Talk:Arthur Conan Doyle

Semi-protected edit request on 11 December 2023
Under ‘sporting career’ it says “Southsea near Portsmouth” Southsea is IN Portsmouth, it’s an area of Portsmouth, it’s on Portsea Island so it’s part of Portsmouth not ‘near’ Portsmouth. 2A02:C7C:D41B:5C00:C06B:6D53:72C2:7BA9 (talk) 11:37, 11 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Southsea did not become part of Portsmouth until 1904 (see Wiki article on Southsea). The text is therefore correct, because it reflects the position at the time being discussed. Ponsonby100 (talk) 12:34, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

First marriage
How did he get married 4 years before he was born 38.81.82.54 (talk) 14:01, 12 March 2024 (UTC)


 * How is 1885 four years before 1859? ThaddeusSholto (talk) 14:30, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Detective Fiction
— Assignment last updated by Alijahedits (talk) 15:29, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

How to refer to him in the article ("proper" surname?)


I do find it very odd that this article uses "Doyle" rather than "Conan Doyle". So he's my breakdown of the arguments. The current argument in the article as its found at Arthur_Conan_Doyle:
 * baptism certificate
 * There doesn't seem to be a proper reference for this. Regardless, this would only support his birth surname and not the one that he himself chose to use in adulthood.
 * "The catalogues of the British Library and the Library of Congress treat "Doyle" alone as his surname" (ref = Redmond 2009)
 * The same source directly precedes this sentence with "He always signed himself "A. Conan Doyle", which leaves doubt whether he considered "Conan" a given name or the first part of a compound surname. His father was simply "Doyle", but his children have been determinedly "Conan Doyle."" -- This suggests someone is cherry picking the source to say what they want it too and ignoring what is actually says.
 * "Sherlock Holmes for Dummies"
 * Is this considered a reliable source?
 * Entry in The London Gazette
 * The entry is given as "Arthur Conan Doyle, Esq., M.D., D.L." not "Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle". It is ordered by the D of Doyle, but is also missing one of his names.

(Alternative) sources for the uses of "Conan Doyle":
 * Note 1 in the article supports the double surname
 * Looking at the source, it uses "Conan Doyle" to refer to him and also states in the preface: "always take care to look under D for Doyle but also C for Conan Doyle, the compound surname he preferred"
 * The source being misused above: "signed himself "A. Conan Doyle", which leaves doubt whether he considered "Conan" a given name or the first part of a compound surname. [...] his children have been determinedly "Conan Doyle.""
 * The flow of this reads that Arthur is clearly using the compound surname vs the simple "Doyle" that he was born with.
 * His children have the surname Conan Doyle
 * Why would his children have a surname that he didn't use for himself? (only illegitimacy would have meant a different surname to your father in this time period)
 * His article with the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is titled "Doyle, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan (1859–1930)" but he is referred to as "Conan Doyle" and even includes the helpful phrase, "Conan Doyle, as he became known", in the third paragraph.
 * The ONDB has top rating for source reliability vs something like Sherlock Holmes for Dummies
 * His grave stone lists his name as "Arthur Conan Doyle" and his wife's name as "Jean Conan Doyle"
 * Ergo, their married surname is "Conan Doyle" (unless she coincidentally had the same middle name as him already).
 * The Conan Doyle Estate uses Conan Doyle
 * Britannica uses Conan Doyle

My vote is for "Coman Doyle", and I don't think the current Name section is good enough. That, at least, needs rewriting. What does everyone think? Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 23:51, 15 June 2024 (UTC)
 * And just for good measure, talk:Arthur_Conan_Doyle/Archive_1 from 2013. Gaia Octavia Agrippa Talk 23:54, 15 June 2024 (UTC)


 * This is redolent of the Lloyd George case. Until his elevation to the peerage (when he became Lord Lloyd-George), his surname was simply George, Lloyd being his middle name, but he always referred to himself and was always referred to by others by his full name, David Lloyd George, or simply Lloyd George for short. The Lloyd was so inextricably associated in the public's mind with the George, that many probably thought that his surname was the unhyphenated double-barrelled "Lloyd George". But it wasn't. -- Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  00:07, 16 June 2024 (UTC)