Always 1895

August 7th - Is Today Dr Watson’s Birthday?

Mike Hagan, who happens to be the Tantalus for The Stormy Petrels of Maumee Bay (a BSI Scion since 1974) in Toledo, OH, recently emailed me inquiring about the possible date(s) of Dr John H. Watson’s birthday. In particular Mr Hagan wanted to know whether or not I thought July 7th or August 7th was the more appropriate date to celebrate the birth of everyone’s favorite “one fixed point”.

We all ‘know’ - thanks to rigorous speculation and pleasant wishful thinking by Christopher Morley and friends - that Sherlock Holmes’s birthday falls on January 6th. In fact we are so sure that Holmes was born on this date that the annual BSI Week in NYC (as well as the Sherlock Holmes Society in England) is scheduled to coincide with said date. (I sometimes wonder how many Southern or West Coast Sherlockians wish that Morley’s reasoning had led to a more temperate date?) But what of Holmes’ best friend and Boswell? Is Watson not equally deserving of some speculative gymnastics for determining a date on which to celebrate his birthday?

After receiving Mr Hagan’s question, William S. Baring-Gould’s excellent and still highly relevant biographical study of the Great Detective Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World’s First Consulting Detective (1962) immediately came to mind*. And of course after a quick perusal I came across ‘Appendix I: The Chronological Holmes’ (p. 293) where WSB states that John Hamish Watson was born on Saturday, August 7, 1852.

But because we are Sherlockians, one date - one specific, simple, uncontroversial date - is never enough…

Michael Hardwick in The Private Life of Dr Watson: Being the Personal Reminiscence of John H Watson MD mentions on page 10 that John Hamish Watson was born on July 7, 1852.

[The excellent and quite entertaining dusk jacket for The Private Life of Dr Watson by Michael Hardwick.]

When doing a search for “Watson’s birthday” in my digital copy (from the CD-ROM) of the BSJ (from 1946 - 2000) I received four unique references:

1) BSJ - September 1974 (Vol.24 No.3) ‘Doctor Watson - A Case of Identity’ by Betty Jo Graves.

The first line (it’s a poem) states: “Written on the Occasion of Watson’s Birthday.” Though the poem never refers to an actual date, we might assume that Ms Graves had the August date in mind since the BSJ issue in which it appeared is from September.

2) BSJ - December 1974 (Vol.24 No.4) From ‘The Scion Societies’ section (p. 245)

“Noble and Most Singular Order of the Blue Carbuncle of Portland, Oregon - The Annual Watson’s Birthday Party was held on 7 July with thirty members in attendance. Anne Kirwin provided both Watson’s birthday cake and a Mr. Magoo Sherlock Holmes cartoon. Following the cartoon, innumerable bottles of champagne provided ample opportunity for uncountable toasts to the indomitable doctor.”

3) BSJ - June 1988 (Vol.38 No.2) From ‘The Sherlockian Societies’ section (p. 119).

The Silver Blazers of Louisville, Kentucky announced that “Finally, agreement was reached to hold quarterly meetings, two of them on or near 6 January and 7 August to commemorate Holmes’s and Watson’s birthdays, respectively.”

4) BSJ - December 1991 (Vol.41 No.4) From  ’The Sherlockian Societies’ section (p. 246).

Mrs Hudson’s Cliffdwellers of NJ mention that “A highlight of the meeting was the ‘Let’s Hear It for Dr. Watson” homework assignment, for which the members had to complete a limerick suggesting a date for Dr. Watson’s birthday.” Unfortunately, no specific date is mentioned though I’d be curious if any current Cliffdwellers have a record of any of these limericks. The piece mentions Bob Thomalen being in attendance and by total coincidence he is actually on my ‘to email’ list for this month, so I’ll be sure to mention it to him.

So if you are so inclined - regardless if my modicum of evidence has swayed you in one direction or another - join me in wishing the good (the best!) doctor a very happy birthday on this day, August 7th.

A special note of thanks to Mr Mike Hagan of The Stormy Petrels of Maumee Bay of Toledo, OH for inspiring this post.

Notes:

* Though WBG’s Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World’s First Consulting Detective (1962) is still relatively easy to come by used in either hard- or softcover, Christopher Roden & Barbara Roden of Calabash Press recently announced a forthcoming e-book version which is due out in late September (last I heard). Along with providing an searchable version of an excellent Sherlockian book, I hope the Roden’s re-release turns on an entirely new generation to the serious(ly) fun and whimsical speculation of WBG’s Holmesian biography. 

[Photo of one of my copies of WBG’s classic Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street.]

** Pure Coincidences: The Literary Agent, ACD, died on July 7th, 1929. Edward Hardwicke, the brilliant actor who took on the role of Watson after David Burke for Granada was born on August 7th, 1932 (Thanks to @BakerStJournal for the reminder!). 

*** Finally, check out this 2000 article from Sherlock Peoria’s Brad Keefauver “Birth of a Watson, Birth of a Canon” for further speculation.