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Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also wrote science fiction and had a surprising belief in fairies at the bottom of the garden.
In 1912 Doyle wrote a science fiction novel The Lost World about a remote part of South America where dinosaurs still lived. The story is an account of an expedition there by Professor Challenger (a huge and bearded, unruly figure) and three companions who are pursued by a cluster of flying pterodactyls and flesh-eating dinosaurs. The film 'Jurassic World' had a similar plot.
Doyle grew up in a family who were fascinated by fairy lore. In 1917 he heard about two young girls, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, who claimed to have taken photographs of fairies in their garden. He wrote about the girls and included their fairy photographs in his 1922 book The Coming of the Fairies. This was met with a very mixed response by the public who were used to the logical, observational and deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes.
Doyle led a very full and interesting life. Trained as a medical doctor, he then achieved both fame and fortune with Sherlock Holmes. Always active, he pursued many different sports from football to skiing and travelled the world exploring new places and meeting other famous people.
People from The Beneficial Foundation and Solent MIND in Portsmouth have worked with the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection to produce this exhibition showing Doyle's diverse interests and life.
The original Cottingley fairies
Cotemporary photos taken by the Beneficial Foundation inspired by the Cottingley Fairies
To see more images and find out more about The Conan Doyle Collection, please email: sherlock.holmes@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Inspiration
Online exhibitions featuring items from The Conan Doyle Collection and celebrating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's connection with Portsmouth.- You are here: Exhibitions > Arthur and George 123 Arthur and George A joint exhibition from The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, at Portsmouth City Council, and the ITV production which starred Martin Clunes as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which first aired in March 2015.
- As part of the Sharing Sherlock project Portsmouth MIND group designed, built and painted their own personal version of this most famous of imaginary places, the study of Sherlock Holmes and his fellow detective
- Not only did sport feature in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction, he was also an active sportsman himself.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first two Sherlock Holmes stories while living in Portsmouth where he had arrived in 1882 to set up a doctor’s practice at 1 Bush Villas, Elm Grove, Southsea
- Due to his success as a writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the opportunity to travel widely and often took his family. From Canada and America, to Australia, Ceylon and Egypt,
- Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about 60 stories starring his most famous creation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.
- Arthur Conan Doyle’s science fiction novel The Lost World is an exploration of a dangerous and exotic place, where prehistoric creatures still thrive
- When Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he had no idea of how popular his hero was to become. Soon famous as a man of many disguises,
- Since Sherlock Holmes was introduced to the public in The Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887 thousands of people have taken part in a Sherlock Holmes ‘fan’ culture.
- In Arthur Conan Doyle’s story The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, a resourceful young woman seeks help from Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
- In the summer of 1917, in leafy Cottingley Glen near Shipley in West Yorkshire, Elsie Wright aged 16, and her cousin Frances Griffiths aged 9, claimed to have taken photographs of fairies.
- The students of Harbour School’s Key Stage 3 Group created fanciful masks and costumes inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s story Charles Augustus Milverton.
- Learn all about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated 'consulting detective' Sherlock Holmes, in this free exhibit at Portsmouth Museum.
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