Arthur Conan Doyle Timeline

During a break in his studies, Doyle signed on as ship's surgeon aboard the whaler Hope for a voyage into the Arctic. The dangerous and adventurous journey left him with lasting memories that he later drew upon in stories like 'The Captain of the Pole-Star.'

Doyle served as the doctor aboard the steamer Mayumba on a voyage to the west coast of Africa. The unpleasant experience convinced him to abandon life at sea and settle into a medical practice on land.

Doyle established a medical practice in Southsea, near Portsmouth, with a former classmate named George Budd. After a falling out, he opened his own practice. With patients slow to arrive, he spent his free time writing fiction.

Doyle closed his Southsea practice and traveled to Vienna to study ophthalmology. After further study in London, he set up an eye clinic in Paddington, which attracted few patients, freeing him to write full time.

Doyle built Undershaw, a house designed to his specifications in Hindhead, Surrey, partly for the benefit of his wife's health. He lived there until 1907, hosting notable guests including J.M. Barrie and Bram Stoker.

Image source: Undershaw

Despite being nearly forty, Doyle volunteered as a civilian doctor in a field hospital at Bloemfontein during the Boer War. He treated typhoid-ravaged troops and wrote 'The Great Boer War,' defending Britain's conduct against critics abroad.

Image source: Second Boer War

Doyle received a knighthood for his services during the Boer War and his pamphlet 'The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct,' which helped defend British policy amid international criticism. He reportedly turned down other honors earlier.

Louisa Doyle died at age 49 after a long battle with tuberculosis. Doyle had cared for her devotedly throughout her illness, though he had also developed feelings for Jean Leckie, whom he had met in 1897 and promised to remain faithful to.

Doyle used his fame and investigative skills to clear the name of George Edalji, a solicitor wrongly convicted of animal mutilations and imprisoned. His campaign exposed police errors and helped establish the principle that convictions should be reviewed.

Two years after Louisa's death, Doyle married Jean Leckie, with whom he had been involved since 1897. They moved to Windlesham, a house near Crowborough in Sussex, and had three children: Denis, Adrian, and Lena Jean.

Doyle championed the cause of Oscar Slater, a German Jew wrongly convicted of murder in Glasgow. Doyle wrote pamphlets exposing inconsistencies in the trial, and Slater was eventually released in 1927 after eighteen years of imprisonment.

Image source: Oscar Slater

Doyle wrote two major works expounding his spiritualist beliefs, arguing that spiritualism offered comfort and proof of life after death in the wake of the devastating losses of World War I. These marked his full public commitment to the movement.

Following the deaths of his son Kingsley and brother Innes, and influenced by his experiences of wartime grief, Doyle publicly embraced spiritualism. He became its most famous advocate, lecturing extensively around the world about communication with the dead.

Image source: Spiritualism (beliefs)

Doyle published an article endorsing the Cottingley fairy photographs, taken by two young girls in Yorkshire, as genuine evidence of fairies. His endorsement became one of history's most famous cases of credulity, though the photos were revealed as hoaxes decades later.

Image source: Cottingley Fairies

Doyle undertook exhausting lecture tours across North America and beyond, preaching spiritualism to packed audiences. Despite declining health, he continued promoting the cause internationally, becoming the movement's most prominent public figure.

Arthur Conan Doyle died of a heart attack at age 71 at Windlesham, his home in Crowborough. He passed away holding his heart, reportedly telling his wife, 'You are wonderful.' His spiritualist followers held seances hoping to contact him, and he remains celebrated as the creator of Sherlock Holmes.