22 Mind-Blowing Facts About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15. Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson Were Very Nearly "Sheridan Hope" And "Ormond Sacker"

When Conan Doyle penned his first mystery tale A Study in Scarlet - originally entitled A Tangled Skein - during the 1880s, his main protagonist was initially called "Sheridan Hope" and the assistant was named "Ormond Sacker". Thankfully, by the time it was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in November 1886, Conan Doyle had changed the detective's name to "Sherlock Holmes" and his assistant's to "Dr John Watson". Somehow it seems unlikely that "Sheridan Hope" would have been quite as universal a success as "Sherlock Holmes"...