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 Arthur Conan Doyle had a number of family and personal connections to the City of Westminster in London. His grandfather, the artist John Doyle, and his family lived for many years at 17 Cambridge Terrace in Paddington, now the Hamilton Hotel in the renamed street of Sussex Gardens. The family moved to 54 Clifton Gardens, Maida Vale in 1864 and John died there four years later. The young Conan Doyle stayed with his grandmother at Clifton Gardens during the summer of 1878 when he visited Madame Tussauds, then located in Baker Street. It was 221b Baker Street that would later become the setting of his famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Of his three uncles, James had moved from Clifton Gardens to 38 Dorset Square at the time of his death in 1892, and Henry was in lodgings in South Street when he died that same year. Richard died of a heart attack on 10 December 1883 on the point of leaving the Athenauem in Pall Mall. Conan Doyle was a member of this club as well as the Reform Club, also on Pall Mall, and the Authors Club in Whitehall Court. When Doyle left Southsea in 1891, he set up an ophthalmic practice at 2 Upper Wimpole Street, Marylebone but was only there a short time as his success with Sherlock Holmes meant he could become a full-time writer. His son Kingsley was later a medical student at St Mary's Hospital, Praed Street. Conan Doyle married his second wife, Jean, in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster in 1907, and although their main home was in Sussex, the family also kept a London flat at 15 Buckingham Palace Mansions, Victoria Street (opposite the entrance to Victoria Station) from 1922 to 1934. Conan Doyle financed and operated the Psychic Bookshop, Library and Museum at Abbey House, 2, Victoria Street from 1925 to 1929. The unique Sherlock Holmes Collection at Marylebone Reference Library covers Conan Doyle's life and work, including Sherlock Holmes and his contemporaries. It is accessible by appointment only but you can visit the fun online resource, The Arthur Conan Doyle Exhibition, at any time.  Sherlock Holmes statue in Baker Street (The Sherlock Holmes Society of London). A statue of Sherlock Holmes by John Doubleday was unveiled on 23 September 1999 outside Baker Street Station. This was a joint initiative between The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, Abbey National plc, London Transport and The City of Westminster. |
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