The Passing Acquaintances of Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 3: Arthur O Thomas

The newest issue of the Passengers' Log has arrived in the mail - and it contains my third article on the people ACD met and mentioned in his Australian memoirs.

This biography is different as there are two blog posts that preceded the writing of the article.

1. A post about the mention of "Mr Thomas" in the book, and how it would be difficult to identify him. 

2. A post on actually finding out who Mr. Thomas is.

I'm posting here the submitted text (think of it like a pre-print) with some added pictures that didn't make the article. The published article also has footnotes with references. 

The Passing Acquaintances of Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 2: Arthur O Thomas

Matthew D. Hall

During his tour of Australia and New Zealand, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle interacted with many people, and spoke to tens of thousands in his audiences. Yet ACD’s book describing the tour, 'The Wanderings of a Spiritualist’, mentions relatively few people by name  . This article is the second in a series that shines a light on those people ACD mentions by name on his visit. Why did ACD choose to mention those that he did? Who were these Australians? The biosketches presented aim to address these questions, and point to more detailed resources. 

In undertaking this series, I want to be thorough, but not ALL people mentioned are going to be easy to identify.  Take, for example, the slightly anonymous "Mr. Thomas".  This article will provide an outline of Mr. Thomas' appearance in ACD's book, and an outline of how he was identified.

When ACD's visit to Australia was announced, the first city visited was Adelaide, and advertisements for his lectures appeared in the local newspapers, placed there by Carlyle Smyth (in the 'Amusements' section!). Note that there were two different lectures offered  

 

Figure 1. Advertisement in the Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA), Tuesday 21 September 1920.

The venue for the lectures in Adelaide was the Town Hall, which still stands today on King William St, Adelaide. As related in other articles, I visited Adelaide in July 2023 and captured some photographs of the Town Hall (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Adelaide Town Hall. Photograph by the author.

The Adelaide lectures were sold out, and another lecture topic was added to the schedule that included a presentation of pictures of psychic phenomena  . 

"EXTRA CONAN DOYLE LECTURE. Owing to the very large demand for tickets for the lectures to be given in the Town Hall tomorrow and Monday, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will deliver a third and extra address entitled "Pictures of Psychic Phenomena." This forms a sequel to the address, "Death and the Hereafter," and will be illustrated by some fifty psychic pictures, many of which have never been exhibited before, and have been, specially collected for the Australian tour. They are guaranteed to be genuine by Sir Arthur himself, and are intended to illustrate his two previous lectures, but

some commentary will be provided for each picture, so that those present may appreciate its bearing upon the subject."

This new, remarkable lecture on 'Pictures of Psychic Phenomena' is where our Mr. Thomas comes in. The lecture involved the presentation of pictures, projected from lantern slides. ACD relates the event in Wanderings:

"Never before have I experienced such direct visible intervention as occurred during my first photographic lecture at Adelaide. I had shown a slide the effect of which depended upon a single spirit face appearing amid a crowd of others. The slide was damp, and as photos under these circumstances always clear from the edges when placed in the lantern, the whole centre was so thickly fogged that I was compelled to admit that I could not myself see the spirit face. Suddenly, as I turned away, rather abashed by my failure, I heard cries of "There it is," and looking up again I saw this single face shining out from the general darkness with so bright and vivid an effect that I never doubted for a moment that the operator was throwing a spot light upon it, my wife sharing my impression. I thought how extraordinarily clever it was that he should pick it out so accurately at the distance. So the matter passed, but next morning Mr. Thomas, the operator, who is not a Spiritualist, came in great excitement to say that a palpable miracle had been wrought, and that in his great experience of thirty years he had never known a photo dry from the centre, nor, as I understood him, become illuminated in such a fashion. Both my wife and I were surprised to learn that he had thrown no ray upon it. Mr. Thomas told us that several experts among the audience had commented upon the strangeness of the incident. I, therefore, asked Mr. Thomas if he would give me a note as to his own impression, so as to furnish an independent account. This is what he wrote:—

"Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide.

