Arthur Conan Doyle’s Ghost Photo

The Case of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Spirit Photograph

Spirit Photograph of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (Nationaal Archief/flickr)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Born May 22, 1859; Died July 7, 1930…A brilliant and prolific writer, most famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories and Lost World. But did you know that Doyle was also a fervent believer in spiritualism?

Conan Doyle wasn’t always a believer in spiritualism, fairies and the occult. In his earlier days, Doyle, a doctor of medicine was quite skeptical of such things; however he did believe in a higher being. Eventually, after much reading and hands on investigation, he became convinced of the validity of spiritualism and mediums; in particular one controversial medium by the name of William Hope (1863-1933). This new-found belief of Doyle’s and his defense of Hope and also the infamous Cottingley Fairies photographs subjected him to ridicule in some quarters.

I’ve featured William Hope’s work at this site before; which is why when I came across the photograph in this post (pictured on the right) I was quite delighted. I knew of the connection between the two men, I just couldn’t recall seeing the great writer in any of Hope’s photographs that I had seen before.

According to the Nationaal Archief, this photo represents “The spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, according to his widow Lady Conan Doyle. The photo was taken during a session with the English Reverend Tweedale, with the help of the photographic medium Mr. Hope.”

Unfortunately they don’t have a date to go with this photo and I haven’t been able to track it down yet. Personally, I can’t see the Reverend in this photo, perhaps he was elsewhere in the room or really obscured. But the good Reverend is also an interesting character too as it turns out, as he was a leading voice for spiritualism in Britain.

This isn’t the only spirit photograph of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have this feeling that there were quite a few made by various spirit photographers. However, here’s one that I have found and find quite interesting too: it’s a photograph of a séance and the medium has ‘ectoplasm’ spewing out of her nose…In the ‘ectoplasm’ is the smiling face of Sir Arthur, along with a skull and other images. That particular photograph was taken by Dr. Thomas Glendenning Hamilton of Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Photo: Conan Doyle’s Return)

Although it’s clear that these spirit photographs of Sir Arthur are fakes I still find them fascinating. I also can’t help but to admire the memorializing of an ardent believer such as Doyle in these spirit photographs. It’s a wonderful bit of somewhat fitting history. Now if you’ll excuse me, the game is afoot and I’m off to search for more spirit photos of one of the most creative and brilliant minds in literary history.

Sources and Further Reading:

- The New Revelation by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Biography of a Spiritualist
- Wikipedia: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Nationaal Archief / Flickr: Spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Photography Museum: Conan Doyle’s Return
- William Hope – Secrets of the Crewe Circle of Spirit Photographers
- Wikipedia: Spiritualism

Related Post: A Curious 1920’s Spirit Photograph