Anyone see Sherlock last night? That strange scene by the waterfall was where the original Sherlock Holmes was killed off by his author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who features in our Marylebone/ Baker Street Walk), in a fight to the death with his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty.
Conan Doyle killed off his boxer-swordsman detective, who was partial to a bit of 'snuff', complaining to his mother that he was taking up too much of his professional time. Imagine that, ‘Mum! I can’t stop writing stories about one of the most enduring fictional characters ever, who I invented, that the public really love. It’s stopping me from being productive!’ Conan Doyle’s mother warned him what would happen, and mum was right, after public outrage, the author was forced to bring Holmes back to life.
A couple of things about the fascinating Conan Doyle.
Conan Doyle was an amateur sleuth, investigating closed cases which led to imprisoned men being exonerated. Most famous was the 1908 case of Oscar Slater who was convicted of killing a woman in Glasgow. This led to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal!
In December 1908 Marion Gilchrist, a spinster aged 83 years, was beaten to death in a robbery. The murderer stole a valuable brooch. Slater had been seen trying to sell a pawn ticket for a brooch, and this was the lead upon which the police built a case against him.
The police soon realised that the pawn ticket was a false lead but still applied for Slater's extradition. Slater was found guilty and originally sentenced to death.
The following year the Scottish lawyer and amateur criminologist William Roughead published his Trial of Oscar Slater, highlighting flaws in the prosecution. Then Conan Doyle published The Case of Oscar Slater, a plea for a full pardon for Slater, who was eventually acquitted.
A little tour guide trivia, in Glasgow rhyming slang See you "Oscar" rhymes Slater with later.
Spiritualism
Conan Doyle was an amateur sleuth, investigating closed cases which led to imprisoned men being exonerated. Most famous was the 1908 case of Oscar Slater who was convicted of killing a woman in Glasgow. This led to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal!
In December 1908 Marion Gilchrist, a spinster aged 83 years, was beaten to death in a robbery. The murderer stole a valuable brooch. Slater had been seen trying to sell a pawn ticket for a brooch, and this was the lead upon which the police built a case against him.
The police soon realised that the pawn ticket was a false lead but still applied for Slater's extradition. Slater was found guilty and originally sentenced to death.
The following year the Scottish lawyer and amateur criminologist William Roughead published his Trial of Oscar Slater, highlighting flaws in the prosecution. Then Conan Doyle published The Case of Oscar Slater, a plea for a full pardon for Slater, who was eventually acquitted.
A little tour guide trivia, in Glasgow rhyming slang See you "Oscar" rhymes Slater with later.
Spiritualism
By the end of World War I, Conan Doyle had lost his wife, his son, his brother, his two brothers-in-law, and his two nephews. He understandably sank into a deep depression, and found solace supporting Spiritualism and its alleged scientific proof of existence beyond the grave. In 1921 he published The Coming of the Fairies containing theories about the nature and existence of fairies and spirits, convinced of the veracity of the photographs of the Cottingley Fairies.
In the 1980, the two cousins responsible for the Cottingley Fairies photographs admitted they were fake, saying they were too embarassed to admit the truth after fooling Conan Doyle. 'Two village kids and a brilliant man like Conan Doyle, well, we could only keep quiet.'
In the 1980, the two cousins responsible for the Cottingley Fairies photographs admitted they were fake, saying they were too embarassed to admit the truth after fooling Conan Doyle. 'Two village kids and a brilliant man like Conan Doyle, well, we could only keep quiet.'
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