-
Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.
We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Thread starter terryb18
- Start date
fatfingers
master brummie
Used to be a Blue Plaque on the BMC dealers in Lichfield Rd at one time, always assumed that was where he lived.
brummy-lad
master brummie
Posts #1 -#3 moved to this thread from the Aston Road North thread.
Apart from a few exceptions ... edit I think we are all aware that very little remains of this area of Aston Road North.
This however is intriguing, most members are aware that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spent time at 63 Aston Road North between 1878 and 1881 here is a picture showing the original plaque (unveiled 29/10/1956).
The google street view attached shows what appears to be a very old section of wall where the later plaque is displayed.
Overlaying the google map onto a 1950s street map gives an excellent correlation and I think this section of wall would have been the original 63 Aston Road North.
What do you think?
EDITED 4/9/2025 date of unveiling was 1956 NOT 1976
Apart from a few exceptions ... edit I think we are all aware that very little remains of this area of Aston Road North.
This however is intriguing, most members are aware that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spent time at 63 Aston Road North between 1878 and 1881 here is a picture showing the original plaque (unveiled 29/10/1956).
The google street view attached shows what appears to be a very old section of wall where the later plaque is displayed.
Overlaying the google map onto a 1950s street map gives an excellent correlation and I think this section of wall would have been the original 63 Aston Road North.
What do you think?
EDITED 4/9/2025 date of unveiling was 1956 NOT 1976
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes Brummy-lad, I agree. I think it’s possible the footprint of the house where ConanDoyle stayed roughly covers the same spot as the current Titan Aston Academy. Viv.
And I still like this story (from https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/made-in-birmingham.31212/#post-566720):
Yes. Conan Doyle worked as a doctor in Aston while he was training to get his full qualification. One of the first surgeons in charge of the Thimble Lane dispensary ( a branch of the main city one) was reputed to be a friend of his. His name was David Holmes. It is more often accepted that the invented Holmes name came from another aquaintance, but I prefer this source
Yes. Conan Doyle worked as a doctor in Aston while he was training to get his full qualification. One of the first surgeons in charge of the Thimble Lane dispensary ( a branch of the main city one) was reputed to be a friend of his. His name was David Holmes. It is more often accepted that the invented Holmes name came from another aquaintance, but I prefer this source
brummy-lad
master brummie
This is the only image I can find showing 63 Aston Road North, residence of Arthur Conan Doyle between 1878 and 1881.
The brickwork looks similar to the that on the image of the plaque unveiling in 1976 but I'm not sure that the school sign is correctly placed.
The brickwork looks similar to the that on the image of the plaque unveiling in 1976 but I'm not sure that the school sign is correctly placed.
Attachments
brummy-lad
master brummie
Although not born in Birmingham and only lived here briefly, I feel that he should have a dedicated thread.
en.wikipedia.org
Originally the plaque in 1956 was attached to No. 63 but due to demolition (regretfully) a later plaque is now attached to No. 69.
Arthur Conan Doyle - Wikipedia
Originally the plaque in 1956 was attached to No. 63 but due to demolition (regretfully) a later plaque is now attached to No. 69.
Attachments
brummy-lad
master brummie
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not born in Birmingham, but he lived and worked in Aston (a district of Birmingham) between 1878 and 1881, during which time he wrote some of his earliest mystery stories and found inspiration for details that appeared in Sherlock Holmes' adventures
. While in the city, he worked as a chemist and briefly as a medical assistant, with some Birmingham locations and names finding their way into his stories, such as the short story "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk".
Sherlock Holmes may have lived in Baker Street, London - but between 1878 and 1881, Aston Road North, Aston, was home to the detective's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
. While in the city, he worked as a chemist and briefly as a medical assistant, with some Birmingham locations and names finding their way into his stories, such as the short story "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk".
Sherlock Holmes may have lived in Baker Street, London - but between 1878 and 1881, Aston Road North, Aston, was home to the detective's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on this thread
Radiorails
master brummie
The facts, which lie some distance from Birmingham. Those who know The Moor will appreciate the story. The term "moor" is how Devonians call Dartmoor.
Based on a local legend of a spectral hound that haunted Dartmoor in Devonshire, England, the story is set in the moors at Baskerville Hall and the nearby Grimpen Mire, and the action takes place mostly at night, when the terrifying hound howls for blood. After Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead with his face twisted in stark terror, Holmes is called upon to protect his heir, Sir Henry Baskerville. Narrating the story is Holmes’s assistant, Dr. Watson, who is sent to Dartmoor while the busy Holmes remains in London. Upon his arrival, Watson learns that an escaped convict is on the loose. More unsettling events occur, including the appearance of an unknown figure on the moor. Watson later discovers that the mysterious person is Holmes, who has been conducting his own investigation. Holmes deduces that the killer is Jack Stapleton, a neighbour who is actually Rodger Baskerville. Hoping to inherit the family estate, he has plotted to kill his relatives using a vicious hound that he has painted with phosphorous to appear sinister. The superstitious Charles suffered a heart attack after being frightened by the animal. Stapleton also hopes to kill Henry Baskerville but is thwarted by Holmes. Afterward Stapleton flees and is believed to have died, swallowed by Grimpen Mire.
Based on a local legend of a spectral hound that haunted Dartmoor in Devonshire, England, the story is set in the moors at Baskerville Hall and the nearby Grimpen Mire, and the action takes place mostly at night, when the terrifying hound howls for blood. After Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead with his face twisted in stark terror, Holmes is called upon to protect his heir, Sir Henry Baskerville. Narrating the story is Holmes’s assistant, Dr. Watson, who is sent to Dartmoor while the busy Holmes remains in London. Upon his arrival, Watson learns that an escaped convict is on the loose. More unsettling events occur, including the appearance of an unknown figure on the moor. Watson later discovers that the mysterious person is Holmes, who has been conducting his own investigation. Holmes deduces that the killer is Jack Stapleton, a neighbour who is actually Rodger Baskerville. Hoping to inherit the family estate, he has plotted to kill his relatives using a vicious hound that he has painted with phosphorous to appear sinister. The superstitious Charles suffered a heart attack after being frightened by the animal. Stapleton also hopes to kill Henry Baskerville but is thwarted by Holmes. Afterward Stapleton flees and is believed to have died, swallowed by Grimpen Mire.
hi superdad..we cant amalgamate the 2 threads as the other thread is for aston road north...good idea to have this one though...
lyn
Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
I have incorporated posts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from the Aston Road North thread into the start of this thread
A point (that may prove to be fictional !) about Sir Arthur's inspiration for his fictional name of Sherlock :
Aston was yet to become part of Birmingham - that would happen in 1911 - but it has been speculated the city's Sherlock Street was the source for the name of the fictional sleuth. (Source: Birmingham Mail)
Aston was yet to become part of Birmingham - that would happen in 1911 - but it has been speculated the city's Sherlock Street was the source for the name of the fictional sleuth. (Source: Birmingham Mail)