This is a little unusual as a post, but I thought I'd catalog the final resting places of early Sherlockians. This idea partly came to me when I was recently writing about John Bennett Shaw (more of which some other day) and spent some time seeking out at his grave (digitally unfortunately).
It made me wonder - do any of those Sherlockians have an indicator on their grave of their great interest? Or some other symbology representing aspects of their life and beliefs? It also struck me that this could be the start of a list of sites to visit... a bucket bucket list, if you will.
Let's take a look at some, in roughly chronological order.
PLEASE NOMINATE SHERLOCKIANS YOU'D LIKE ME TO ADD TO THIS LIST.
Arthur Conan Doyle. Technically, a Scottish Sherlockian.
The grave of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930), creator of the world's most famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, is under a large tree in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest District, Hampshire, England. This is Doyle's second grave. He was first buried at Windlesham Manor, then moved around 1955.
The grave of Sidney Paget (1860 – 1908), the man who created the first famous images of Sherlock Holmes, is buried in East Finchley Cemetery in the north of London, England.
The grave of Frederic Dorr Steele (1873 – 1944), the man who immortalized the image of Sherlock in America, is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany County, New York, USA. Now here is a grave with a Sherlock reference! The headstone is not contemporary to the time of Steele's burial. In 2020 the Frederic Dorr Steele Memorial Committee formed to create and install a grave marker at the site where his ashes had been interred.
The grave of Edgar W Smith (1894 – 1960), the man who wrote early influential articles, self-published via his imprint 'The Pamphlet House', led the Baker Street Irregulars, founded the Baker Street Journal and was its first editor. In 'real life' Smith was prominent as Vice-President of General Motors. Smith is buried in New Vernon Cemetery, New Vernon, Morris County, New Jersey, USA.
The grave of Christopher Morley (1890 – 1957), the man who founded the Baker Street Irregulars, and well-known author and journalist. Morley is buried in Roslyn Cemetery, Roslyn, Nassau County (Long Island), New York, USA.
The grave of Vincent Starrett (1886 – 1974), the man who wrote 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes', Sherockian, bibliophile. Starrett is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Ray Betzner created a lovely blog post on the cemetery, Starrett's grave, and other nearby important graves (such as Alan Pinkerton).
There is some information about how to find Rathbone's resting place at this site.
The grave of William Baring-Gould (1913 – 1967), the man who created the first annotated Sherlock Holmes, chronologist, and author of a fictional biography of Holmes. In real life, he was a creative director at Time Magazine. Baring-Gould is buried in Pound Ridge Cemetery, Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York, USA.
NO PHOTO
The grave of John Bennett Shaw (1913 – 1994), the man who made evangelized, corresponded, and collected Sherlockiana. Shaw is buried in Rosario Cemetery, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA.