London of Sherlock Holmes , livre ebook

Title Page

THE LONDON OF SHERLOCK HOLMES








By
Thomas Bruce Wheeler




Publisher Information

First Published in the UK by MX Publishing in 2011
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.com

Digital edition converted and distributed in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com

© Copyright 2011 Thomas Bruce Wheeler

The right of Thomas Bruce Wheeler to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not of MX Publishing.

Cover design by www.staunch.com



Quote

“It is my business to know what other people don’t know.”

Sherlock Holmes: “The Blue Carbuncle”



Dedication













To My Wife-
For reasons she knows best



Enhanced Interactive Functionality

This ebook contains hyperlinks to the exact Google Maps locations of the places Sherlock Holmes knew.
If you have a compatible device, you can click (or select) the hyperlinks, and you will be taken to the Google Maps page. On these pages there are fantastic functions which will allow you to view the locations from street level.
A Pegman like the one below is shown in the upper left of each Google Map page.


Click and drag the Pegman to the marked Sherlock Holmes site. This will open a street level photograph. All surrounding streets marked in blue can also be viewed.
A control button in the upper left hand corner provides 360-degree control of the picture. There is also a slider which will allow you to zoom in and out.
The upper right hand corner of each photo has two control buttons. One will expand the picture to full screen size, and one will close that picture.
Using a device with a high definition screen will enhance the experience.

There are also some excellent tube maps to give you the broad picture at the www.tfl.gov.uk website, in addition to a great London Tube Map from London 43.



Holmes Hotels

Stay at one of the deluxe Victorian hotels Sherlock Holmes knew

CHARING CROSS - WC2: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.50872,-0.125144 ]. Tel. 44-845-305-8125

CLARIDGE’S - W1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.512846,-0.148169 ]. Tel. 44-20-7629-8860

THE GRAND - WC2: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.506939,-0.124715 ]. Tel. 44-866-539-0036

THE GROSVENOR - W1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.496002,-0.145335 ]. Tel. 44-845-305-8337

THE LANGHAM - W1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.518077,-0.143875 ]. Tel. 44-20-7636-1000

RENAISSANCE ST. PANCRAS - W1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.529407,-0.125712 ]. Tel. 44-20-7841-3540



About the Author

Thomas Bruce Wheeler is a retired senior civil service executive and Sherlock Holmes enthusiast. He discovered the Great Detective as an undergraduate, and has retained his interest for over sixty years. Although he and his wife have been frequent visitors to the UK, he did not have time to share his interest with other enthusiasts until after retirement. Since then he has written London Secrets (2004) and The New Finding Sherlock’s London (2009).
Wheeler and his wife live in Memphis Tennessee. He is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, former president of The Giant Rats of Sumatra (the Memphis Sherlock Holmes Club), and founder life member of Memphis’s Crescent Club.



Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Roger Johnson and Jean Upton, of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, for their suggestions. I was also greatly assisted by two authors: Bernard Davies’ two volume set HOLMES & WATSON COUNTRY, Travels in Search of Solutions, Sherlock Holmes Society of London – 2008, and Arthur M. Alexander’s book, HOT ON THE SCENT, A Visitor’s Guide to the London of Sherlock Holmes, Calabash Press – 1999.



Introduction

In the Sherlock Holmes adventures, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle formed our image of Victorian London. In our mind’s eye, we still see the sinister, fog-bound city that was the center of the Empire.
Holmes and Watson traveled all over Greater London. Time, the Blitz, and urban redevelopment have taken their toll, but many of the places Sherlock “saw” are still there. Conan Doyle was unusually precise in his London locations, only occasionally disguising a site. However, many times he gave enough clues to help us find these locations.
The task of writing this book was further complicated by street name changes and renumbering. However, with humble detective skills, and the help of those who have researched The Canon before me, I was able to identify over four hundred Sherlock Holmes sites in Greater London. The first part of the book places these sites in adventure context, and with hyperlinked map coordinates in the e-book, allows you to access Google Map Street Views.
In the second part of the book, I have grouped the sites by their nearest underground or train station. With map coordinates and a hand-held GPS device, London visitors can get turn-by-turn walking directions to the various Sherlock Holmes sites.
Six walking tour maps are also included. These are not the usual rambling tours, but walks that Holmes and Watson took in one of their adventures.
Finally, for those with a statistical bent, I have listed the 454 characters named in this book, and statistically analyzed their titles and occupations.



Sherlock Holmes Adventures


The “Gloria Scott” - 1874

No. 31 “221B” BAKER STREET - W1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.517932,-0.155587 ]. The Gloria Scott was Sherlock’s first published adventure, and occurred before he met Watson. Watson learned of the case one winter evening at Baker Street, when Holmes handed him some papers and said, “These are the documents in the extraordinary case of the Gloria Scott , and the message which struck Justice of the Peace Trevor dead with horror.” The note read, “The supply of game for London is going steadily up. Head-keeper Hudson we believe has been now told to receive all order for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant’s life.” Watson said the note made no sense. Under­ground Station: Marble Arch

BISHOPSGATE TERMINUS (site) - E1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.523399,-0.077453 ]. During Holmes’s first two years in college, Victor Trevor was his only close friend. Victor invited Holmes to spend a month at Donnithorpe, the elder Trevor’s estate in Norfolk. In 1874, Holmes probably left London on a Great Eastern Line train, from the old Bishopsgate Terminus located at the junction of Shoreditch High Street and Bethnal Green Road. Rail Station: Shoreditch High Street
Young Trevor told his father of Holmes’s power of observation and inference. The old man said, “I am an excellent subject, if you can deduce anything from me.” Having noticed that Mr. Trevor had added lead to the head of his walking stick, Holmes replied, “I might suggest that you have gone about in fear of some personal attack.” When Holmes reeled off other observations, the old man fainted. When he recovered, he told Holmes, “That’s your line of life, sir, and you may take the word of a man who has seen something of the world.”

MONTAGUE STREET - WC1: [Latitude / Longitude: 51.519069,-0.12463 ]. After Holmes’s observations, the old man felt uneasy around Holmes. To keep from embarrassing Victor, Holmes returned to his Montague Street rooms in London. There, Holmes received a telegram from Trevor, imploring him to return to Donnithorpe. Underground Station: Russell Square
When Holmes arrived, Trevor said his father was dying from Apoplexy and nervous shock. Victor said Hudson, an old acquaintance of his father, had arrived at Donnithorpe, and was given the butler’s position. One evening, when Hudson made an insolent reply to his father, Victor grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him out of the room. Mr. Trevor asked his son to apologize, and when he refused, Hudson left. He said he was going to stay with Mr. Beddoes in Hampshire.
Shortly thereafter, a letter arrived from Hampshire that caused the elder Trevor to have a stroke. Victor said that the letter was absurd and trivial, but when Holmes read it, he saw that if you read every third word, the message was clear. “ The supply of game for London is going steadily up . Head-keeper Hudson we believe has been now told to receive all order for fly -paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant’s life .”
On his deathbed, Mr. Trevor told his doctor about, “the papers in the back drawer of the Japanese cabinet.” They told the whole story. The elder Trevor’s real name was James Armitage. As a young man, he had embezzled money, and was sent to Australia on the convict ship Gloria Scott . In addition to Armitage and thirty-seven other convicts, the ship carried a crew of twenty-six: eighteen soldiers, a captain, three mates, and four warders. There was also