British author, scientist and educator. He is frequently consulted by news media and other organisations about the links between Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon. Spiring is a member of various ‘Sherlockian’ and ‘Doylean’ societies, the Institute of Physics, the General Teaching Council for England and The Devonshire Association. He is also a European Professional Biologist and a Fellow of both the College of Teachers and the Society of Biology. Spiring attended the University of Worcester (1988–1991) and the University of Gloucestershire (1994–1995). Between 1995 and 1998, Spiring worked as a science lecturer at the Royal Forest of Dean College in Gloucestershire. Thereafter, he taught science at Bethany School (Goudhurst, Kent) (1998–2000) and The British School in the Netherlands (2000–2003). During June 2001, Spiring had a letter published in Biologist in which he proposed a novel diagnosis for Joseph Carrey Merrick ( aka “The Elephant Man”). He suggested that Merrick suffered from a combination of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) and Proteus Syndrome. This hypothesis was reported by Robert Matthews, a correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph in an article entitled Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right – Until Someone Joins Them Up. The possibility that Merrick had both conditions formed the basis for a 2003 documentary film entitled The Curse of The Elephant Man that was produced for the Discovery Health Channem by Natural History New Zealand. Since September 2003, Spiring has been employed by Her Majesty’s Government (Department for Education) to work for the European Schools system in Germany. He is currently the Head of Biology at the European School, Karlsruhe in Baden-Wurttemberg. During 2008, Spiring jointly authored two books with Brian Pugh: On the Trail of Arthur Conan Doyle and A Footnote to The Hound of the Baskervilles. Both works explore the extent to which Arthur Conan Doyle’s friend, Bertram Fletcher Robinson may have influencedThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1901). Spiring and Pugh concluded that Robinson’s contribution was limited to that of an “assistant plot producer” and that he did not write any of the narrative itself. That same year, these books were used to defeat a petition that sought to exhume Robinson’s body from its grave at St. Andrew’s Church, Ipplepen, Devon. During 2009, Spiring edited three books. The first of these is entitled Aside Arthur Conan Doyle and it is an anthology twenty short stories by Robinson. The second book is entitled The World of Vanity Fair and it is a collection of fifteen non fiction articles by Robinson. The third book is entitled Bobbles & Plum and it is a collection of four previously unrepublished playlets by Robinson and P.G. Wodehouse. These playlets reveal that Wodehouse was more political than was previously thought. In February 2010, Spiring had a book published that is entitled Rugby Football During the Nineteenth Century. This work features a facsimile of Rugby Football by Bertram Fletcher Robinson, which was the first volume in the successful nine-part series onSports and Pastimes for The Isthmian Library (1896–1901). It was also one of the first rugby books to appear after members of the Rugby Football Union became bitterly divided over a proposal to pay players and it details the laws, training techniques and tactics that are synonymous with modern Rogby Union. Rugby Football includes contributions by five other historical rugby figures: Frank Mitchell (Cambridge University & England), Richard Cattell (Oxford University, Blackheath, Moseley, Barbarians & England), Charles Fleming (Oxford University & Scotland), Gregor MacGregor (cricketer) (Cambridge University, Barbarians & Scotland) and Henry Tristram (Oxford University & England). In June 2010, Spiring had a seventh book published that is entitled Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon.This book was written with both Brian Pugh and Dr. Sadru Bhanji and it contends that the Sherlock Holmes global phenomenon is partly attributable to Bertram Fletcher Robinson and two other former Devon residents called Dr. George Turnavine Budd and Sir George Newnes. In December 2010, Spiring had an eighth book published that is entitled Wheels of Anarchy. The centrepiece of this book is a facsimile of a story of the same name by the popular British author, Sir Max Pemberton. It is an adventure tale about anarchists and assassins which is set across Europe and was based upon notes that were written by Bertram Fletcher Robinson shortly before his death. The novel’s hero and narrator, Mr. Bruce Driscoll, a recent Cambridge graduate, is modelled on Fletcher Robinson. It appears that both Pemberton and Fletcher Robinson had discussed the idea for Wheels of Anarchy with Arthur Conan Doyle at a meeting of a small and secretive criminology society to which, all three men belonged.
READ PAUL R. SPIRING’S LETTER OF SUPPORT
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