"In Adelaide, on September 28th, I projected a lantern slide containing a group of ladies and gentlemen, and in the centre of the picture, when the slide was reversed, appeared a human face. On the appearance of the picture showing the group the fog incidental to a damp or new slide gradually appeared covering the whole slide, and only after some minutes cleared, and then quite contrary to usual practice did so from a central point just over the face that appeared in the centre, and refused even after that to clear right off to the edge. The general experience is for a slide to clear from the outside edges to a common centre. Your slide cleared only sufficiently in the centre to show the face, and did not, while the slide was on view, clear any more than sufficient to show that face. Thinking that perhaps there might be a scientific explanation to this phenomenon, I hesitated before writing you, and in the meantime I have made several experiments but have not in any one particular experiment obtained the same result. I am very much interested—as are hundreds of others who personally witnessed the phenomenon."

Mr. Thomas, in his account, has missed the self-illuminated appearance of the face, but otherwise he brings out the points. I never gave occasion for the repetition of the phenomenon, for in every case I was careful that the slides were carefully dried beforehand." 

Who then was Mr. Thomas, operator of the lantern projector at the Adelaide Town Hall in 1920? Hindmarsh Square is not the location of the Adelaide Town Hall, though it is close by. As a man with a not-uncommon surname, I was not optimistic. Thankfully though, directories are digitized at the State Library of South Australia, including the 1920 Adelaide Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory that revealed Arthur O. Thomas, 'biograph and lantern supplies depot'  . A 'biograph' was an early device to show moving pictures on a screen. In 1921 (possibly published just a few months follow his interaction with ACD, directories also list the business as Thomas' Lantern and Cinema Stores, "Practical Lanternist (By special appointment to their Excellencies Admiral Sir D.H. Bosanquet... and Lieut-Col Sir Henry Lionel Galway...") (Figure 4)  . Were it not for these directory entries, it is not likely Mr. Thomas could be identified.

Figure 3. 1920 Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory. Hindmarsh buildings - Thomas, Arthur O. (biograph and lantern supplies depot).

Figure 4. 1921 Sands & McDougall South Australian Directory, Thomas' Lantern and Cinema Stores. 

Arthur Orlando Thomas was born in South Australia in 1870, the son of Edwin Courtenay and Martha THOMAS, and in 1910 (aged about 40) Arthur married Winifred Lucy TUCKER. The newspaper article reporting the wedding includes a delightful photograph of the wedding party  . Arthur developed his career as a lanternist (projectionist) and was regularly mentioned in newspapers both for professional work, the occasional legal dispute, and for publishing a pamphlet on commuting entitled 'The Soulful Joys of Traming'.

What did Mr. Thomas look like? Well, thankfully there is a photograph of him next to a film projector, as part of a long article he wrote in the Daily Herald titled 'The History of the Cinematograph' (Figure 5)  . 

Figure 5. A 1911 photograph of Arthur published in the Daily Herald. "Writer of the article, Mr. Arthur O. Thomas, Lanternist to His Excellency the Governor".

There is also a photo of Arthur at the time of his wedding:

 Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924)  Wed 27 Apr 1910

Arthur died in August 1927 after an accident at the relatively young age of 57. The obituary published at the time provides a great deal of biographical information about Arthur  .

Register,  Saturday 13 August 1927

FATAL FALL IN STREET. Death of Mr. A. O. Thomas.

