The Sydney Passengers

Incorporating The Sherlock Holmes Society of Australia

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The Sydney Passengers is a group of enthusiasts brought together by a common ideal - to share in the enjoyment of the life and times of Sherlock Holmes, the world's first and foremost consulting detective, and his friend and chronicler, Dr  John Watson, made famous in the splendid tales published under the auspices of Dr Watson's colleague, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself an author of no small repute.

 As our name might suggest, we are based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. We take our name from the Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Adventure of the Gloria Scott (read story here) in which the survivors of a mutiny at sea are rescued by a ship bound for Australia and "after an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney".

 Our members are of all ages and backgrounds. A great knowledge of the stories is not needed - rather a love of the Victorian atmosphere of foggy cobble-stoned streets, hansom cabs, deerstalker caps, and the immortal scene of Holmes and Watson interviewing a client before a crackling fire in their sitting room at 221b Baker Street. We meet together 3 or 4 times a year for dinner, lunch, a picnic, or an outing to the theatre. Each get-together usually has a theme based on one of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and scholarly, or sometimes scurrilous, papers on some aspect of his adventures are often presented, and quizzes or competitions conducted.

 Our journal, The Passengers' Log, comes out 3 times a year; a meeting notice, Signals, is sent to all Australian-domiciled members prior to each function that we hold, and a calendar showing our meeting dates for the coming year is sent to all members resident in Australia. Those with email facilities can also receive our irregular news bulletin CyberSignals plus other newsletters from overseas. For information on joining, please click here.

 A slide show on the history of the Sydney Passengers can be found here:  From the Archives

Latest News

Vale Doug Elliott
The Sydney Passengers are sad to announce the death of long-time member Doug Elliott, following a battle with cancer. Doug passed away peacefully on 26^th August with his wife Dianne by his side.

Originally from Canada, Doug was drafted to the Passengers’ crew upon re-settling in Australia, and we benefited from his extensive prior experience with Sherlockian societies, having been a member and Past President of the Bootmakers of Toronto. He was also a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. Doug was a regular contributor to the Passengers’ Log, and a three time winner of the Montpellier Award (2009, 2017 & 2022).

Anyone wishing to honour Doug might consider a donation to Marine Rescue NSW, where Doug volunteered as a radio operator. This link will direct donations to the communication centre where he worked.

2024 Montpellier Award

The Carole Dukes Montpellier Award is open to all articles submitted by Passengers to the Passengers' Log over the course of the previous year and is aimed at encouraging research amongst members that enriches our knowledge and understanding of the Canon. It is named in memory of the late Passenger Carole Dukes, who was an untiring researcher, and embraces the name of the town in Southern France where Sherlock Holmes spent time carrying out research into coal-tar derivatives (referenced in 'The Adventure of the Empty House').

There were four nomnations for the 2024 Award:

The editorial team would like to extend its thanks to those Passengers who cast their vote.

U.S. Visitor
Captain Bill Barnes and Navigator Erin O'Neill were pleased to meet up with Passenger Matt Hall, visiting from the USA, in early June. Originally from Australia, Matt has contributored regularly to The Passengers' Log. He is a past nominee for the Montpellier Award and winner of the 2023Admirable Cobber Award. The three enjoyed a hearty pub lunch and discussed many things Sherlockian.  We look forward to future visits and further contributions to the Passengers from Matt.

Passengers Meting Archive

Reminder that any Passengers unable to attend the Society’s Zoom meetings but who have online access, can watch them after the event on the Passengers’ YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@sydneypassengers3476.