| Baker Street Irregulars | |
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| Sherlock Holmes character | |
| Created by | Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Information | |
| Nationality | English |
The Baker Street Irregulars are any of several different groups, all named after the original, from various Sherlock Holmes stories in which they are a gang of young street children whom Holmes often employs to aid his cases.
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The original irregulars were a group of fictional characters featured in the Sherlock Holmes stories. They were a group of street urchins who helped Holmes out from time to time. The head of the group was called Wiggins. Holmes paid them a shilling a day (plus expenses), with a guinea prize (worth one pound and one shilling) for a vital clue. They first appeared in Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes story, A Study In Scarlet (written 1886, published 1887). They also appear in the next novel, The Sign of the Four; one of the chapters from this book is called The Baker Street Irregulars.
The Special Operations Executive (SOE), tasked by Winston Churchill to "set Europe ablaze" during World War II, had their headquarters at 64 Baker Street and were often called "the Baker Street Irregulars"[1] after Sherlock Holmes's fictional group of boys employed "to go everywhere, see everything and overhear everyone," as they spied about London.[2]
The Baker Street Irregulars is also the name of an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Doubleday Editor Christopher Morley. Formal members are known as "investitures" and bear club titles derived from the Holmes stories.
The organization convenes every January in New York City for an annual dinner, which forms part of a weekend of celebration and study involving other Sherlockian groups and enthusiasts. The present leader (referred to in group jargon as the "Wiggins") is Michael Whelan of Indianapolis, Indiana. The leader is elected for life and selects his successor.
The BSI, as it calls itself, was once considered the preeminent Sherlockian group in the United States. There are also "scion societies" approved by the BSI in dozens of local communities. (A list of these scions is maintained on Sherlocktron.) While most of the scion societies welcome new members, the BSI does not accept applications for membership. Instead, membership and the awarding of an "Irregular Shilling" are offered to those who have made a name for themselves in local groups or in Sherlockian publications. A list of inductees can be viewed here. The group has published The Baker Street Journal, an "irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana", since 1946.
Because the BSI refused membership to women until 1991, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, or ASH, was formed in the late 1960s. Its quarterly journal is entitled The Serpentine Muse. Membership in ASH, like that of the BSI, is by invitation only. In recent years, both clubs have tended to induct the same members. As a result, the ASH now functions as an appendage of the larger organization rather than an independent group.
The BSI does not provide any support to its numerous "scion societies". Nevertheless, these societies continue to flourish throughout the U.S. They sponsor various events throughout the year and often feature original works of Sherlockian scholarship.
Some notable BSI members have included:[3]
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