About Abbey
Abbey and Sherlock Holmes
Abbey enjoyed its unique relationship with the world's greatest detective for more than 50 years. One of the company's London sites used to be at 221b Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes throughout most of his illustrious career.
Letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes at 221b Baker Street began to arrive at Abbey House from all over the world, as many as 30 a month, almost as soon as the building opened for business in 1932. As a result Abbey decided that there should be a secretary to Sherlock Holmes to ensure that correspondents would not be disappointed. This continued until the company’s head office moved to Triton Square in 2002.
Abbey House
Abbey House was built for the Abbey Road Building Society and opened on 18th March 1932 and remained the company's head office until the move to Triton Square in 2002. To celebrate its special relationship with Sherlock Holmes, Abbey commissioned the sculptor, John Doubleday, to create a bronze statue to stand at the entrance to Baker Street Tube Station. The statue, which was unveiled on 23 September 1999, commemorated Abbey's 150th anniversary and is a fitting symbol of Abbey's pride in the significance of this site.
Holmes the Man
Sherlock Holmes is described as having been sixty years old in 1914 (His Last Bow), which suggests that he was born in 1854. Many fans believe his birthday to be 6th January and many birthday cards arrive at 221b Baker Street on this date each year.
He retired in 1903/1904 according to The Creeping Man, having begun his professional career as a detective in about 1878. It was while he was at college that Holmes began to consider sleuthing as a possible profession. A classmate's father pointed out that he could make a living out of his hobby.
Holmes' practice began gradually and he joined forces with Watson in 1882. From the late 1880s until 1891, Holmes spent much of his time pursuing the master criminal Moriarty. This culminated in their fatal battle at the Reichenbach Falls, where Moriarty perished.
Holmes returned 'from the dead' and took up practice again in 1891, having spent three years in hiding from Moriarty's henchmen.
The great detective's services to England caused Edward VII to offer him a knighthood in 1902 but, in typical Holmes fashion, he declined. In 1903/4 Holmes retired to the Sussex coast, where he pursued his hobby of beekeeping and perused the records of his past cases. He was temporarily lured out of retirement to assist his country in the Great War. He was successful in giving false information to the Germans and in arresting the spymaster Von Bork.
Conan Doyle endowed Sherlock Holmes with a most distinctive appearance. So much so that even now the Holmes profile is immediately familiar.
Holmes was never more alive than when engaged on a particularly taxing case.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had no idea when he wrote A Study in Scarlet, that in creating Sherlock Holmes, he was creating an enigma. Sherlock Holmes was to become a vital part of his life, so much so, that the character has outlived his creator.
A Study in Scarlet, the first Holmes story, appeared initially in Beeton's Christmas Annual of 1887. The publisher Ward Lock bought the manuscript outright for just £25.
It was Strand Magazine which introduced most of the Holmes stories to the public and made Doyle famous. But Doyle felt he was capable of better things. In the 24th story, The Final Problem, Doyle killed Holmes in a struggle with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.
The public outcry was astonishing. Black armbands were worn and letters of protest flooded the offices of Strand Magazine. Eventually, in 1901, Doyle was persuaded to resurrect the great detective and The Hound of the Baskervilles was published. The story was set before Holmes' disappearance, so it was not a real comeback.
But in 1903, Holmes did reappear, much to the delight of his fans, in a story called The Empty House. By the time of his death in 1930, Doyle had written no less than 60 Holmes adventures.
Holmes finally `retired' in 1927, when Conan Doyle wrote: "And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of thought, which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance."