psychical Research ; and in 1894, he collaborated with Sir Sidney Scott and Frank Podmore in
7216-883: Was invited to referee the James Jeffries – Jack Johnson heavyweight championship fight in Reno, Nevada . Doyle wrote: "I was much inclined to accept ... though my friends pictured me as winding up with a revolver at one ear and a razor at the other. However, the distance and my engagements presented a final bar." Also a keen golfer, Doyle was elected captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in Sussex for 1910. He had moved to Little Windlesham house in Crowborough with Jean Leckie, his second wife, and resided there with his family from 1907 until his death in July 1930. He entered
7304-638: Was prompted by the death of his son Kingsley, but Doyle began presenting himself publicly as a spiritualist in 1916, and Kingsley died on 28 October 1918 (from pneumonia contracted during his convalescence after being seriously wounded in the 1916 Battle of the Somme ). Nevertheless, the war-related deaths of many people who were close to him appear to have even further strengthened his long-held belief in life after death and spirit communication. Doyle's brother Brigadier-general Innes Doyle died, also from pneumonia, in February 1919. His two brothers-in-law (one of whom
7392-531: Was sent to England, to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place , Stonyhurst in Lancashire, at the age of nine (1868–70). He went on to Stonyhurst College , which he attended until 1875. While Doyle was not unhappy at Stonyhurst, he said he did not have any fond memories of it because the school was run on medieval principles: the only subjects covered were rudiments, rhetoric , Euclidean geometry , algebra , and
7480-570: Was strengthened by what he took to be the psychic abilities of his children's nanny, Lily Loder Symonds. This and the constant drumbeat of wartime deaths inspired him with the idea that spiritualism was what he called a "New Revelation" sent by God to bring solace to the bereaved. He wrote a piece in Light magazine about his faith and began lecturing frequently on spiritualism. In 1918, he published his first spiritualist work, The New Revelation . Some have mistakenly assumed that Doyle's turn to spiritualism
7568-401: Was the 59th Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle to be adapted by the team of Edith Meiser, Richard Gordon, and Leigh Lovell. This series mostly featured original stories by Edith Meiser, and featured Louis Hector as Holmes opposite Leigh Lovell's Watson. The season, which ran from 11 November 1934 to 26 May 1935, featured 29 episodes, though two episodes have unknown titles. The first
7656-416: Was ultimately featured in a total of 56 short stories —the last published in 1927—and four novels by Doyle, and has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors . Doyle's first novels were The Mystery of Cloomber , not published until 1888, and the unfinished Narrative of John Smith , published only posthumously, in 2011. He amassed a portfolio of short stories, including "The Captain of
7744-593: Was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine . His first published piece, " The Mystery of Sasassa Valley ", a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879. On 20 September 1879, he published his first academic article, " Gelsemium as a Poison" in the British Medical Journal , a study which The Daily Telegraph regarded as potentially useful in
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