Did the creator of Sherlock Holmes send his widow a message from beyond the grave?

Days after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's death, 10,000 people attended a mass séance at London's Royal Albert Hall with the author and spiritualist's family. What happened next is set for a reconstruction by playwright and 'sceptical believer' Danny Robins

- By James Moore

AT 7PM ON Sunday July 13, 1930, some 10,000 people squeezed inside the Royal Albert Hall excitedly awaiting the appearance of their hero, Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — even though he was already dead. The writer had passed away after suffering a heart attack just days earlier on July 7, aged 71.

But following the great man’s burial, the Spiritualist Association had wasted no time in organising a mass séance, determined to see if Conan Doyle, a noted fan of spiritualism, might return to pass on a message from the “other side”.

At the eerie event, his widow Lady Jean Leckie Conan Doyle even took to the stage with four of his children. They sat alongside an empty chair reserved for Conan Doyle himself, complete with his name card.

Joining them was a celebrated clairvoyant, Estelle Roberts, who would soon dramatically announce: “He is here!”

Over the years, the Royal Albert Hall has hosted everything from the Proms to pop concerts, political rallies, sumo wrestling and a boxing bout featuring the Krays. Conan Doyle himself was even a judge at a bodybuilding contest there in 1896.

But the iconic West London building has also been the venue for 50 séances and spiritualist events. Most sensational of all these was the one held 95 years ago this summer—and its drama was worthy of a Sherlock Holmes mystery story. Did Conan Doyle’s spirit really return, as alleged? And just what was the message he apparently passed to his widow Lady Conan Doyle?

Now, as the bizarre spectacle is set to be reconstructed for a special event, hosted by TV presenter Danny Robins, we can reveal what we do know about that strange night.

Doyle himself was a firm believer in psychic phenomena. Born a Catholic in 1859 in Edinburgh, he began attending séances and ghost hunts as a young doctor.