Victorian

  • 1859: Arthur Conan Doyle is born in Edinburgh

    Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on 22 May 1859. He became one of the best-known writers of the late Victorian period, though not always for the work he valued most. His reputation rests above all on Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective who made crime feel like a problem to be read through evidence,…

  • 1895: Oscar Wilde is convicted of gross indecency

    Oscar Wilde was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 25 May 1895 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The conviction followed a failed libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde had gone to court as the complainant. When the case collapsed, evidence raised there…

  • 1897: Blackwall Tunnel opens beneath the Thames

    The original Blackwall Tunnel opened on 22 May 1897, linking Blackwall on the north bank of the Thames with Greenwich on the south. Its purpose was practical. The Thames was central to London’s trade, but it also made road journeys awkward. Ferries, bridges and longer routes could only do so much for a city whose…