John Watson's School Days

Abstract

The paper discusses the questions of the secondary school that Watson attended and the dates of his attendance at it. Conan Doyle's attitude to the game of rugby is used to exclude certain schools as a real-life model for Watson's secondary school.

Also discussed are the "Board schools" operating in England and Wales in the second half of the Victorian era: what they were and why Conan Doyle had Holmes refer to them in "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty."

Keywords: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson's secondary education, Board schools