Historical Note
Baker Street is famous for being home to a fictional address for a fictional detective. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his first Sherlock Holmes story in 1887, and the detective featured in four novels and 56 short stories until 1927.
Baker Street was named after William Baker who built its rows of smart Georgian terraces in the 18th century. These days, the street is just over half a mile long and runs from Regent’s Park to Portman Square, just north of Oxford Street.
Madame Tussaud opened her famous waxworks on the street in 1835 before moving to nearby Marylebone Road. Famous past residents include the ‘father of science fiction’ H.G. Wells, the novelist Arnold Bennett, Prime Minister William Pitt The Younger and singer Dusty Springfield.
But what about Sherlock Holmes? He lived at 221b Baker Street - an address which never existed.
In the first half of the 20th century, parts of Baker Street were rebuilt. Down came many of the Georgian terraces and - after some renumbering too - the imposing Art Deco headquarters of the Abbey National building society occupied 219–229 Baker Street. Abbey National received so much mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes that a secretary was employed to reply and explain the fictional detective had retired to West Sussex.
In 1990, the Sherlock Holmes Museum opened at 237-241 Baker Street. An argument ensued between the building society and the museum about who should receive Sherlock Holmes’s mail. The responsibility eventually fell to the museum after Abbey National vacated their headquarters in 2002/05 (reports vary on the date). The museum has obtained permission from Westminster City Council to use the address 221b Baker Street. Even though it’s fictional!
Sherlock Holmes superfans have attempted to locate where 221b would have stood, based on descriptions in the stories. There’s a theory that the building Conan Doyle chose was at the southern end of Baker Street on the west side. As this part of the street has been extensively rebuilt since Conan Doyle’s day, we’ll never know for sure.
There’s nothing too remarkable about Baker Street these days. It’s a mixture of shops and offices with the little museum at the top end. Some of the original Georgian terraces remain, but much of the street has been redeveloped (the area suffered bomb damage in WWII).
Opening in 1863, Baker Street station was the first underground railway station in the world. Today, it comprises three different underground stations and is served by five tube lines. As a major interchange and popular tourist location, it’s a busy place.
The ‘accidental’ death of John Gibson was inspired by a tragedy which happened to my grandfather’s cousin exactly one hundred years ago. He was nineteen years old and had been on his way to work when he fell in front of a train from the busy platform of West Ealing station. What struck me about the inquest reports was how much the witnesses disagreed with each other. Some said the fall was accidental, while others said it was deliberate. The coroner eventually decided on a verdict of ‘death by misadventure’. There was never any suggestion of foul play, but I wondered just as Augusta did: if the platform was so busy, how could anyone be sure? In my family’s case, I’m certain it was a tragic accident.
Jackson’s Blood Purifier was inspired by ‘Clarke’s World Famed Blood Mixture’. It was a popular tonic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and claimed to cure most ailments, including rheumatism, sores, scurvy and gout. When the British Medical Association examined the product in 1909, it was found to contain water and sugar with a little bit of alcohol, ammonia and chloroform. It was medically quite useless. The medicine wasn’t unusual for its time, but the British Medical Association was concerned by the proliferation of these ‘secret remedies’ and published a book in 1909 called Secret Remedies - What They Contain. The book revealed the contents of these medicines and accused their creators of behaving unethically. A person named in the book was Major Charles Henry Stevens who had created ‘Umckaloabo’ while in South Africa to cure tuberculosis. The remedy sold well in Britain and he tried - unsuccessfully - to pursue a libel case against the British Medical Association. Modern examination of his remedy has revealed it may have contained some health benefits.
In the 1891 Sherlock Holmes story, A Case of Identity, Holmes proves that a letter has been written on a specific typewriter. Conan Doyle was ahead of his time because this story was written three years before the handwriting expert, William E Hagan, stated each typewriter produced its own peculiar type. The first part of the twentieth century saw a number of court cases where typewritten documents were forensically examined for evidence.
Finchley is a suburb of north London these days, but its history can be traced back to the 13th century. The area was predominantly farmed until the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in the 1860s. Speculative Victorian housing developments followed, and the area was swallowed up by London’s rapid growth between the wars. These days, it’s a popular residential area. Finchley was the constituency of Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. She represented the area as a Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1992.
Death in Kensington
An Augusta Peel Mystery Book 8
Killer couture: murder is in fashion
A high-society fashion show is not Augusta Peel’s usual idea of entertainment. But when she’s offered a spare ticket, the chance to see a show by a renowned designer is too good to miss.
The glittering event takes a turn when a rising model is found dead after the show. Augusta embarks on a murder investigation where the glamour of fashion collides with the deadly secrets of the wealthy. And as the stakes are raised, Augusta must use all her wits to unravel the threads before someone else becomes a victim.
Find out more here: mybook.to/death-kensington
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