Sherlock Holmes was a man of logic, deduction, and practicality. He was also the complete opposite of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
You may believe that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a genius for creating the great Sherlock Holmes, and he was. But, Sir Arthur was also a bit of a nut who seemed to fall for every spiritualist hoax available back in the early 1900s.
1. Believed He Touched His Mother’s Spirit
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular at the seances in the early 1900s. In fact, newspapers throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States would report on Sir Arthur’s spiritual adventures with either enthusiasm and a touch of sarcasm.
Back in 1922, while Sir Arthur was in New York City, he was invited to witness a seance and materialization given by a Mrs. Eva A. Thompson.
“It was at my house… New York, that the great Englishman, Sir Conan Doyle… were heartlessly deceived by William R. Thompson and Eva A. Thompson, who claim to be materializing mediums.”
Before the seance began, Sir Arthur and the other spectators were given a list of rules to follow.
“…there are two or three points we must warn you about. If you don’t comply with these, the sittings can’t go on…. These are, first, that you promise to sing… You must sing while Eva Thompson is going into a trance; you must sing in between.”
Although he was partly deaf, Sir Arthur agreed to sing when the moment demanded it.
“One other condition is that you don’t get up and rudely turn on the lights… If the light is turned on, it might kill…”
Of course, if the light was turned on, the ruse would have been over and the spiritualist would be labelled a fraud.
“Likewise, if you touch the spirit you will probably kill yourself.”
The final rule was to give the spirit some good old space and don’t stare at it. That was considered rude in the spirit world.
After the list of rules were read out and Sir Arthur agreed to them, the seance began. He and the other guests began singing hymns, waiting for a spirit to materialize.
After singing several hymns, the spirits began to appear, but the most notable spirit of the night was that of Sir Arthur’s mother.
“I am she for whose sake my son, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, would travel far to speak with…”
Sir Arthur was overwhelmed with emotion and his entire demeanor changed from great author to that of a young boy who loved his mother.
“At that Conan Doyle… was overcome with emotion…. His voice came pleading, like a little boy crying to his mother whom he trusted.”
Sir Arthur pleaded with his mother to show him that it was really her. Finally, he begged for the opportunity to touch his mother’s spirit. This was granted, but he was only allowed to lightly touch the back of her hand.
When face to sheet with his mother, who was a spirit clad in a hooded, white cloak, Sir Arthur gently touched that back of her hand.
“He touched her hand on its back. He was well over the verge of tears.”
It was an emotional moment for Sir Arthur and he truly believed that he had touched his mother. In fact, he had bragged about having touched spirits without realizing that he was being duped by mediums across the world.
“… Sir Arthur Conan Doyle… declared solemnly that he had not only talked to his departed loved ones, but had also seen and touched them…”
Ironically enough, three days after the great show was put on for Sir Arthur, a police woman and a detective attended one of Eva Thompson’s seances and captured her feisty spirit.
“The second seance was three nights later, when Policewoman Geneveive McLaughlin and Detective Andrew McLaughlin.. were present. … Accordingly, Miss McLaughlin grappled with the spirit… while Detective McLaughlin took care of Thompson. When the lights were turned on the spirit proved to be Eva Thompson… Arrest of the two Thompsons followed.” [1]
2. Spirit Photography
Sir Arthur was also a believer in the spirit photographs that were popular in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Because he wanted to fully experience the spirit world, he had a photographer make a spirit photograph of him and his deceased son. In the picture, Sir Arthur claimed that his spirit son only sort of looked like his once living son, but he also claimed that there was no way in which the photograph could have been manipulated.
“Spiritualistic photograph of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle… which is also alleged to show a likeness of his dead son… He says the photograph has a general but not very exact resemblance to his son, that no manipulation or fraud could have been perpetrated.” [2]
3. Refused the Truth
In fact, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was so wrapped up in the Spiritualism Movement that even his more down to earth acquaintances could not change his mind.
“Mr. Young was invited by Sir Arthur to attend a spiritualistic seance in England, and he went with the distinguished writer with an open and sympathetic mind… Mr. Young noticed a phonograph horn and music box were part of the paraphernalia of the room… Pretty soon a ‘spirit voice’ began to come out of the horn, and Mr. Young noiselessly put his hand out in the darkness… discovered the horn… and that the small end or mouthpiece of the horn was pointed in the direction of the spirit medium.”
A voice came from the spirit horn, claiming to be the mother of one of the guests. The guest asked the spirit to touch her and…
“Mr. Young gently touched the lady on his right on her arm, knee and dress…”
Mr. Young, apparently, liked to get touchy feely with women in the dark.
While still in the dark, Mr. Young lifted the spirit horn out of the circle, set it behind him, and effectively ended the spirit session.
Shortly after this session, Young wrote a letter to Sir Arthur, telling him exactly what he did. In response, Sir Arthur wrote:
“Dear Sir – I was ashamed and amazed to learn from Mrs. — that you had admitted to her after the seance that you had been producing bogus phenomena and had seized the trumpet, thus interfering with the proceedings and spoiling the sitting. I could not have conceived you capable, as my guest, of acting in such a manner. I fear this unpleasant incident may be the end of our acquaintance. I have apologized to the medium.” [3]
4. Believed in Fairies
Sir Arthur also believed that the staged, but famous, fairy photos were real. While I certainly do not was to tick off any of the little spirits (they have been known to get rather cross with us mere mortals), it is clear to the observant eye that the famous fairy photos were fake. [4]
5. Radio the Dead
Not surprisingly, Sir Arthur took to the radio trend immediately back in 1922. He believed that the radio could one day be used to communicate with the dead.
“As to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s suggestion that radio may at some time make possible communication with the dead, and are now in what Sir Arthur terms the spirit world, I can only reply that I cannot take the suggestion with seriousness….” [5]