"Falling on some steps when leaving a business house in Grenfell street at about 4.30 pm on Friday, Mr. Arthur O. Thomas (58), of 54 Seventh avenue, St. Peters, struck his head, and later died in the Adelaide Hospital, presumably from concussion. Mr. Thomas was born at Hindmarsh in 1870, educated at Hindmarsh School, and later privately. He was a prominent man in the lantern and film business; Before the war he toured the Commonwealth on behalf of the Western Australian Government; lecturing on land settlement. During the war he was appointed by the Director of Recruiting as lecturer on recruiting for South Australia. He was lecturer, for the Institutes' Association, and one of the adjudicators for the South Australian Literary Societies' Union contests. Prominently connected with Young Men's Christian Association work, he was a member of the board of  directors of that institution, and was long Chairman of the A and B grade Y.M.C.A. Football Association. For many years he was Chairman of the Chicago Mission Board. He was formerly Councillor for East Adelaide Ward in the St. Peters Corporation. He was a member of the Hindmarsh Congregational Band of Hope, and was a popular local preacher in the Congregational Church. He was associated with many charitable organizations. Mr. Thomas is a brother or Mr. Ernest O. Thomas, the Adelaide representative of Mac Robertson's Limited, and has left a widow."

Arthur was buried in the Hindmarsh Cemetery, Adelaide, with family memorialized on each side of this square pillar headstone, including his father Edwin Courtney Thomas who died only the year before, and his mother Martha who died when Arthur was quite young in 1882  . 

Hindmarsh Cemetery, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Arthur O Thomas

Died Aug 12 1927

Aged 57 years

Arthur and Winifred THOMAS do not appear to have left any issue, but there were certainly descendants of his THOMAS siblings. It is pleasing to identify Arthur Orlando Thomas and put him in the spotlight (pun intended) over one hundred years after the publication of 'Wanderings of a Spiritualist'.

A visit to Undershaw in 1900-ish

I've been slowly transcribing every article referring to Sherlock Holmes in Australian newspapers and magazines, from the time of the first appearance up to the time of Hound of the Baskervilles. It's been incredibly instructive to see how popular the stories were, and how quickly the concept of a good detective being a "Sherlock Holmes" settled entered common use.

This article is long, and too good not to post to the blog. It was published in several Australian papers in 1900, and was undoubtedly originally published in the US or UK. The article describes Doyle's home of "Undershaw" located at Hindhead. 

The article was written by Mr. Day Allen Willey (1860-1917), an American freelance journalist born in Rochester, based in Baltimore, but he clearly spent a great deal of time in the UK. Willey published multiple articles across different magazines each month on a wide range of topics.

This article provides a great deal of insight into Doyle's home, some anecdotes from his earlier life, and reveals that "Perhaps the most notable feature of Dr. Doyle's library is a bust of Sherlock Holmes, the detective whose marvellous performances as depicted by the author have been the wonder of the English-reading world."

Enjoy:

Cobram Courier (Vic. : 1888 - 1954)  Thu 19 Apr 1900

DR. CONAN DOYLE.

A POPULAR AUTHOR AT HOME.

The presentation of "Sherlock Holmes" as a play has revived the interest in Dr. Conan Doyle to a remarkable degree. Sherlock Holmes is unquestionably the greatest detective in modern fiction, and his impersonation by Mr. Gillett has set critics to thinking again about Dr. Doyle's newer works and his work ways.

I had the pleasure (writes Mr. D. A. Willey) of visiting Dr. Doyle recently in his English home. He is as far removed from civilization as is Kipling in his home at Rottingdean. He lives fully four miles from the nearest railroad — at Hindhead. It is one of those charming English residence towns, free from most of the unpleasant features of city life, yet with urban advantages. A person of means and tastes, who desires both country and city existence, should feel satisfied in this part of the Queen's domain unless over-fastidious. Along the range of hills can be found the homes of some of our most noted writers and scientists, past and present. Tennyson lived here. Professor Tyndall was also one of the Hazlemere colony, living next door to Dr. Doyle. The natural beauties of the surroundings impress themselves on the mind at once. From his rear or perhaps front verandah — for the house seems to have a front where the rear should he - the owner can look directly down the volley to its foot five miles away. Both sides contain thickly wooded groves divided by wide patches of heather, with here and there a cultivated field or a strip of natural pasture land, six hundred feet above the sea, it is high enough to get the invigorating air of such altitude, while from the English Channel, but twenty miles away, comes the pleasant seabreeze.

A FINE SPECIMEN OF MANHOOD.

