Visiting The Strand.... Arcade and other Sydney miscellania

I've been to Sydney twice during this American summer of 2026, and picked up some tit-bits to share. They aren't necessarily all Sherlockian, but are close....

When one hears the phrase "The Strand 1891", the mind immediately leaps to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In Sydney, walk along the first road in Sydney - George Street - and look up and you'll read exactly that:

This delightful Victorian facade sits above the entrance to the beautiful Strand Arcade - walk through the arcade to Pitt Street at the other end and a similar view awaits: 

 

To walk through the Strand Arcade today is to step into 1895. It even has some of the stores one might expect in 1895 - a hat store, jeweler, watch and clock store, a cobbler, and more. The Strand Arcade was named after the famous London street - "London's smartest theatre, hotel and shopping street".

So next time you are in Sydney, step into The Strand of 1891. 

 

Here's an interesting advert placed in The Daily Telegraph in Sydney on Mon 30 May1898. The advertisement can be found at least five times in papers:

 

And here is another from The Sydney Morning Herald  on Sat 25 Jun 1898:

It would be wonderful to know who this private detective was. A mystery, but one that means Sherlock Holmes had a mailing address here at Sydney's General Post Office in Martin Place:

The University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum brings together treasures from a number of collections, including its archaeological collection.

Among items in display is a stele discovered at an Egyptian site. A stele is an upright stone, taller than it is wide, used in the ancient world as a monument, grave marker, or legal notice.

The item description notes that the object was discovered by Sir Max Mallowan. What the description does not state - but I think it should - is that Max is better known as the husband of the far more accomplished golden age mystery author Agatha Christie. Was Agatha with Max when this stele was discovered?

"This stele was discovered in the throne room of King Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Its cuneiform inscription glorifies the king's conquests and public works. It is one of four tablets, carved with the same inscription and hidden within the palace walls. Why hide such fine stele? He probably hoped they would be discovered  when future rulers came to renovate the palace, and so glorify his name forever. Sir Max Mallowan discovered this stele in 1950. It was sent to the Australian Institute of Archaeology in Melbourne, who part-sponsored the dig...."

Speaking of 1895, the R.M. Williams store has been making footwear and clothing (usually associated with horse-riding and farming) since 1932. Among the women's boot range is the Moriarty. 

This one is just a great story - with a tiny connection Doylean connection (there's always one).... Doyle commented on the spiritualist connection to the death of Lord Carnarvon following the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, and Bertram Fletcher Robinson's earlier death that was also associated with Egyptology. It also connects through Lord Carnarvon to the very popular Downton Abbey.

But really it's just a great story and could be used in a mystery novel plot....

Shabti and model-coffin, for Senseneb, mother of Tetiky

The reason the University of Sydney has these items makes for a great tale. This is the transcript from the item description (and you can read a longer article about it here):

From Highclere to Sydney

In the decades before the sensational discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, Lord Carnarvon had funded many other excavations in Egypt's Theban Valley. The shabti, a figurine magically charged with assisting the deceased in the afterlife, had been discovered in 1908 when Carnarvon excavated a tomb dated to the reign of Ahmose (c1550-1525 BC), the first Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. The lavishly decorated chambers revealed the name of the owner, Tetiky, an important administrator. At the entrance to the central burial shaft, four nices contained eight mummiform shabti with golden faces, each with their own model coffin....

Lord Carnarvon died days after the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1923, of a septic mosquito bite rather than of the 'Mummy's Curse' as claimed by the press of the day. His successor, the 6th Earl did not share his father's passion for Egypt nor the many objects taken back to the grand family estate, Highclere Castle (the setting of Downton Abbey). The ambivalence might explain how some of the precious artefacts, including this shabti, were accidentally left in a cupboard sold at auction in London around 1926. The purchaser, Maximillian Preston, alerted the auction house to the forgotten trove, and was rewarded for his honesty with a gift of this shabti. Preston's descendants migrated to Australia, and the tale of this remarkable shabti has been passed down through the family, who took care of the item for nearly 100 years, before donating it to the Nicholson Collection in 2021.

