| Baker Street Irregulars | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Known Member Names |
Wiggins, Simpson, Cartwright, Billy |
|
First Appearance |
A Study in Scarlet (1887) |
|
Original Publisher |
Ward Lock & Co |
|
Created by |
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
Origin[]
The Baker Street Irregulars are street boys who are employed by Sherlock Holmes as intelligence agents. The group of street urchins is led by a boy called Wiggins. They run errands and track down information for Holmes. According to Holmes, they are able to "go everywhere and hear everything". Holmes also says that they "are as sharp as needles, too; all they want is organization."
In the novel A Study in Scarlet, when Watson meets the group, he describes them as "half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on". Holmes introduces them as "the Baker Street division of the detective police force". The group enters 221B Baker Street together, but since they upset Holmes's landlady (who is unnamed in this story but later named Mrs. Hudson), Holmes tells them that in future, only their leader Wiggins should report to him. He pays them each a shilling to track down a certain cabman. They find the cabman, Jefferson Hope, successfully. Wiggins brings him to 221B Baker Street, where the cabman is apprehended by Holmes.
In The Sign of the Four, which takes place in 1888, it is shown that Holmes pays them each a shilling per day (equivalent to £7 in 2023), and Holmes offers a guinea prize (equivalent to £148 in 2023) as a reward for the one who locates the steam launch that he wants them to find. As in A Study in Scarlet, the group enters 221B Baker Street together and Holmes instructs them to only have Wiggins report to him in future. Wiggins receives three shillings and sixpence (which he calls "Three bob and a tanner") from Holmes for expenses in addition to his regular wage. Holmes directs the Baker Street Irregulars to search for a steam launch called the Aurora. However, they do not succeed and Holmes ultimately joins the search by disguising himself as a sailor. Though approximately seven years have passed since A Study in Scarlet, Wiggins is still the leader of the Baker Street Irregulars. He is described as being taller and older than the others, and has an "air of lounging superiority".
One of the group appears in the short story "The Adventure of the Crooked Man" (1893). In the story, Holmes has a member of the group, named Simpson, watch Henry Wood. As Holmes says, "I have one of my Baker Street boys mounting guard over him who would stick to him like a burr, go where he might". Simpson, whom Watson describes as "a small street Arab", briefly appears in the story to report to Holmes.
Though not one of the Baker Street Irregulars, a similar character named Cartwright appears in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901). Cartwright, who works in a district messenger office, secretly runs errands for Holmes on the moor and keeps him supplied while disguised as a country boy. At one point Watson sees the disguised Cartwright running errands, and describes him as "a small urchin" and a "ragged uncouth figure". Cartwright is described as a "lad of fourteen" in the novel. Another similar character, a pageboy named Billy, assists Holmes in "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone".
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- A Study in Scarlet (1887)
- The Sign of the Four (1890)
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891)
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901)
- The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
Notes[]
- The name was used for the literary society The Baker Street Irregulars founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley.
- The Special Operations Executive (SOE), tasked by Winston Churchill to "set Europe ablaze" during World War II, had its headquarters at 64 Baker Street and was often called "the Baker Street Irregulars" after Sherlock Holmes's fictional group.