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Dossier 1 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Early Life
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Early Life
Quick facts
Name: Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle AKA (Also Known As): Arthur Conan Doyle Born: in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22nd May, 1859 Died: in Crowborough, England on 7th July, 1930 (aged 71) Education: Medicine at University of Edinburgh Medical School Key works: The Mystery of Sasassa Valley The Mystery of Sasassa Valley (1879), A Study in Scarlet (1888), (1879), A Study in Scarlet (1888), The Sign of the Four (1890), The The Sign of the Four (1890), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1928) Return of Sherlock Holmes (1928)
A boarding school is a school where you sleep and study.
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22nd May, 1859. The Doyle family was poor and Arthur lived with other members of his family for many years. He often wrote about his mother, Mary Doyle, who loved books and told many stories. When he was nine, Arthur went to a boarding school
Cricket is a popular British sport. in England, where he stayed for seven years. It was a diffi cult experience for him and he was only happy when he wrote to his mother. He also learnt to play cricket, which he was quite good at, and he often told stories to his schoolfriends.
Conan Doyle played cricket for the team Allahakbarries, founded by J.M. Barrie (the author of Peter Pan).
Doyle played soccer as a goalkeeper for Portsmouth FC while he was setting up his medical practice there.
Edinburgh Medical School.
Medical student
After school, Arthur studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. While at university, he met a number of future British authors, including James Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson, and he started writing short stories. His fi rst short story was The Mystery of His fi rst short story was Sasassa Valley Sasassa Valley. It appeared in Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal Edinburgh Journal in September 1879. Later that year, he published The American Tale and he realised that perhaps he could earn money by writing.
Old English money. Small containers that hold liquids, often used by doctors.
His fi rst novel was lost and he had to write it down again from memory. Doctor and writer
He graduated in 1881 and took a number of different jobs. He divided his time between medicine and writing and in August 1885, he married Louisa Hawkins. Then in 1888, he published the novel A Study in Scarlet and introduced his characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Sherlock Holmes quickly became famous around the world and Doyle wrote 60 stories about Sherlock Holmes.
Conan Doyle’s family in New York.
‘To a great mind, nothing is little.’
8 Front cover of Lippincott’s magazine, 1890. In 1889, Conan Doyle had a meeting with an editor of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine which was a popular American magazine at that time and Oscar Wilde, another famous writer. The editor asked Conan Doyle to write a short story which became The Sign of the Four.
Sherlock Holmes Museum, 221B Baker Street.
Full-time writer and more
A short time later, Doyle abandoned his medical career and became a full-time writer. He wrote many stories and travelled around the world. His work was very popular in America. When the Boer War started in 1899, Doyle worked as a military doctor and went to Africa. While he was there, he wrote The Great Boer War, a report of the war and its problems. On his return to England, he became interested in politics and tried, unsuccessfully, to become a Member of Parliament. He continued to write many stories too, including The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901 and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and in 1928 he published his fi nal twelve stories about Sherlock Holmes. He died in July 1930 but Sherlock Holmes and his Baker Street adventures continue to live today. ‘It is not that I think or believe, but that I know.’
The politicians in the British Parliament, also known as MPs.
Baker Street in London.
