India – ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ – featured large in the Victorian psyche, and no less among the characters that Sherlock Holmes encountered in his many cases. John Watson himself was invalided out of the army in India; the Agra treasure was lost in The Sign of Four, and Dr Grimesby Roylott established a large medical practice in Calcutta.

And of course an intrepid band of members will be travelling to India in February, making one of the Society’s most ambitious pilgrimages.

In anticipation of the trip we are delighted to welcome Dr Rosie Llewellyn-Jones MBE as our speaker on the subject of Sherlock Holmes and Victorian India. She is a renowned historian of colonial India, with an expertise particularly on Lucknow and its culture, and has authored several books on the city including three on Major General Claude Martin, founder of La Martinière Schools in India and France. Amongst her most recent publications are The Last King in India, Lucknow 1857 and Empire Building: The Construction of British India, published in 2023. She visits the subcontinent as frequently as possible. We are very lucky to have been able to catch her before our trip and before she travels once again to India at the end of January.

Although there is no direct evidence that Holmes visited India, Rosie Llewellyn-Jones’s contention is that he could have reached Tibet (during the great hiatus, as reported in The Adventure of the Empty House) only by travelling through India. Her lecture provides a unique opportunity to hear about Victorian India and its relevance to Holmes and so will be of interest all members, and there will be the opportunity for questions and discussion at the end.

The lecture will be held on Monday 20^th January 2025 at the Wellington Hotel by Blue Orchid, 71 Vincent Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 2PA at 6.30 for 7.00 pm  Many members will be familiar with the hotel as we have held several events there of late, but for those that are not, the hotel is located at the Rochester Row end of Vincent Square.  The closest tube stations are Victoria, Pimlico and St James’s Park. The Wellington Hotel is next door to the former Rochester Row Police Station, built in 1901 at 63 Rochester Row.  Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan’s cab travelled along Rochester Row and Vincent Square in The Sign of Four though that would have been before either of these buildings were built. We will be using the hotel bar and lounge for drinks before and after the talk.

Please note: This venue is cashless.

Members and their guests may attend the lecture for £10.00 per head; you can book via Mycroft using this link:

Book Now

Please make your booking by 17^th January. Note that the venue has limited space so please try to make your booking as soon as possible.

Anyone attending a Society function for the first time should bring along and display their yellow cards of introduction, so that we can identify them and introduce them to our members.  We look forward to seeing everyone on the night.

The Society likes to keep a record of its activities, including photographs of our meetings which are published in the Journal and on the Society’s website/Facebook page.  If you do not want to appear in a Society photograph please avoid being in any posed photographs and advise one of the meeting organisers.

Image by J. Bartholomew, Edinburgh Geographical Institute – Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume XXVI, Atlas, published under the authority of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1909, personal copy of Fowler&fowler (talk) 21:37, 8 April 2023 (UTC), Public Domain, Link