 

Spotted at a bookstore in Newtown - going to need this set at some stage:

LATE MR CHARLES A. DOYLE

I enjoyed this obituary of Charles Doyle for the sketch of Charles, apparently made from a photograph owned by Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc "who was a colleague of Mr. Doyle's in the Board of Works Office".

Edinburgh Evening Dispatch
Monday, 23 October 1893

LATE MR CHARLES A. DOYLE

We give a portrait to-day of the late Mr Charles A. Doyle, the father of Dr. A. Conan novelist. One of a well-known family, whose head was Joba Doyle, known as the author of the “H.B. Sketches,” which recorded interesting Parliamentary and State incidents in the early part of the reign of the present Queen. Mr Doyle, at a comparatively young age, was sent from London take up an appointment in H.M. Office of Works, Edinburgh. Inheriting the faculty of caricature sketching characteristic of the whole family, he gave up his leisure to illustrating many popular works published by leading firms in the city. To the Illustrated London News he was a frequent contributor, not a few most amusing full page figure subjects finding a place in their issues. Frequently works of his in oil found a place on the walls of the Royal Scottish Academy. Personally he was a most likable man, genial, entertaining, and amusing in conversation. His abilities and gentlemanly manner secured to him a cordial welcome wherever he went and few literary or artistic homes were without his occasional visit. Those who knew him will ever remember him with a warm and kindly thought. Of his brothers, Richard, the well-known caricaturist for Punch, whose design for the frontispiece of that paper is still retained, died a few years ago. His other brother, Sir Henry, is chief of the Science and Art Department, Dublin. Of his family, the eldest son is the able novelist - Dr A. Conan Doyle. To Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc, A.R.S.A. who was a colleague of Mr. Doyle's in the Board of Works Office, we are indebted for the photograph from which the above sketch was taken.

Trust me I'm a doctor

I've been looking at advertisements that leverage Sherlock Holmes, mainly articles on Beecham's pills (being published in the near future) and Flint Laboratories , so I keep my eye out for advertising points of interest.

It is 'known' that Doyle himself wrote a poem titled 'The Lay of the Grasshopper' (this link is to the valuable ACD Encyclopedia transcript) for 'Gressham Life Assurance Society' advertisement in Southsea. 

One thing I've found interesting in deeply scanning 1880s newspaper articles are two examples (so far) of advertisements where Conan Doyle provides attestations for products - both in 1885. I assume Doyle was paid some fee in exchange for his attestation.

The first of these is for Royal Bengal Tea. The advertisement appeared many times in newspapers across England. Curiously, he is credited as "A. Connor Doyle" of Southsea - I'd like to understand how that error was created.

There is an evident problematic appropriation of a 'Bengal' in this ad. It is curious that Doyle is leveraging his medical qualifications to advocate for the benefits of this tea. In many ways, it offers to solve maladies the way patent medicines of the time did. The advertisement appeared dozens of times in newspapers in late 1885.

Blandford and Wimborne Telegram
Friday 30 October 1885

THE ROYAL BENGAL TEA is in every respect the best tea grown. It contains the beneficial properties of tea in concentrated strength - the result of scientific cultivation.

A CONNOR DOYLE Esq. M.D. C.M., Southsea: "The Royal Bengal Tea appears to me to possess less tannin and to be more suited to the use of dyspeptic patients than any of which I have experience".

The Royal. Bengal Tea Company, Lombard Court, London, E.C.

This would be an obvious tea label for use by the Tea Brokers of Mincing Lane scion. Here's an adaptation of the brand and Doyle's quote as an example of what might be possible on a tea tin. It's on my list of plans!

The second advertisement is for a local business in Swansea. The advertisement is for 'anti-brace trousers' - an alternative to the standard use of braces. 

Again, we find we have an issue with cultural appropriation/presentation. On each side of the gentleman proudly pointing to the elastic on his trousers, we find the phrase 'See Testimonials'. 

