I've been in the 'West Country' (Somerset) for four days, and am now spending two days in York. It lead me to wonder - when does York get a mention in the canon? Well - yes, and also sort of.
The word 'York' makes 24 appearances in the Canon. However, twenty of these are references to New York, and one is a reference to the 'Duke of York' in His Last Bow.
The only direct reference to York appears in Hound of the Baskervilles, when Sherlock is explaining the back-story of Jack Stapleton and how he plotted to kill off the remaining Baskervilles, in order to get the inheritance money that would come from the estate.
Technically only one quote relates to the city of York:
"I have come prepared to do so," said Holmes, drawing several papers from his pocket. "Here is a photograph of the couple taken in York four years ago. It is indorsed 'Mr. and Mrs. Vandeleur,' but you will have no difficulty in recognizing him, and her also, if you know her by sight."
Two other references are made to the county of Yorkshire in relation to relating the Stapleton's story (who operated in Yorkshire under the name Vandeleur).
"....he changed his name to Vandeleur and fled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire."
"I learned at the British Museum that he was a recognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur has been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his Yorkshire days, been the first to describe."
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