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In the summer of 1917, in leafy Cottingley Glen near Shipley in West Yorkshire, Elsie Wright aged 16, and her cousin Frances Griffiths aged 9, claimed to have taken photographs of fairies. The photographs showed the fairies flying around the glen in the company of the girls.
The photographs were later seen by Arthur Conan Doyle, who included them in an article he was writing about fairy lore. The article was published in the Christmas 1920 edition of the Strand magazine.
Doyle had an intense interest in other spiritual worlds and came from a family who were fascinated by fairies. His artist uncle Richard was famous for his fairy illustrations.and they were also sketched by his father Charles. Doyle went on to write The Coming of the Fairies (1922) which contained three extra photographs taken by the girls.
His writings on the subject were met with a mixed response, but it was not until the 1980s that Elsie and Frances admitted that the pictures were faked. Ironically, they revealed that the images were cut from the pages of Princess Mary’s Gift Book, a wartime fundraising volume to which Doyle himself had contributed a story.
Some modern versions of the paper fairies were made by the children from Bunny Warren Pre-school Nursery group who meet in Fratton community centre. There was also an exhibition case featuring objects and documents from the Collection and a storytelling session for the children.
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To see more images and find out more about The Conan Doyle Collection, please email: sherlock.holmes@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Inspiration
Online exhibitions featuring items from The Conan Doyle Collection and celebrating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's connection with Portsmouth.- You are here: Exhibitions > Arthur and George 123 Arthur and George A joint exhibition from The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, at Portsmouth City Council, and the ITV production which starred Martin Clunes as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which first aired in March 2015.
- As part of the Sharing Sherlock project Portsmouth MIND group designed, built and painted their own personal version of this most famous of imaginary places, the study of Sherlock Holmes and his fellow detective
- Not only did sport feature in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction, he was also an active sportsman himself.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first two Sherlock Holmes stories while living in Portsmouth where he had arrived in 1882 to set up a doctor’s practice at 1 Bush Villas, Elm Grove, Southsea
- Due to his success as a writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the opportunity to travel widely and often took his family. From Canada and America, to Australia, Ceylon and Egypt,
- Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also wrote science fiction and had a surprising belief in fairies at the bottom of the garden.
- Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about 60 stories starring his most famous creation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.
- Arthur Conan Doyle’s science fiction novel The Lost World is an exploration of a dangerous and exotic place, where prehistoric creatures still thrive
- When Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he had no idea of how popular his hero was to become. Soon famous as a man of many disguises,
- Since Sherlock Holmes was introduced to the public in The Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887 thousands of people have taken part in a Sherlock Holmes ‘fan’ culture.
- In Arthur Conan Doyle’s story The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, a resourceful young woman seeks help from Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
- The students of Harbour School’s Key Stage 3 Group created fanciful masks and costumes inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s story Charles Augustus Milverton.
- Learn all about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated 'consulting detective' Sherlock Holmes, in this free exhibit at Portsmouth Museum.
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