Close To Holmes

by Alistair Duncan

  In 1855 the tavern was extended by the architect William Finch Hill and a lot of what you see in the tavern today dates from that extension although there were more alterations in 1889 by the architects Wylson & Long.

  The Museum Tavern is a good candidate for the Alpha Inn from The Blue Carbuncle69. Henry Baker, in whose goose the gem is found, describes to Holmes and Watson how he bought the goose from the landlord of the Alpha and further describes it as being near the museum. Given the large number of public houses in the vicinity of the museum this is not much help in locating the real place that Conan Doyle had in mind. The fact that he allegedly drank there does however lend weight to its candidature.

  However there is an alternative candidate. When Holmes and Watson visit the Alpha it is described as ‘a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn’. This certainly fits the description of the Museum Tavern (which still remains the best candidate) but it could also be a reasonable description of another pub called The Plough located on Museum Street.

  The Plough (2008)

  68 Source: Campaign for Real Ale (North London Website).

  69 This is according to Charles Viney in his book Sherlock Holmes in London.

  Holborn

  Holborn is only a few minutes walk from Oxford Street and the British Museum and the name applies to the district and its principal street. It is derived from ‘Old Bourne’ which means ‘Old Brook’. It is one of the few areas of London to have escaped the Great Fire and in the nineteenth century it was quite an entertainment centre with over twenty inns and taverns recorded in the 1860s.

  High Holborn c1910

  Despite this the inns, taverns and shops were generally of a lower quality. This was because Holborn occupied something of a no mans land in London. The area was too far west to be of interest to the workers in the City but at the same time it was too far to the east for the wealthy residents of the West End70.

  The connection to the Holmes stories lies in the fact that a restaurant called The Holborn once stood in this street at the point where it joins with Kingsway. It was sadly demolished in the 1950s71 but it was to this location that Dr Watson brought his former colleague Stamford after their meeting at the Criterion (see earlier). The legendary meeting with Holmes at St Bartholomew’s Hospital would have been a short drive east eventually arriving in King Edward Street from where the hospital could be accessed.

  Drawing of High Holborn in the opposite direction c1900

  Woodcut of The Holborn restaurant

  Conan Doyle himself visited this same restaurant on May 31st 1892 for the annual dinner of the Incorporated Society of Authors72. Among the many guests was H. Rider Haggard – the author of King Solomon’s Mines. This dinner was some time after the publication of A Study in Scarlet so it is tempting to wonder whether his decision to use the restaurant in that story was inspired by an earlier visit. He may also have visited it during his residence in Montague Place which is only about five to ten minutes walk away.

  70 Source: A Dictionary of Victorian London by Lee Jackson.

  71 Source: Sherlock Holmes in London by Charles Viney.

  72 This dinner was reported in the June 1st 1892 issue of the Times.

  Tottenham Court Road

  Tottenham Court Road is well known as being the street to visit for people requiring electronic equipment. In fact in this regard it is as identified with electronics as Harley Street is with medicine. It runs from St Giles’ Circus73 northwards where it ultimately connects with Euston Road.

  Tottenham Court Road c1930. In Holmes’s time the Dominion Theatre did not exist. The site was occupied by Meux’s Brewery.

  The southern end of the road (as shown in the above photograph) is very close to the British Museum and thus very close to Montague Place. Conan Doyle would have very likely crossed this road when walking between his home and his ophthalmic practice in Upper Wimpole Street. It is also possible that his route provided useful information for use in later stories.

  Thanks to the myriad number of intersecting streets between Montague Place and Upper Wimpole Street there were a large number of possible routes for Conan Doyle to walk in order to reach his practice. As he was somewhat lacking in patients he may well have made the journey at a leisurely pace and varied his route. It is interesting to note that one road that connects with Regent Street, which he could have easily travelled, is called Mortimer Street. It is highly tempting to speculate that it was this road that provided the name for Dr Mortimer from The Hound of the Baskervilles.

