On May 22nd, 1859, Arthur Conan Doyle was born to a wealthy,Irish-Catholic family in Edinburgh,Scotland. Although Doyle's family was well-respected in the art world, his father, Charles, who was a life-long alcoholic, had few accomplishments to speak of. Doyle's mother, Mary, was a lively and well-educated woman who loved to read.She particularly liked telling her son outlandish stories. Her great enthusiasm inspired him. 

   At the age of 9, Doyle said goodbye to his parents and moved to England, where he attended Hodder Place, Stonyhurst—a Jesuit preparatory school—from 1868 to 1870. Doyle then went on to study at Stonyhurst College for the next five years. For Doyle, the boarding-school experience was brutal: many of his classmates bullied him, and the school practiced ruthless corporal punishment against its students. Over time, Doyle found solace in his flair for storytelling, and developed an eager audience of younger students.