Charles Altamont Doyle was a Victorian artist who was the father of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Background
His brother was the artist Richard Doyle, and his father was the artist John Doyle. The family was of Irish background. Doyle was born and raised in England.
She was the daughter of William Foley (1804–1841), of Lismore, Company
Waterford and Catherine Pack, daughter of William Percy Pack (first cousin of Major-General Sir Denis Pack) and his wife Catherine Scott, whose great uncle was John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell.
Career
In 1849 he moved to Edinburgh, where he met Mary Foley (1837–1920). 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.
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 (known as Innes or Duff), and Jane Adelaide Rose Foley née Doyle (known as Ida). Doyle was not as successful an artist as he wished, and suffered depression and alcoholism.
His paintings, which were generally of fairies, such as In the shade or A Dance Around The Moon, or similar fantasy scenes, reflected this, becoming more macabre over time. In 1881 Doyle was committed to a nursing home (Fordoun House) specialising in alcoholism.
While there, his depression grew worse, and he began suffering epileptic seizures.
Following a violent escape attempt he was sent to Sunnyside, Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum, where he continued to paint. He died in Crichton Royal Institution in Dumfries in 1893. An edition of A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle was published in 1888, with illustrations by Charles Doyle.
In the Sherlock Holmes story "His Last Bow", Holmes uses "Altamont" as his undercover name.