Who Knew?

SHERLOCK HOLMES WAS A BUS DRIVER

Omnibus.
Sherlock Holmes was the driver of a horse-drawn omnibus. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would often take the bus, which ran from his home in West Hampstead to his publisher's in Baker Street, London.


221B to Baker Street.
Sherlock had worked on the 221B route for more than 15 years. His conductor for that same period had been his good friend John Watson. Watson was not a doctor, but was a keen first-aider. He had taken the first class - given by Surgeon-Major, Peter Shepherd, and a Dr Coleman - in the Presbyterian school hall in Woolwich in 1877. He was a kind-hearted man and was delighted to have taken the 'first aid for the injured' course. It brought him that little bit closer to achieving his childhood dream of becoming a Knight Hospitallier.


Observation.
Holmes fascinated Conan Doyle with his uncanny observational abilities. Sherlock could tell the name of the driver, conductor and horse that were on the route ahead of him,purely by the method in which the droppings had been cleared from the road. From this and the wheel ruts in the manure he could ascertain the exact omnibus that was being used.
Sherlock could also tell the occupation of bus passengers while they still stood at the bus stop. He could often tell what they had for breakfast, whether they were married or single, whether they smoked or not and when they last bathed or had their clothes cleaned. His skills were uncanny. Sherlock did it, 'just for fun really'. While it was done for fun his skills had been honed by his constant searching for the elusive bus inspector, Joseph Moriarty.

Great Famine.
Moriarty arrived in England in 1850 during the Great Famine. He had seen the starvation and the disease that had spread in Ireland  taking the lives of his parents and siblings. An aunt and uncle had taken him and brought him to London in an attempt to avoid starvation. Moriarty had wished they had left him in his home-place to die with the rest of his family. He never wanted to come to England, to the country where the oppressor lived, but you had to cut your coat to suit your cloth.


Misery.
Moriarty ate sparingly throughout his life in respect for his siblings who had starved to feed him, the baby of the family. He was a thin, bitter, friendless man who spent every hour he could in making the lives of the British as miserable as he legally could. He had achieved this by finding employment with the London General Omnibus Company. By working his way up to Inspector, he now had the authority to find cause to fine and fire the staff to make them as miserable as himself.

Disguise.
Moriarty would disguise himself so that the drivers and conductors would not recognise him as he boarded the buses. He would even wear women's clothing to achieve his aims. He would also wear sacks filled with newspapers to give his emaciated frame some bulk. He would also wear theatrical make-up and false beards and mustachios all with the sole purpose of boarding buses incognito in order to catch drivers running late, running early, failing to stop at bus-stops, failing to clear their horse's manure form the road, etc. He would likewise look for misdemeanours on the part of the conductors and then he would make his reports and hopefully it would result in the misery of others and his delight. In the last ten years, Moriarty had been a central figure is the sacking of more than 40 staff.

Mutual hatred.
Sherlock Holmes hated the man with a passion for his conniving ways. Moriarty likewise hated Holmes as he could not catch him or his conductor for any breach in their contract. Sherlock had thwarted Moriarty time and again, but only by being thoroughly observant and always complying with the company's rules and regulations.

This was the blueprint for the most famous fictional detective the world has ever known.


Thanks to the Hampstead Archives of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.