  It is also possible that another of the streets in the area provided a name for a character. Of the four adventures that explicitly mention Tottenham Court Road the latest was The Red Circle which was published in 1911 as part of the series known as His Last Bow. This story featured a Mr and Mrs Warren. The former works as a timekeeper in Tottenham Court Road and the latter, who becomes Holmes’s client, runs a boarding house a short distance from the British Museum on Great Orme Street74. At the northern end of Tottenham Court Road, just before it connects to Euston Road there is a Warren Street which runs parallel to Euston Road until it connects with Cleveland Street. Could this street have lent its name to the couple? Even if it did not it is still an interesting coincidence.

  Prior to The Red Circle there were three other stories with a connection to Tottenham Court Road. The road was the site of the plumbing business of Mary Sutherland’s late father as described in A Case of Identity. The junction of Tottenham Court Road with Goodge Street was the scene of the scuffle between Mr Henry Baker and the ‘roughs’ that resulted in the former losing his Christmas Goose in The Blue Carbuncle. Finally in The Cardboard Box we learn that Holmes bought his Stradivarius violin from a ‘Jew broker’s’ on this very road.

  73 St Giles’ Circus is the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road.

  74 This street does not exist and the name is therefore likely to be a cover for an existing street. Great Orme Street is described as being on the north-eastern side of the museum but the proximity to the museum is unclear. The street immediately to the north-east is Montague Street but this is unlikely to be the street in question as Conan Doyle had already named it explicitly in The Musgrave Ritual as the site of Holmes’s first London lodgings. The street that runs parallel to this street is Bedford Place but this does not quite fit the description from the story. Further north-east brings you into the streets surrounding Great Ormond Street Hospital. The similarity of the street names is naturally interesting but the road is described as a ‘narrow thoroughfare’ which is hardly descriptive of Great Ormond Street.

  Covent Garden

  Covent Garden is well known as the location of the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden Market and it is a location that is bordered by several areas that have already been covered. To the north-east is High Holborn, to the north-west is Soho, to the south is the Strand and to the south-west is St James’s where Pall Mall is located.

  Drawing of Covent Garden Market 1902

  The market today sells clothes, flowers and a considerable number of souvenirs for the tourists that flock to the area. However it was not always as it is now. From the 1500s to 1974 the market was largely dedicated to fruit and vegetables. It was only when the increased modern traffic coming to and from the market threatened to bring the West End to a standstill that the fruit and vegetable market was relocated and replaced with the current offering.

  It was in the early 17th century that the area started to look much as it does today. The design was carried out by Inigo Jones (1573 – 1652) who, amongst other projects, was also responsible for the modernisation of Whitehall. The area soon became a site for market traders and, following the Great Fire, it became even more important as the sites of many neighbouring markets had been destroyed. It was here that the first recorded performance of an English Punch and Judy show took place75 and the pub that faces onto the west piazza goes by that name today.

  Holmes examines the
books of Mr. Breckinridge at Covent Garden Market in The Blue Carbuncle

  The principal Holmes connection lies in the story The Blue Carbuncle. It is from the Covent Garden market that the landlord of the Alpha Inn purchased the geese which formed his goose club. One of these geese briefly ends up in the hands of Henry Baker before his encounter in Tottenham Court Road (see earlier). Subsequently Holmes and Watson visit the stall of the vendor Mr Breckinridge and, via a wager, secure details about where the geese were purchased from.

