Charles Altamont Doyle

Who was Charles Altamont Doyle?

Charles Altamont Doyle was a Victorian artist who was the father of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. His brother was the artist Richard Doyle, and his father was the artist John Doyle. Although the family was Irish, Doyle was born and raised in England.

In 1849 he moved to Edinburgh, where he met Mary Foley. They were married on 31 July 1855. She was the daughter of William Foley, of Lismore, Co. Waterford and Catherine Pack, daughter of William Percy Pack and his wife Catherine Scott, whose great uncle was John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell. Mrs Doyle's mother, Catherine Pack, had been disinherited by her family on converting to Catholicism for her marriage to Mr Foley. When Mr Foley died at Clonmel, Mrs Doyle's mother had returned to her native Kilkenny, but not relinquishing her new faith. She started her own girl's school there, which was taught principally in French. Either in consequence of the Irish Potato Famine or that her Protestant family had made life intolerable for her there, Mrs Doyle's mother gave up her school and sold her property in Kilkenny, moving to Edinburgh. There, she set up an institution supplying British and Foreign governesses to families and schools. Charles and Mary met in Edinburgh, and were the parents of several children including Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, John Francis Innes Hay Doyle, and Jane Adelaide Rose Foley née Doyle.