Fiction imitates real life in a case of true inspiration

The man who inspired Dr Holmes was so astute that the police enlisted his help to catch the ripper, writes Robert Hume.

THE unmistakable silhouette of Sherlock Holmes, with his curly pipe and deerstalker hat, is familiar the world over. Much less well known, however, is the fact that Holmes is based largely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s university teacher, Dr Joseph Bell, who died 100 years ago in October, 1911.

Bell was born in 1837 into a family of surgeons, and at eighteen accepted a place at the Edinburgh Medical School. There he was taught how to observe patients very closely; and it was this attention to detail that he practised throughout his life.