Jean Conan Doyle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Air Commandant Dame Jean Lena Annette "Billy" Conan Doyle, Lady Bromet, DBE, AE, WRAF, ADC, most commonly known as Dame Jean Conan Doyle (December 21, 1912 - November 18, 1997), was the daughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

She served for thirty years in the WRAF, where she worked in intelligence during World War II and by the time of her retirement she had attained the rank of Air Commandant, the highest rank in the Women's Royal Air Force. Until 1966 she served as an honorary Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II. She became Lady Bromet after marrying Air Vice-Marshal Sir Geoffrey Bromet. Her husband served a term as Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man.

After the death of her brother, Adrian Conan Doyle, in 1970 Dame Jean became the legal copyright holder to some of the rights to the Sherlock Holmes character as well as her father's other works. She assidously defended Sherlock Holmes' character.

In the late 1980s she was reportedly angered by the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation when they used the characters of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John H. Watson, and Professor Moriarty without permission.

As a schoolgirl she was a classmate and friend of actress Anna Lee, who was her father's god-daughter.

At her death, her will stipulated that any remaining copyrights she owned were to be transfered to the Royal National Institute for the Blind ([1]). According to a 1990 interview, Dame Jean's eyesight was poor from an early age ([2]).