Such explanations make the case, with varying success, for clever and competent plotting, or the bourgeois thirst for tidy adventure, or nostalgia for a vanished age (Victorian, or adolescent), or the Holmes–Watson dynamic (analyzed perhaps in terms of Jungian or queer theory), or the underlying and still-palpable gentlemanliness of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or even, of all things, for the quality of the writing itself, so much higher than it ever needed to be. Watson were a system, like semaphore or the pneumatic post, that ought long since to have been superseded. Exploring different names is part of the creative process, and as has happened with Sherlock Holmes and Sherrinford, it wouldn’t be surprising if other artists have taken the name Ormond Sacker and created their own character within the Sherlock and Watson universe, though obviously not as part of the Sherlock Holmes canon.One hundred and seventeen years after his first appearance in print, in the pages of Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887, fans and nonbelievers alike seem to feel compelled to try to explain Sherlock Holmes’s lasting appeal, marveling or shaking their heads at it, or both, as if the stories of the adventures with Dr. In fact, Watson’s wife Mary Morstan called him “James” in the story “ The Man with the Twisted Lip”, so it’s very possible that Conan Doyle was inspired by the real James Watson and hid some clues in John’s name.Īs for “Ormond Sacker”, it’s unknown how Conan Doyle came up with such a peculiar name, but it definitely wouldn’t have had the impact that a simpler name like John H. Conan Doyle then changed it to John Watson and added a middle name starting with “H”, which has been speculated to be “Hamish”, the Scottish Gaelic for “James”. Some sources claim that James Watson was the inspiration for the character of John Watson and that he wasn’t happy with the character being named “Ormond Sacker” but he didn't want his real name to be used either. Exactly why he changed Watson’s name is unknown, but many sources explain the name “John Watson” was most likely inspired by one of Conan Doyle’s colleagues: Dr. John Watson was initially named “Ormond Sacker”, but Conan Doyle changed his mind before the publication of A Study in Scarlet.
Watson, on the other hand, had an even weirder name, far from the final one everyone knows.Īccording to Conan Doyle’s notes, Dr. Sources vary as to what made him change the name to “Sherlock Holmes”, with some saying it was his wife who told him “Sherrinford Hope” wasn’t a good name while others explain that the stories of “Sherrinford Holmes” were rejected. The famous detective was initially named Sherrinford Hope (though some claim it was “Sherrinford Holmes”, sometimes written as “Sherringford”), but Conan Doyle was convinced to change it. Related: Sherlock Holmes Rights Explained: Why Nobody Owns The Great Detectiveīoth Sherlock Holmes and John Watson originally had different names, as shown by the surviving notes of Conan Doyle. John Watson, though the latter was almost not named like that. Sherlock and Watson’s adventures have been adapted to all types of media for over a hundred years and their stories continue to be fairly popular, and there’s not one person who doesn’t know the names of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson became very popular right away, to the point where, when Conan Doyle decided to kill the detective, he was heavily pressured by fans to bring him back, which he eventually did. The Great Detective appeared in a total of four novels and 56 short stories, all of them displaying his peculiar logical reasoning and deduction skills. Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and made his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet in 1887, after which he appeared in a number of short stories published in The Strand Magazine, beginning with “A Scandal in Bohemia” in 1891. John Watson, who originally had a very different name.
Sherlock Holmes is always accompanied by his friend and partner Dr.