Sherlock Holmes in Croydon
Did you know that one of the world’s most famous and popular authors lived and worked in Croydon?
In 1891, when Dr Arthur Conan Doyle decided to abandon his unsuccessful medical practice and become a full-time writer, he bought a house for himself, his wife and their two-year-old daughter in South Norwood, at no. 12 Tennison Road. His decision was prompted by the remarkable success of a series of short stories published monthly in The Strand Magazine under the overall title of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
The first case that brought Holmes to Croydon had actually been published in 1890. This was The Sign of the Four, commissioned by Lippincott’s Magazine, in which the detective solved an extraordinary murder at a house in Upper Norwood. More investigations in the area were to come. Holmes came to quite the wrong conclusion in the case of “The Yellow Face”, set in Norbury, but the truth was revealed and the outcome was pleasing. The grisly affair of “The Cardboard Box” began with the delivery of an innocent-looking package to a respectable lady in the town of Croydon.
The Conan Doyles spent three years at no. 12. During that time their son Kingsley was born, and Arthur wrote at least twenty stories about Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, before tiring of the great detective and killing him in the tale called “The Final Problem”. The reading public was outraged, but the author was resolute. Readers had to wait until 1903 to learn that Sherlock Holmes was still alive.
By then Conan Doyle had moved with his family to rural Surrey, but the Croydon area still appealed as the setting for Holmes’s exploits. The house of “The Norwood Builder” is said to be “at the Sydenham end of the road of that name” – not very helpful as there are several Sydenham Roads, including one in Croydon town, but none in Norwood. However, an essential element of the case is a journey by a train from Norwood Junction to London Bridge.
In 1973 the Greater London Council erected a Blue Plaque at no. 12 Tennison Road. It reads:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930)
Creator of Sherlock Holmes,
lived here 1891-1894.
Want to see more? come visit out our Riesco Gallery where Sherlock objects are on display. Loans from Roger Johnson and Jean Upton.
Roger Johnson,
Editor for The Sherlock Holmes Journal
Sherlock Holmes Society of London