The Notorious Canary-Trainers
A Scion of the Baker Street Irregulars
for friends and fans of Sherlock Holmes
-- celebrating our 40th year!

Clearing up a mystery: why do we celebrate Jan. 6 as Sherlock Holmes' birthday? And it's not just us, but Sherlockians around the world

Sherlock Holmes first meets the world in Beeton's in 1887.

Most Sherlockians worldwide annually observe Jan. 6 as the anniversary of the birth of Sherlock Holmes. That includes the membership of the Baker Street Irregulars, as well as the Notorious Canary-Trainers.

Why January 6?

The actual date of his birth is murky at best because the written evidence does not exist or, if it exists, has yet to be found.

For the non-believers, it's lacking because Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character who was born only in the mind of Arthur Conan Doyle For the believers, however, the lack of evidence is a testament to the poor record-keeping of such matters in the mid-19th Century in rural England.

As one Sherlockian scholar once remarked, as the best evidence, "Mr. Holmes' obituary has not appeared in the London Times, so he can not be dead."

For those in the believers' group, here's perhaps the key argument in favor of January 6 (as summarized by one of our members, Tom Drucker):

1) The Valley of Fear starts on the 7th of January

2) Holmes seems to be a little cranky and out of sorts at the beginning of the story.

3) Why would he be cranky and out of sorts? He must have a hangover.

4) Why would he have a hangover? He must have been celebrating the night before.

5) What could he have been celebrating? Surely it was his birthday.

That argument also is the one made by William S. Baring-Gould, who produced the first annotated Sherlock Holmes collection, plus other writings on Sherlock Holmes.

He also makes a second argument, as follows:

Holmes quotes Shakespeare often, but the only play he quotes twice is Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is January 6. It must be his favorite because it coincides with his birthday.

Some even may argue Sherlock Holmes' birthday really should be celebrated on December 2, the birthday of Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell is credited as being the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. (Learn more about Bell by clicking here, then use your back browser to return to this Web site.)

Others suggest Dec. 1 is a more appropriate anniversary to celebrate as it is the date in 1887 when the first Sherlock Holmes case study, "A Study in Scarlet," was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual, the 28th of the series, and thus also is the date Sherlock Holmes first came into the world.

Those who believe Holmes is a fictional character may favor the Bell or Beeton's dating.

For an argument for April 5 as the birthdate, click here and scroll down the page to the "Date of Birth?" section.

In the final analysis, whether you are a believer or not, what can be said without dispute is that Sherlock Holmes' birthday is celebrated each January 6 by most students of the Master Detective.

For our take on how to answer the question as to whether Sherlock Holmes really lived (and lives), check out our article here.

And what about Dr. John Watson's birthday?

Click here to read one argument that he was born March 31, 1853. (Or was it July 7, 1852?)