I went on a day trip to Southsea recently.
The main reason for my visit was to take a look at the place where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once lived and worked.
I lived in Southsea during my last few terms at primary school and my first few terms at secondary school. I went back there once or twice as an adult, but for personal reasons only: I wanted to lay some ghosts from the past. I didn’t know about the Conan Doyle and Kipling connections at the time. I didn’t know anything about the number 33 either, which by chance is the number of the house that I lived in – and other houses I have connections with.
I have already posted pictures of Kipling’s House of Desolation, which is still standing; unfortunately, what might be called Conan Doyle’s House of Success is no longer there.
Conan Doyle’s life in Southsea
Arthur Conan Doyle came to Southsea at the age of 23 with the intention of establishing a medical practice. He set up as a doctor in what was then No.1 Bush Villas, Elm Grove:
“Victorian doctors lived on the fees they charged their patients, so Conan Doyle researched into the locations of other established doctors in the town before setting up as a GP at No. 1 Bush Villas, near the junction of Elm Grove and King’s Road in Southsea. For the first few months business was slow, but gradually over time Conan Doyle became more well-known as a doctor, advertising his services whenever he could and making sure that his name was mentioned in the newspaper whenever he attended an accident...”
The main reason for my visit was to take a look at the place where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once lived and worked.
I lived in Southsea during my last few terms at primary school and my first few terms at secondary school. I went back there once or twice as an adult, but for personal reasons only: I wanted to lay some ghosts from the past. I didn’t know about the Conan Doyle and Kipling connections at the time. I didn’t know anything about the number 33 either, which by chance is the number of the house that I lived in – and other houses I have connections with.
I have already posted pictures of Kipling’s House of Desolation, which is still standing; unfortunately, what might be called Conan Doyle’s House of Success is no longer there.
Conan Doyle’s life in Southsea
Arthur Conan Doyle came to Southsea at the age of 23 with the intention of establishing a medical practice. He set up as a doctor in what was then No.1 Bush Villas, Elm Grove:
“Victorian doctors lived on the fees they charged their patients, so Conan Doyle researched into the locations of other established doctors in the town before setting up as a GP at No. 1 Bush Villas, near the junction of Elm Grove and King’s Road in Southsea. For the first few months business was slow, but gradually over time Conan Doyle became more well-known as a doctor, advertising his services whenever he could and making sure that his name was mentioned in the newspaper whenever he attended an accident...”