A glance at Conan Doyle indicates how well the country is suited to his tastes and habits. He might be 45 — he might be 40. It is hard to say, as he stands over 6ft., a fine specimen of the vigorous, hardy manhood native to Great Britain . His strong, resolute features are tanned by exposure in the cricket field, on the tennis court, and by season after season of bird and rabbit shooting. It can be seen at once that he needs no tonics for nervousness or dyspepsia. Apparently, he has no nerves, for whether handling a cricket bat in a play or sighting Ihis gun in a supreme moment, one cannot trace a tremor of the muscle or a quiver of the eyelids. Indoor and outdoor exercises have given him muscles of steel and the suppleness and agility of a youth in his teens.

As one turns the pages of such books as "The White Company," " Micah Clarke," and "Brigadier Gerard," he is struck with the rugged masculinity of the principal characters, while throughout each work a tone of vigour and virility prevails, which is native to the writer. Talk with him even for half an hour, and you realise that they are the product of a mind not enfeebled by over exertion, but nourished and strengthened from a superb physical system. in a word, he has not developed his mental faculties at the expense of the others, but has kept both well balanced, with the result that today he seems as capable of accomplishing as much in the literary field as he has already accomplished — and perhaps more.

He has built up his constitution so that today he is capable of enduring any amount of fatigue without being the worse for it. The four miles from Hindhead to Haslemere is a short walk for him. and many times a year does he over it. Probably everyone for ten miles around knows him by sight, for his figure is familiar to the country folk.

AN ENCOUNTER AT SOUTHSEA.

Naturally of a peaceable disposition, the author is not to be trifled with any more than some of the characters in his writings. He is a great believer in fair play, and on more than one occasion has stood up for the weaker man in trouble to the cost of his assailant. They tell a story about Hazlemere of a little adventure in which he took part at Southsea, his former home. One morning, as the doctor was getting a little exercise to whet his appetite for breakfast, a cart came along. The driver,  a heavily-built man, had been drinking until he was in an ugly mood. For some reason he became angry with the boy, who was in the cart with him to help to deliver the goods. Stopping his horse, he began beating the lad with the handle of his whip. He was so busily engaged that he did not know anyone else was interested until a hand grasped him by the shoulder and pulled him headlong into the street. "I think you've done enough of this, my man."

"It's no business of such gentry as you to interfere when the young rascal needs healing." ami the enraged driver, who had struggled to his feet, drew back his whip to strike the new-comer. The doctor's right fist landed on his face, and he went down like a log. When ho arose it, was to apologise. The fight had been, to use a slang phrase, "knocked out of him."

They call him "Kenn'n Doyle" in the neighbourhood., The word "Conan" seems to be difficult to use, and is so commonly mispronounced and mis-spelled, as the writer has indicated, that at the time of his visit he saw a boy from London directed to "Mr. Canon Doyle. Hindhead." Probably no one relished the joke conveyed in that religious title more than the author himself.

A KEEN SPORTSMAN.

But little sign of literary work is to be found about the house. Even Dr. Conan Doyle's library is made the receptacle for cricket and tennis kits, guns and trout tackle are spread all over the place ; for while the family at Hindhead is small, excluding the six servants, friends from London or near by are being entertained. The doctor is a member of one of the best amateur cricket teams in the country, and during his week every year as host it is an open house to all lovers of the sport. Nothing is reserved from them. The players generally have a contest daily, and are driven to it in the brake; a vehicle very essential to country life, which will carry the entire eleven, with room to spare. On the return to evening tea, the table is illuminated bv a banquet lamp, shaded by a design in salmon silk. This is called the Victory shade, as it is considered a sign of good luck, and is always brought out by Mrs. Doyle during "Cricket Week." Through its influence several trophies are supposed to have been won. The hostess is as enthusiastic as her husband over the sport, and if necessary to afford room will "bundle" the children off to some relatives to remain until the guests have departed.