Swansea Journal 
08 August 1885

The anti-brace trousers

Are conducive to health, preserve an elegant and upright figure ; prevents irritation at shoulders, and rashes on the skin ; give the lungs full play, for Braces cramp the respiratory organs, Mr. A.C. Doyle, M.D., says: 'They are the most pleasant and healthy, and by clasping the waist tightly gives the chest full play, no other support being required."

The City Tailors, 38, Castle Street, Swansea.

A short article (possibly also paid content) appears around the same time that explains how the trousers work and again cites Doyle:

Swansea Journal

22 August 1885

ANTI-BRACE TROUSERS, — The City Tailors (Messrs, Alabaster and Co., of Castle.street, Swansea,) are advertising a new novelty which has long been wanting to supply the place of the present brace. This is in the shape of Anti-Brace Trousers, which are drawn tightly together by the insertion of gussets at the back of the hips. Mr. Kenneth Welsh, M.R.C.S,, L.R.C.P., writes :— “I have much pleasure in certifying to the ease and comfort from the Auti-Brace Trousers. I found them very comfortable, giving an equal and easy support to the abdominal walls ; they also do away with the brace, which are the frequent cause of tumours on the shoulders arising from friction.” Mr, A. C. Doyle, M.D., writes :— "They are most pleasant and healthy, and by clasping the waist tightly gives the chest full sway, no other support being required."

It is reasonable to wonder whether Doyle's name was appropriated by these advertisers, as Sherlock's brand was appropriated by other advertisers. I believe it is unlikely.  I initially thought these advertisements did not seem to have appeared in Southsea newspapers, where Dr. Doyle practiced and may have experienced some embarrassment at the idea of leveraging his medical credentials to advocate for products the universal prmise of patent medicines. It turns out that the 'Royal Bengal Tea' advertisement was in Hampshire papers and therefore would have been spotted by locals.

1885 was a busy year for Doyle - he wrote Study in Scarlet, and he met and married his first wife. Given that both ads appeared in late 1885, one wonders whether Doyle had set upon the path of seeking paid endorsements. It was certainly a time of life when he was enterprising and seeking to make a penny or pound in any way he could.

1901 and the fractured Doyle family

This is a 'perhaps' post. Doyle insisted that he had a platonic relationship with Jean Leckie from the time they met in 1897 till their marriage in 1907 after Doyle's first wife Louise finally died in 1906.

We do know that the platonic relationship was something all were comfortable with at all times. For example, Doyle's sister Connie and her husband E.W. Hornung were unimpressed with finding Jean Leckie at a cricket match with Doyle at one stage.

Doyle could maintain that their love had not been manifested physically - and that may be true - but I was struck to examine the 1901 census and see how the family were arranged. The 1901 census was collected on Sunday, March 31, 1901.

First we look at Arthur and Louise's family home at Undershaw. They are not home, but their children are. Louise's spinster sister Emily Hawkins is at Undershaw, along with Arthur and Louise's two living children, Mary (12) and Kingsley (8).

1901 Census - Undershaw, Shottermill, Surrey

Emily Hawkins, Sister-in-law, single, 42

Mary C. Doyle, Daughter, single, 12

Kingsley C. Doyle, Son, single, 8

Arthur was a busy man, a man of action. It is unsurprising that Arthur and Louise were not in the family home at the time of the census. Arthur was not traveling overseas, but perhaps the couple were in London, or at a seaside resort?

1901 Census - 'The Bolton', Cary Crescent, Tormoham, Torquay, Devon

Louisa Conan Doyle, Boarder, married, 49, Living on own means

Emily Hawkins, Boarder, widow, 75, living on own means

Listed right under them is:

Angele Champin, single, 27, Lady'smaid (domestic), born France (French subject)

So... first things first, Louisa is staying at a hotel called 'The Bolton' in the Torquay seaside area - the census calls it a 'Lodge House' and the head's occupation is a 'Boarding house keeper'. The precise location of 'The Bolton' is difficult to identify, but farther down the same page is 'Templestowe' - there is a large hotel that now sits up on the hill and looking across Torquay and the water. But 'The Bolton' and 'Templestowe' address appear to be on 'Cary Crescent' - then and now an 'elegant row of Victorian Torquay's Belgravia Italianate styled townhouses' (see below).