  Conan Doyle himself can also claim a connection to this famous location. On July 9th 1919 he decided to comment on the running of the market. He wrote a letter to the Times, entitled Profiteering – Where the Guilt Lies, in which he denounced retailers of food throughout the country. In particular he focused on Covent Garden, as he had first-hand experience, and accused its stall holders of profiteering at the expense of both the growers and the market’s customers. The price of cabbages and lettuces in particular came in for strong criticism and he went so far as to suggest that such prices, if left unchecked, would lead to ‘violence in this country’. He then suggested that legislation should be put in place to prevent what he clearly saw as a most offensive practice. His comments soon drew an aggressive response. On July 11th 1919 a number of people including F. R. Ridley, President of the London Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Market Association, put their names to a letter76 in which Conan Doyle was taken to task for his ‘unwarrantable attack’ and challenged to back up his claims. The letter further stated that it was wrong for a man ‘who has the ear of the public’ to make such unfounded claims as it could severely damage the livelihoods of all parties connected to the market.

  This was by no means the only letter on the subject. A Mr W.B. Shearn, a fruiterer on Tottenham Court Road, actually offered to donate ten pounds to a charity of Conan Doyle’s choice if he could back up his claim by indicating even one retailer who was profiteering. He also questioned the effect that Conan Doyle’s word could have on the public at large. It is not known whether the gauntlet was picked up but if it was there was no further mention of it in the Times.

  However not everyone was aghast at Conan Doyle’s letter. On July 12th 1919 a farmer, who chose to go under the anonymous name of ‘Market Gardener’ wrote in support of Conan Doyle’s stance and even extended the claim stating that almost all retailers were profiteering at the expense of suppliers.

  Inigo Jones, designer of Covent Garden, as painted by Hogarth based on an earlier painting by Van Dyck

  75 This occurred in 1662 according the diarist Samuel Pepys.

  76 This letter was printed in the Times of the same date.

  St Bartholomew’s Hospital

  The Square of St Bartholomew’s Hospital c1920

  St Bartholomew’s Hospital or Bart’s as it is more commonly known was founded in 1123 and is the oldest hospital in England. The main square, shown above, was designed by the architect James Gibbs (1682 – 1754) although not everything you see in the photograph above was there from the start. The fountain that can be seen in the centre of the square was installed in 1859 and on the outer wall, quite close to the King Henry VIII gate, is a plaque dedicated to William Wallace (of Braveheart fame) who was executed just outside.

  The official surveyor to the hospital was Philip Hardwick who, as we have already mentioned, designed Euston Station. Hardwick had effectively inherited from this position from his father and was later to pass the role on to his own son.

  The King Henry VIII Gate – This is still the main entrance to the hospital (2007)

  As the dedicated fan will know, it is here that the first meeting occurs between Watson and Holmes. The meeting takes place in one of the hospital laboratories and was illustrated quite effectively by the artist George Hutchinson.

  Stamford introduces Watson to Sherlock Holmes in this drawing by George Hutchinson

  According to at least three sources, this event (and the subsequent events of A Study in Scarlet) occurred in 188177. The story itself was published in 1887. These two years are significant as they coincide with two important events in the history of Bart’s and perhaps British medical care as a whole.

  In 1881, in which the events of the story are set, Ethel Gordon Manson (1856/7 – 1947) became the first Matron of the hospital (at the age of 24). This was quite an achievement as medicine was still something of a closed shop to women. Despite opposition she instituted a great many improvements in patient care, fought for the proper recognition of the nursing profession and set the standard for nursing for the future. Her achievements did not end there however. She set the standard for the nursing uniform and brought in the different colours and patterns that denoted the different grades of nursing. In addition she founded the British Journal of Nursing, which still exists today, and was the first President of the International Council of Nurses (founded in July 1899) a position she held for five years.

  In 1887, the year the story was published, Manson married a doctor called Bedford-Fenwick and was forced to resign her post. This was down to the belief at the time that it was improper for a married woman to be a hospital matron. However this did not mark the end of her medical career and in the very same year she resigned her post the first student nurses entered the hospital.

  It is also interesting to note that for a time she lived at number 20 Upper Wimpole Street, near to the site of Conan Doyle’s former ophthalmic practice, and this site was commemorated with an English Heritage plaque in 199978.

