Chesterton came from a middle class family, his father worked for an estate and auctioneer house. Gilbert attended St Paul’s School before entering the University College of London. He took classes in both illustration and literature but failed to get a degree in either. He dropped out and began to work for a publishing company. He stayed with this job until 1902 when he got his own weekly opinion column. He would continue to write this column for the “Daily News” and “The Illustrated London News” for the next thirty years.

During his life he would write more than 80 books, 4000 essays and several plays. He would become friends with some of the most creative literary minds of the time. He was a well known friend of both Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. It was also known that Gilbert had a tendency to be become distracted and would often miss appointments or take the wrong train.

In 1901 Gilbert married Frances Blogg to whom he would stay married until his death on June 14th 1936.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Arthur studied medicine and earned his medical degree at the university of Edinburgh. One of the most notable people he met at school was Dr. Joseph Bell, whom Arthur respected and admired. Many of Bell’s qualities, would show up in the character of Sherlock Holmes.

Young Dr. Doyle opened a practice in Portsmouth where he split his time between wring and his practice. It was here that he met and married his first wife Louise Hawkins in 1885. They would have two children together, Mary Louise (1889 – 1976 ) and Arthur Kingsley (1892-1918). Sadly, Louise contracted tuberculosis and died in 1906.

Arthur married his second wife, Jean Elizabeth Leckie in 1907. It was rumoured that Arthur had fallen in love with her years earlier but had kept their relationship plutonic out of respect for his first wife. They had three children together, Denis (1909-1955) Adrian Malcolm (1910-1970 and Jean Lena (1912-1997).

Arthur Conan Doyle was knighted in 1902. He ran a number of times for parliament and also went to Vienna to study as an eye doctor. Through all this he maintained his writing.

After writing numerous stories about Sherlock, Arthur began to feel that his more serious book and efforts were being overshadowed by his now famous detective character. This is one of the reasons he gave for deciding to end the character once and for all by killing him in the story “The Final Problem”.

Fortunately a combination of both public outcry and Arthur needing funds finally lead to the resurrection of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur is also famous for creating “The Lost World” Series which he wrote as a boy’s series.

Arthur died in 1930 on July 30th. He was buried in Hampshire England. His tombstone reads:

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Steel True
Blade Straight
Arthur Conan Doyle
Knight
Patriot, Physician & Man of Letters

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Agatha Miller was born in 1890 in the small town of Torquay which is located in Devon, England. She was the youngest of three children born to the Millers. Agatha was educated at home by tutors until the age of sixteen when she went to study in Paris. She studied singing and piano in Paris but was too shy to consider a career in music.

In 1914 Agatha married her first husband, Archibald Christie. He was a member of the Royal Flying Corps. During the war Agatha worked in a hospital where she acquired much of her knowledge of poisons. Their only child Rosalind was born in 1919.

After the war Agatha published her first novel in 1920, which she called “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”. This novel introduced her famous detective Hercule Poirot to the world.

It was in 1926, that her famous disappearance occurred. Agatha’s mother had recently died and her husband informed her that he was leaving to be with a younger woman, Nancy Neele. Agatha told her secretary that she was going to Yorkshire, but this never happened. She disappeared. Agatha was found eleven days later registered into the Swan Hotel under the name of Teresa Neele.

Some say that Agatha had suffered a nervous breakdown, while others have speculated that this was all a big publicity stunt. Agatha never spoke of that time, always maintaining that she did not remember anything that had happened during the eleven days she was missing. Indeed, two doctors both agreed that she had amnesia.

Unsolved Mysteries–(Agatha Christie II)

Agatha married her second husband in 1930, Max Mallowan. He was an archaeologist and Agatha often travelled with him to his many sites. These travels were reflected in many of her novels including “Murder on the Orient Express”.

Agatha died on January 12th 1976, at her Winterbrook home at the age of 86. She was survived by her only daughter Rosiland Margaret Hicks and her son Mathew Prichard.