The census says that Louisa and her mother are 'living on own means' - that may have been true for Emily Hawkins, and she had stated that in previous census entries (such as 1891). 

As a side-note, I have a feeling Angele Champin was surplus to needs after her Louise died on 4 July 1906. Three months later, Angele married Carl Basil Andrews, a painter, at Shottermill close to Undershaw. Louise's mother Emily did not die till 1913.

So if Arthur's wife, who was of course very unwell with chronic tuberculosis, was taking in the sea air of Torquay with her mother, and if Arthur's children were at home under the care of his wife's sister, then Arthur must have been in London working, right?

1901 Census - Ashdown Forest Hotel, Forest Row, Sussex

Arthur C Doyle, Boarder, married, 41, Physician surg

Jean E. Leckie, Boarder, single, 27

And at the top of the following page:

Mary J Doyle, Boarder, widow, 63

This is not some great discovery - it is a well known fact from the 1901 census.

The Ashdown Forest Hotel sat next to the Royal Ashdown West Golf Course, and one can imagine that perhaps Doyle indicated his was off to play golf for a weekend or longer. One wonders whether Doyle paused to wonder whether, a hundred years hence, the presence of Jean Leckie would be noted. It was still six years till Doyle married Jean Leckie (and five till his wife Louise would die). The presence of Mary gave credibility of their presence together, as she undoubtedly served as chaperone.

It must have been exhausting having a chronically ill and ultimately terminal wife. Though given the domestic support that Doyle had at his disposal, and the large amount of time working and traveling, it's hard to know whether it taxed him greatly. 

Of course, in maintaining the platonic innocence of their relationship with Jean Leckie, Doyle may not have realized that receipts being created by the 1901 census. Together with the census for Louise with her mother  - one wonders whether there had been an effective and well-covered-up domestic separation of the two. Or simply a grand deception by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Could've read it in the Spalding Guardian!

Here's an intriguing little article I found on the work Doyle did to find publication homes for 'The Sign of the Four'.

The article was published in the 'Spalding Guardian' on Saturday 25 July 1931, and describes a letter found in the newspaper offices from Conan Doyle, offering publication rights of 'Sign of the Four'. The anecdote was included in a section called 'A Lincolnshire Diary' with various interesting tid-bits, the author being 'The Diarist'.

The Spalding Guardian was based in the market town of Spalding, Lincolnshire. In 1890, the newspaper was titled 'The Spalding Guardian and Holbeach, Long Sutton, and Sutton Bridge Advertiser'. The newspaper does not appear to have purchased the option. 

Finally, one wonders whether the letter still lives in the newspaper archives!

Spalding Guardian, Saturday 25 July 1931

A MEMORY OF THE PAST. 

The late Sir Arthur Conan made a great name as a storyteller, and who is there who has not revelled in one or other of his varied books whether of the Sherlock Holmes type, the historical type such as Micah Clarke, or The White Company or indeed, any of his works? I well remember when, as a boy, I discovered "The Sign of Four," and read it with gusto from first page to last at one sitting. 

Rummaging through an old drawer in the "Guardian" office this week I came across a letter dated from Bush Villa, Southsea, and written on March 7th, 1890 — forty-one years ago. It is signed "A. Conan Doyle, M.D" and in it Dr. Conan Doyle, as he was then, offers "The Sign of Four" for publication in the columns of the Guardian as a serial story. 

AT A LOW COST

He explains in the letter that it is his intention to offer the story to several provincial papers for simultaneous publication, and that the fee he would charge the Guardian would be the modest one of ten guineas. In view of the enormous literary success which he subsequently made and the high prices which were paid by far-seeing editors for his work at a later date, this is remarkable evidence of his early struggles. At that time he was still practising as a medical man in Southsea, but as the world knows his speedy rise to fame soon enabled him to relinquish medicine in favour of letters.

