All Things Conan Doyle & Holmes

[Steven Russell]

William S. Baring-Gould, The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, vol. 1, p. 85:

221 Baker Street---it is one of the most famous addresses in all literature.... The "B" in 221B need not concern us long: it probably stood for bis, literally meaning twice, which was a frequent English identification for a subsidiary address.

I could probably find another dozen examples of authors making this point in the Sherlockian/Holmesian literature, but it's not worth the effort.

So what? My points still apply. Plus, Holmes and Watson do not appear to have their own doorbell or letterbox. Postmen are very particular about where they stick their letters. 221 is never mentioned in the canon without the 'B'.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Robert]

I have seen Mrs Hudson called Holmes's landlady and have called her this myself. But was she his landlady in the sense that she owned the house and his rooms for which he paid her rent? It seems difficult to imagine her owning a large London house. So was she his housekeeper instead?

[Graham]

Watson remarks - and I can't remember in which story - that Holmes paid Mrs Hudson a very handsome rent, so handsome that according to Watson he could easily have purchased the premises over the years he lived there. I always took this to mean that Mrs Hudson owned 221 Baker Street. I also (for no good reason) understood that 221A was the ground floor and 221B the upper part of the house where Holmes lived.

The current 221 Baker St is apparently Abbey House where the Sherlockian Exhibition was held in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain.

In The Empty House, Holmes and Watson are located in a property directly across the street from 221B, as they lie in wait for the 'orrid Colonel
Moran and his remarkable air-rifle. This property is identified as Camden House and there really is (or was?) a Camden House right opposite No 61 Baker Street. However, the real Camden House was a private school in 1894, so maybe this rules it out. I don't know London well enough, let alone Baker Street, to make any further comments.

But - all that needs to be done is for someone to take a look at all the back yards on Baker Street and find the one in which stands a lone plane-tree, per Thor Bridge.

Graham

[Sally]

A Study in Scarlet

In A Study in Scarlet, the first story of Sherlock Holmes, Watson, having returned from abroad, is struggling financially and, realising he has no choice but to leave the hotel (on the Strand?) where he is currently lodged, goes out in search of lodgings. He enounters an old colleague, tells him of his problems, and is informed - what a coincidence! Watson is the second person he's met today looking for lodgings.

The second person, is, of course Sherlock Holmes.

He accordingly meets Holmes, and despite finding him a bit odd, they agree to meet the next day they take up lodgings at 221B Baker Street.

Mrs Hudson is their landlady, so appearances aside, I suppose she must be the owner of the house!

Best regards

Sally

[The Grave Maurice]

Watson remarks - and I can't remember in which story - that Holmes paid Mrs Hudson a very handsome rent, so handsome that according to Watson he could easily have purchased the premises over the years he lived there.

That comment appears at the beginning of "The Dying Detective". In the first line of that story, Mrs. Hudson is described as SH's landlady.

[Graham]

That comment appears at the beginning of "The Dying Detective". In the first line of that story, Mrs. Hudson is described as SH's landlady.

You're dead right - I just got off me lazy arse and checked. However, the term 'landlady' is a bit loose, so I still reckon that Mrs H owned the property.
Was she of the Hudson soap family, maybe? Or related to Hudson the Railway King? Or was Sherlock's rent so rip-off high that she laughed all the way to the Building Society?

Graham

[Steven Russell]

Maurice - Some googling of council websites has confirmed that, in England, A,B,C etc. suffixes are usually added when new buildings replace old or large ones are divided into separate dwellings so as not to mess up the existing numbering of the street. So there is no reason to suppose that the number on the door of the house did not read '221B'. Except, of course, and as you have already noted, the number was invented by Watson presumably to disguise the real address. So what we have been arguing about is actually an imaginary address which existed only in the mind of Dr. Watson. Contemporary illustrations are no help either. I have been unable to find one showing the number and even if one exists, we could not know for certain whether it had been approved by the good doctor prior to publication. It is also possible that Watson did not have strong views on the matter one way or the other.

Bearing all this and our previous posts in mind, there is no way you can say with authority that the BBC were wrong to put 221B on Sherlock's door.

Hello, Robert.
Mrs. Hudson is certainly referred to as the landlady in Watson's writings and it seems likely that it was she to whom the rent was paid. Like you, I've sometimed wondered if she actually owned the house. I like to think she did but there is no reason for this other than affection for the character and I don't think a definite answer can be found in the stories. Perhaps if we knew something of (the late?) Mr. Hudson we could make a more informed guess.

Best wishes,
Steve.

Graham and Maurice again - Hope you don't think I was ignoring your posts, it seems I was writing the above when you posted them. And "Hello" to Sally. It's great to meet fellow Holmes fans.
S.

[Robert]

Hi folks

Yes, it would be nice if Mrs Hudson owned this (presumably) valuable (though bullet-holed) property.

It's just that she would surely have been quite well off if she did own it, yet she does all the work herself, and doesn't employ a maid. And then, in one story (is it The Blue Carbuncle - the one about the goose?) she refers to her "old man" being knocked about on his way to work. So I always imagined her as below Holmes and Watson socially.

Still, if she was the landlady it provides an excellent additional reason for Holmes's coming and going in disguises - if he was trying to dodge paying the rent....

[Graham]

Nothing in 'The Blue Carbuncle' about Mrs H or her old man (who as far as I'm aware never featured in any of the stories). The geezer wot gets knocked abaht is a Mr Henry Baker.

But you're right in saying that Mrs H apparently didn't employ a maid - for instance, in 'The Naval Treaty' she herself carts the elaborate breakfast up to Holmes' rooms. But there was a page - Billy, a.k.a. 'the boy in buttons'.

Graham

[Steven Russell]

A Mrs. Warren talks about her old man being knocked about in The Red Circle. Could that be what you are thinking of, Robert?

Best wishes,
Steve.

Good point about the disguises though.

[Robert]

I'll try to remember, guys - I could have sworn Mrs H's old man got knocked about.

I'd better watch it or I'll end up sounding like Nigel Bruce.

[Robert]

You're right, Steve. It is The Red Circle.

[Steven Russell]

Aha! I just got a CD ROM with a load of old Holmes radio shows. What I didn't realize is that it also has the whole canon, illustrated, in ebook form. Not as good for reading as real books of course but brilliant for searching the text. Dirt cheap off ebay. Recommend.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[The Grave Maurice]

Maurice - Some googling of council websites has confirmed that, in England, A,B,C etc. suffixes are usually added when new buildings replace old or large ones are divided into separate dwellings so as not to mess up the existing numbering of the street. So there is no reason to suppose that the number on the door of the house did not read '221B'.

Yes, there is. The houses on Baker Street were, and are, terrace houses, i.e., joined together. They were built in the early part of the 19th century. There was no space to fit in new houses a few decades later, especially in the block where most Sherlockians believe he lived (Nos. 109 or 111). Your Googling is interesting, but irrelevant. You speak through your hat, sir. (On the other hand, as you say, it was all made up, so it really doesn't matter. )

[Adam Went]

Just on BBC's Sherlock, it just recently began broadcasting down here in Australia - I was unsure what I would think of it at first, being a sort of 19th-century-meets-modern-crime-detection take on it, rather than being about the actual original Holmes mysteries - but I was absolutely drawn in by it and loved it. Benedict Cumberbatch made an excellent Holmes. Reviews were very positive and the TV ratings for it here were very good as well.....here's hoping there's more to come!

Cheers,
Adam.