  77 W.S Baring-Gould, Dakin and Klinger all agree on this date.

  78 Source: English Heritage Website

  Brook Street

  Brook Street (2006) looking from east to west

  Brook Street79 is the scene of one of Holmes’s best displays of deduction. It is at number 403 during the adventure The Resident Patient that Holmes deduces all of the events leading to the death of the unfortunate Mr Blessington from an examination of the various items of evidence found in his bedroom where he had been discovered hanging.

  Holmes examines a cigar in the room of the late Mr Blessington in The Resident Patient (1893)

  As has been reported in other works, Brook Street does not have a number 403 and this is yet another example of Conan Doyle hiding the true location he had in mind (if indeed he had one at all). In addition to its Sherlockian connection, the road does have another albeit tenuous link to Victorian Crime. Number 74 Brook Street was home for a while to Sir William Gull (1816 – 1890) and was the location where he died as a result of a series of strokes. Gull had enjoyed a distinguished medical career and was created a Baronet in 1872 in recognition of the medical care he provided to the Royal Family. As we have already mentioned, in our look at Paddington, the Jack the Ripper ‘Royal Conspiracy’ theory suggested that Gull was driven around Whitechapel in a coach by John Netley. The theory, although entertaining, is highly unlikely as by 1888 Gull was in his seventies and had already had at least one stroke.

  Sir William Gull (1881)

  However this did not stop the film and television industry repeatedly portraying this idea in such films as Murder by Decree (where Gull was thinly disguised under the name Sir Thomas Spivey) and From Hell starring Johnny Depp. The former film starred Christopher Plummer in the second of his two outings as Sherlock Holmes.

  Brook Street has also been home to other famous London residents. Two legendary figures in the field of music lived in adjacent houses albeit at different times. Jimi Hendrix lived at number 23 and the famous composer Handel lived at number 25 from 1723 until his death in 175980. The famous hotel Claridges, which opened in its present form in November 189881, can also be found on Brook Street where it connects to Davies Street.

  79 The name is derived from Tyburn Brook.

  80 The house is now home to the Handel Museum.

  81 Source: Claridges official website.

  Scotland Yard

  Scotland Yard was founded in 1829 in a street just off Whitehall. The post of Commissioner, which we
are accustomed to being occupied by one person, was initially a split role. Sir Charles Rowan (1782 – 1852) and Richard Mayne (1796 – 1868) occupied the posts although the former was recognised as the senior man. In 1850 Rowan retired and Mayne became the senior commissioner with Captain William Hay (1794 – 1855) as second commissioner.

  New Scotland Yard building on the Embankment. Since operations moved the building has been renamed Norman Shaw North (2007)

  The two men did not enjoy an ideal working relationship but this difficulty ceased when Hay died in 1855. The following year saw the passing of the Police Act in which it was decreed that there would in future be one commissioner with two assistant commissioners. Mayne then remained in sole charge until his death in 1868.

  In 1890 Scotland Yard moved to the Victoria Embankment very close to the present day Ministry of Defence (see above picture). At this point it became known as New Scotland Yard. It was to remain in operation from this location until 1967 when operations moved to their present location at 10 Broadway. Curiously the embankment building was not supposed to be there at all. The site was originally supposed to be home to a new opera house designed by a Francis Fowler. The foundation stone for the building had been laid by the then Duke of Edinburgh in December 187582. Sadly, as with so many ambitious projects, a lack of money led to the plans being shelved and the architect Norman Shaw designed the building for the Metropolitan Police instead.

  In 1842 the Detective Department had been formed and had introduced the first plain clothed policemen. Thirty-five years later in 1877 this department became involved in what was known as the Turf Fraud Scandal (or Trial of the Detectives). This exposed corruption amongst detectives and led to the department being reorganised and re-launched as the Criminal Investigation Department (or C.I.D.). The job of running this new department fell to Charles Edward Howard Vincent (1849 – 1908).