--------

This unsolicited offer letter must be one of many that Doyle wrote. The ACD Encyclopedia has a letter to 'Mr Hemingsley' from a newspaper in the Birmingham area, responding to an offer of serialization. In that letter Doyle explains 'Yet I should never have thought of using it as a serial had I not had several unsolicited requests from different papers. So I thought I might as well extend it. No other offer in the Birmingham district. I think the intermediate syndicate may very well be dispensed with in transactions between author and editor.'

What Doyle confirms in this letter is that he is acting to directly license serialization in the UK as author, rather than working through an agent.

The 2026 Baker Street Almanac

The 2026 Baker Street Almanac (BSA) has arrived in the mail!! Among other things, it is an almanac of the prior year's Sherlockian activity, among other things. Madeline Quinones has created a wonderful unboxing video of the 2026 BSA you can watch here.

I contributed three items to the BSA this year, and want to capture them here for the sake of completeness. They are listed here.

A set of photos of Peter Blau examining the set of bound volumes of his Scuttlebutt newsletter that I have written about here on my blog. Each year the BSA includes a reprint of the complete year's run of Scuttlebutt, so Ross Davies asked to include some photos of this unique item.

 

The second item was a report on the activities of Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, for which I'm currently serving as Gasogene. I had provided a summary of WTB activities in 2025 for our Irene's Cabinet, and adapted it for the BSA.

Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, MD

Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City meets on the third Monday of every month at Union Jack's British Pub in Columbia, MD. At each meeting a story is set for discussion, using the Baring Gould chronology - the canon taking sixty meetings to cover. The meeting agenda is fairly uniform: introductions ; a toast to 'The Woman' and other toasts ; Tom Fahres provides a new haiku inspired by the story ; announcements & news ; examination of the Evidence Box created by WTB co-founder Paul Churchill BSI; a discussion of the story; a Sherlockian presentation by a member or guest; and finally a quiz. A full meeting - accomplished at pace over 2 hours and all while ordering and eating our meals!

The first meeting of the year is the annual Killer Quiz meeting, a 60-question themed quiz that covers every story in the Canon, set in 2025 by 'Torquemadae' Karen Wilson BSI. At stake is the prestigious 'Mycroft Award'. The 'Strangers' Room Award' goes to the highest scorer among the self-designated Sherlockian "newbies" taking the quiz (this category can only be competed in once). Dana Richards BSI won the 'Mycroft Award' (not for the first time!), while the 'Stranger's Room' honoree was Liane Luini.

At our March meeting, outgoing Gasogene Terry McCammon BSI handed over duties to Matthew Hall (the author of this report) for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. Other WTB responsibilities are taken on by Olivia Milunzi (Tantalus) who sets the monthly quizzes, and Liane Luini who is our webmaster.

2025 was an exciting year of growth for WTB, with some meetings reaching thirty attendees. As new Gasogene I set the goal of building our speakers - both by attracting visiting speakers, and also encouraging new members to take the plunge and create their first presentation. Guests included Travis Shick (PA), and Art Taylor (VA). As Gasogene I received many expressions of regret from those who were able to be part of WTB meetings during the dark COVID years when all meetings were virtual, and the decision was made to establish an annual virtual meeting in July to allow Sherlockians from anywhere to join us - our inaugural virtual  guest speaker was Burt Wolder BSI. In an effort to encourage new members, the Gasogene writes a summary of each meeting that is available at 221bcooee.blogspot.com.

There were also efforts update our website (www.watsonstinbox.org) thanks to our new webmaster Liane. This included adding new content to the web pages. We created digital copies of all issues of Irene's Cabinet (IC, last published in 2019 and rare as hen's teeth now) and made them available free to download, and announced we'd be re-launching IC in 2026 with Jacquelynn Bost Morris BSI as Editor-in-Chief. Steve BSI and Rusty Mason had created sixty PDF documents showing each item in each of Paul Churchill's evidence boxes, thanks to collaboration with Denny Dobry BSI and Debbie Clark BSI - these are also now available for download to allow people from anywhere in the world to peruse the amazing evidence boxes.

