Doyle said that Holmes was inspired by Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infir

mary of Edinburgh for whom he had worked as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted
for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations.[1] However, he later wr
ote to Conan Doyle: "You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it".[2]
Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinbu
rgh Medical School, is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who
was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Doy
le with a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime.[3]
Life
Early life
Magazine cover featuring A Study in Scarlet, with drawing of a man lighting a la
mp
Holmes's first appearance in 1887
Details about Sherlock Holmes's life, except for the adventures in the books, ar
e scarce in Conan Doyle's original stories. Nevertheless, mentions of his early
life and extended family paint a loose biographical picture of the detective.
An estimate of Holmes's age in "His Last Bow" places his birth year at 1854; the
story, set in August 1914, describes him as 60 years of age. Leslie S. Klinger,
author of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, posits the detective's birthdate a
s 6 January.[4]
Holmes says that he first developed his methods of deduction as an undergraduate
; his earliest cases, which he pursued as an amateur, came from fellow universit
y students.[5] A meeting with a classmate's father led him to adopt detection as
a profession,[6] and he spent six years after university as a consultant before
financial difficulties led him to accept Watson as a fellow lodger (when the na
rrative of the stories begins).
Beginning in 1881 Holmes has lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London. According to
an early story[7] 221B is an apartment at the upper end of the street, up 17 st
eps. Until Watson's arrival Holmes worked alone, only occasionally employing age
nts from the city's underclass; these agents included a host of informants, and
a group of street children he called "the Baker Street Irregulars". The Irregula
rs appear in three stories: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four and "The Ad
venture of the Crooked Man".
His parents are not mentioned in the stories, although Holmes mentions that his
ancestors were "country squires". In "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", h
e claims that his great-uncle was French artist Horace Vernet. Holmes's brother
Mycroft, seven years his senior, is a government official who appears in "The Ad
venture of the Greek Interpreter", "The Final Problem" and "The Adventure of the
Bruce-Partington Plans" and is mentioned in "The Adventure of the Empty House".
Mycroft has a unique civil service position as a kind of human database for all
aspects of government policy but lacks Sherlock's interest in physical investig
ation, preferring to spend his time at the Diogenes Club.
Life with Watson
Holmes (in deerstalker hat) talking to Watson (in a bowler hat) in a railway com
partment
Holmes and Watson in a Sidney Paget illustration for "Silver Blaze"
Holmes shares most of his professional years with narrator John Watson, a physic
ian who lives with Holmes for some time before his 1887 marriage and again after
his wife's death. Their residence is maintained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson.
Most of the stories are frame narratives, written from Watson's point of view a
s summaries of the detective's most interesting cases. Holmes frequently calls W
atson's writing sensational and populist, suggesting that it fails to accurately
and objectively report the "science" of his craft:

Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the
same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it ["A Study in Sc
arlet"] with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a
love-story .... Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of
proportion should be observed in treating them. The only point in the case which
deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes, b
y which I succeeded in unravelling it.[8]
Sherlock Holmes on John Watson's "pamphlet", The Sign of the Four
Nevertheless, Holmes's friendship with Watson is his most significant relationsh
ip. In "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", Watson is injured; although the b
ullet wound turns out to be "quite superficial", Watson is moved by Holmes's rea
ction:
It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty
and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for
a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a g
limpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but
single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.[9]
According to "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" Holmes was in active practice
for 23 years, with Watson co-operating with him for 17.
The Great Hiatus
Holmes and Moriarty wrestling at the end of a narrow path, with Holmes's hat fal
ling into a waterfall
Holmes and Moriarty struggle at the Reichenbach Falls; drawing by Sidney Paget
Conan Doyle wrote the first set of stories over the course of a decade. Wishing
to devote more time to his historical novels, he killed off Holmes in "The Final
Problem" (which appeared in print in 1893, and is set in 1891). After resisting
public pressure for eight years, the author wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles
(which appeared in 1901, with an implicit setting before Holmes's death; some t
heorise that it occurs after "The Return", with Watson planting clues to an earl
ier date).[10][11] In 1903 Conan Doyle wrote "The Adventure of the Empty House",
set in 1894; Holmes reappears, explaining to a stunned Watson that he had faked
his death in "The Final Problem" to fool his enemies. "The Adventure of the Emp
ty House" marks the beginning of the second set of stories, which Conan Doyle wr
ote until 1927.
Holmes aficionados refer to the period from 1891 to 1894 between his disappearance
and presumed death in "The Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventur
e of the Empty House" as the Great Hiatus.[12] One later story ("A Reminiscence of
Sherlock Holmes", later known as "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge") is describe
d as taking place in 1892.
Retirement
In "His Last Bow", Holmes has retired to a small farm on the Sussex Downs. The m
ove is not dated precisely, but can be presumed to predate 1904 (since it is ref
erred to retrospectively in "The Second Stain", first published that year). He h
as taken up beekeeping as his primary occupation, producing a Practical Handbook
of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen. The s
tory features Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to aid the war effort.
Only one other adventure, "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (narrated by Holmes
), takes place during the detective's retirement. The details of his death are u
nknown.