Dinosaurs, Fairies and Conan Doyle

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.

Exhibition stand at The Central Library

If The Lost World was based in Portsmouth

The original Cottingley fairies

Elsie and the leaping fairy

Elsie is offered a posy

Iris and the dancing gnome

Cotemporary photos taken by the Beneficial Foundation inspired by the Cottingley Fairies

To see more images and find out more about the collection, email: sherlock.holmes@portsmouthcc.gov.uk