For the first time, we have Watson's Tin Box tote bags that are available for purchase along with our pins, both bearing the WTB logo. At the end of 2025 it was announced that Debbie Clark would be downsizing, and the Evidence Boxes will now have a new host (Matthew Hall) to care for them. WTB looks forward to 2026 - with an exciting group of speakers lined up, the Irene's Cabinet journal returning, and other projects planned. 

The third item was a report on the first meeting of the new scion, the Bowery Ruffians:

The Bowery Ruffians

January 2025 saw the first meeting of a new scion - the Bowery Ruffians - during the Baker Street Irregulars window in New York.

The Bowery features in the only direct mention of a New York location in the Canon, in the Red Circle: "Gennaro was able to do a service to an Italian gentleman--he saved him from some ruffians in the place called the Bowery, and so made a powerful friend."

The Bowery Ruffians can meet at any time when two or more Sherlockians gather in the Bowery area of Manhattan (preferably with a drink). The only formal activities of a Bowery Ruffians meeting are that toasts can be made to those nefarious criminals and ne'er-do-wells in the canon, may of whom are greatly misunderstood.

The attraction of this concept is that it is tied to a place. A thousand years from now, the scion can still meet so long as the Bowery as not been wiped off the map. As a compromise, the Ruffians can spontaneously meet at any other location with Bowery in the name such as a street, bar, anything. For example, the Ruffians could spontaneously meet in Oak Bowery, Alabama, along Bowery Creek in the Catskill Mountains, or the Bowery Kitchen & Bar in Katoomba, Australia.

A logo and pin was designed by Kyle Brimacombe. The design motif includes a rabbit and hat. The hat emblematic of the 'Bowery Boys' gang, and the rabbit represents their main opponents the 'Dead Rabbits'. The only way to receive the pin is to attend a meeting of the Bowery Ruffians (i.e. have a drink in the Bowery and toast a criminal), then email Matthew Hall (theearlofmaynouth@gmail.com) to request a pin. It will be mailed to you gratis.

And so, the Ruffians met for the first time on Thursday Jan 16th 2025, very informal, at The Wren bar (344 Bowery). Many drifted over from a long lunch at the historic McSorley's Old Ale House. Each person who arrived was handed an agenda and a pin. There was a great turnout of first-time Ruffians, with over 30 Sherlockians in attendance. Even the bar staff were presented with pins.

After welcoming the Ruffians and outlining the rules of the gang, we got down to the real business.

Mickey Fromkin BSI ASH delivered the very first toast ever, and appropriately it was to the Red Circle character Giuseppe Gorgiano.

Mickey wrote this toast specifically for the meeting, and delivered it by heart:

Giuseppe Gorgiano,

He fills us with dread.

His beard it was black

And his circle was red.

He threatened the Luccas,

Gennaro and wife,

Pursued them to London

And paid with his life.

It was resolved that this toast by Mickey will be recited by someone at every meeting of the Bowery Ruffians! Toasts were also offered by Madeline Quiñones (of Michigan) to Moriarty, Rudy Altergott BSI (of Illinois) to Old Patrick, Max Magee (of Wisconsin) to Moriarty, and dueling toasts for two characters in the Hound of the Baskervilles from Karen Ellery (of Minnesota) and Carl Stix (of Nevada), in that order.

Karen:

The choice of a villain's a tough one,

Hence this pause to review the right stuff...

One Has, from his first showing,

Set my dogged heart glowing:

To The Hound!

He's UNIQUELY a RUFF-ian!

Carl responded from the opposite end of the bar:

Those who believe the hound is a villain are barking up the wrong tree.

Stapleton is the villain of the story, as only a Ruffian would use a dog

-- a creature of love and devotion -- in such nefarious ways.

Here is to Rodger Baskerville!

And with that we ended. Later in 2025, Michael Pisapia sent in a photo of an impromptu meeting of the Ruffians at the Wren with his children Amelia and Harry (both aged seven) - all three were duly sent pins, and Amelia and Harry are the youngest Ruffians ('Irregulars' if you will). I look forward to hearing of more impromptu meetings. The Bowery Ruffians were also acknowledged as an official 'scion' by the BSI Secretary Peter Blau in 2025, setting it up for success and meetings in 2026.