As Dr. Conan Doyle's cricket season occupies nearly two mouths, it may be surmised that very little literary work is done about "Undershaw" until its close, or between spring and autumn. In addition to cricket, a spring trap and the fragments of numerous clay pigeons scattered about the grounds attest his fondness for shooting. The six horses in the stable include two fine saddle mares, one of which has a record as a jumper. At the side of the house is a grass tennis-court bearing the indications of frequent usage,  while one of the largest rooms — in fact that apartment opposite the drawing-room is given up to billiard and pool tables for indoor sport in inclement weather, although the rain must fall fast or the snow lie deep to keep the author sportsman from enjoying some outdoor pastime if he feels thus inclined.

A ROUND OF THE HOUSE.

"Undershaw" is very much of to-day — like its host. It cannot boast of anything historical. as it was built but two years ago. The exterior is that of a modern villa so popular in Surrey. All of the decorations are of light tints. The drawing-room and chambers are also furnished in light design, and with the numbers windows properly be called a sunny home. The front door opens into a square hall large enough to accommodate a sofa and numerous chairs. A generous fireplace as to size suggests the attractiveness of this part of the home during the long, cold winter and, is a gathering place for the family and friends. Opening into it are the billiard-room, drawing-room, and dining room. Probably the good wife selected for the author the location of the library, which is one of the pleasantest in the house. From it he can look away down the valley with its ever-varying hours upon a picture which nothing enters to tarnish its peaceful beauty. Near at hand he can see his property, partly level and partly hillside, the latter covered with gorse and heather and alive with rabbits. The long writing-table of oak, upholstered in leather, contains the necessary room for writing material, also for a box of tobacco and an assortment of pipes, as well as a dictionary and one or two other reference books. Each of the two cases against the wall holds perhaps a hundred books of poetry, history, travel, biography, and fiction, including several of his own works, also an elaborate edition of Scott. But the selection is very miscellaneous, and is principally for family reading.

THE ORIGINAL OF SHERLOCK. HOLMES.

Perhaps the most notable feature of Dr. Doyle's library is a bust of Sherlock Holmes, the detective whose marvellous performances as depicted by the author have been the wonder of the English-reading world. It has been questioned whether Holmes was a true personage or whether he was a myth conjured up to play his part in the novelist's several dramas, such as "The Sign of Four." etc. It was well-known that Holmes's friend, "Dr. Watson," was none other than the author, but the identity of Holmes himself was questioned. The writer can positively state that he did exist, although the name of Holmes was naturally fictitious. The man whose right name was Dr. Bell, was a Scotchman residing in Edinburgh. His study of human nature led him to play the part of detective and he met with success in hunting down several noted criminals who had eluded the professional detective force of the country. Dr. Doyle chanced in make his acquaintance, and an intimacy sprang up between the two men that resulted in the production of "detective stories," which have been so interesting because the reader was forced by the narration to believe that they were true. The famous character was a man of medium height, and though delicate in appearance, very wiry and muscular. He was what Americans would call a "dead" shot with a revolver, and the knowledge of his skill among the criminal classes undoubtedly saved his life on several occasions when tracing out the perpetrators of crime.

THE MISTRESS OF " UNDERSHAW."

Throughout the home the evidences of woman's presence are numerous— in the dainty rosettes and other ornaments on the furniture, in the tasteful arrangemnt of the draperies in the apartments, in the touches here and there to convert the commonplace into t.he ornamental — all indications of a woman's pride in her house. And the mistress of "Undershaw" is truly what one imagines after seeing her handiwork. She is decidedly petite in contrast to her big athletic husband, and her delicate appearance is an indication of her health. For years she has suffered from weak lungs. The Doctor has taken his wife to various places on the Continent recommended by specialists. The South of France has been as beneficial as elsewhere, but has not entirely relieved her. Through friends the author heard of the Hazlemere Valley, with its combination of sea and mountain air, with the result that his wife has found at last a place which affords her permanent relief, while it is especially suited to his taste and mode of life. Her illness has not in any way affected the spirits of the lady in question, who has the rare faculty of making those who cross the threshold feel that at least for the time they are a part of the household.

