It Has Been Revealed Who Sherlock Holmes Really Was

The real-life inspiration for Conan Doyle's hero did indeed master the art of deduction.

Scottish surgeon Joseph Bell, who could determine a person’s profession and habits based on physical details, became the primary inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Not only did he teach the writer Arthur Conan Doyle at the University of Edinburgh, but he also participated in the investigation of high-profile murders in the 19th century, according to Ars Technica (translation by Charter97.org).

Bell could draw conclusions from barely noticeable clues—calluses, stains on clothing, a limp, or dirt on shoes. On one occasion, he determined a patient’s route to the hospital based on the type of clay on his boots. Conan Doyle used this episode in his novel *The Sign of the Four*.
However, the real Bell differed from the fictional detective. He was not only an observant diagnostician but also a compassionate doctor who raised three children on his own after his wife’s death.
Bell worked alongside the forensic surgeon Henry Duncan Littlejohn. They examined evidence, performed autopsies, and testified in court. In one of their most famous cases, the experts determined that the wife of French professor Eugène Chanterel had died of opium poisoning. Chantrelle was found guilty of murder and executed in 1878.

“Bell gave Conan Doyle the method, and Littlejohn gave him the world of forensic science,” the authors write. Their work took place at a time when toxicology and other forensic methods were still in their infancy, and poisons could be freely purchased at a pharmacy.

Information about the surgeon came to light through letters, diaries, and court documents. Among the new sources is Bell’s diary, which the surgeon’s family kept secret for over a century.

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