There are no traits which prominently distinguish Mrs. Doyle from other women in her rank of life. She is naturally proud of her husband, and as interested in his work as though she herself was performing it. She has been his companion both at home and on his travels, except when he visited the United States in 1895.

A FAITHFUL COMPANION.

One of the author's most faithful friends and an important personage at his home is Row. He only exhibits his appreciation of what is done for him by showing his teeth or wagging his tail, but visitors prefer the latter, as Row is a bull-dog of high degree. He is as ugly as any similar member of the canine race who ever wore a blue ribbon, and one of the largest species of Great Britain. He is of a very affectionate disposition, and is a great pet with the children.

Mr. Doyle's workshop is always ready with an abundance of paper, pens, and pencils, while the box of smoking mixtures always contains a good supply for the favourite stumpy black pipe. How many thrilling descriptions have been written with that pipe clenched between the author's teeth will probably never he known, but its appearance indicates that it has done yeoman service.

Some new old books August 2024, and a personal connection

I'm visiting my aunt in Somerset, England. While I'm here, I'm picking up a small number of books I had delivered to their house. I had a brainwave - if the books are purchased in the UK, then ship them to my aunt, and the postage savings would be massive. And of course I'd have the motivation to make sure I visit, so that I can pick up the books!

It's only a couple of books that I had delivered, but I was looking forward to seeing them.

I wanted to highlight one, partly because it was slightly unusual (I think) and partly because of its prior owner:

This book is The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Strand Magazine no.154-168: October 1903 - Vol. xxxi to December 1904 Vol. xxviii. The book may be a one-off ; it is each of the stories from "The Return" dis-bound from their Strand issues, and brought together in this volume, likely for a private individual. Because the articles are pulled from the Strand, there is the odd back page of the start or end of another story.

When I purchased this item, it shared that the book came "from the personal Sherlock Holmes collection of Thalia Proctor. Thalia was a passionate Sherlock Holmes fan all her life, which began with her joining the Sherlock Holmes Society as a teenager. Her love of reading and books led her into a 30 year career in the bookselling industry, starting at Athena, then Murder One, and Crime in Store, crime fiction bookshops. Ultimately she would become editorial manager at the Little, Brown Book Group. In 2022 Thalia sadly lost her battle with cancer but she wished for the proceeds from her Sherlockian collection to go to support the care and rehabilitation of animals at Folly Wildlife rescue."

In searching to learn more about Thalia (25th June 1970–2nd April 2022), I came across some more information in this wonderful obituary at thebookseller.com. That article includes some more information on Thalia's Sherlockian cred:

"An avid reader from a young age, books were in the genes of the Proctor family. As a teenager, Thalia joined the Sherlock Holmes Society with her mum, Loretta, reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels multiple times and making notes as she went. I was particularly grateful for this knowledge when she correctly answered Mark Billingham’s Harrogate crime-quiz question of how many steps there were from the ground floor to the study at 221b Baker Street (17, of course)."

I didn't meet Thalia, but I'll be printing the obit and sale information inside the cover of this book, and hope it always travels with this book - whoever owns it next, and next, and next.

The Sherlockian output of Derham Groves

This is a fan post. About Derham Groves. I haven't met Derham, because he lives in Melbourne, Australia. But I've gotten together some wonderful publications by Derham (partly thanks to him as I'll mention at the bottom). Derham is a Baker Street Irregular ('Black Jack of Ballarat'), an by profession an architect with a PhD. He has taught architecture at a number of universities, and spent two blocks at time at the University of Minnesota (where there is an amazing Sherlockian collection including Shaw's donation). Along with a range of Sherlockian publications with a significant art and design emphasis, Derham has also published on a range of topics related to architecture and design.

Hiatus down under?

Finally evidence that Holmes spent the great hiatus in Australia?!?!?!?!?

Mornington Standard (Victoria, Australia)
Thu 2 Jul 1896