Sherlock Holmes was born in England in the year 1854. Little is known of his family background, save that he is the grand nephew of the French artist Emile Jean Horace Vernet. It is also known that in his younger years, Holmes attended at least one of the country's leading universities...though it cannot be ascertained whether he was an alumnus of Oxford, Cambridge, or both.
 
At the age of 20, Holmes was to find his life's calling. For it was in that year that he began his illustrious career as the world's first consulting detective, taking his first case...which his future friend and companion Dr. John Watson would come to title, in his chronicles of Holmes' endeavours, "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott". His study of science at university having informed his already keen mind and powers of observation, Holmes employed a process of deductive reasoning in his work, with great success.
 
In 1881, Holmes's professional relationship with Dr. John Watson began. Watson would come to assist Holmes in hundreds of investigations throughout their years together at Holmes' flat in 221B Baker Street, London, where both was attended by Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper. In 1887, Watson began publishing his accounts of these adventures with "A Study In Scarlet". Over the years, The Strand Magazine would carry many tales of Holmes' baffling cases and brilliant insight. Within his lifetime, he would become recognized across the globe as one of the world's finest analytical thinkers, helping often to Ins. Lestrade in his investigations.
 
In 1891, Holmes was apparently killed in Switzerland, when he and his cunning adversary, Professor James Moriarty, locked in combat, tumbled from the heights of the Reichenbach Falls into the waters below. No body was ever recovered, however, and Holmes shocked Watson and the world at large by resurfacing in 1894 and returning to public practice, explaining that he'd faked his own death and remained in hiding for three years in order to elude Moriarty's criminal associates.
 
In 1895, after his miraculous return from the watery grave, Holmes was given a private audience with Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, in honour of his service to Crown and Country. In 1902, he was offered Knighthood, but declined. He retired to Sussex in 1904, having left behind a legacy unrivaled in the annals of criminal investigation. But even in "retirement" Holmes would again come to the aid of his country as the First World War approached. In 1914, at the age of 60, he was instrumental in the capture and arrest of a Prussian spy known as Von Bork.
 
The Von Bork case seems to have been Sherlock Holmes' last bow. Following the arrest Holmes returned to his life of seclusion in Sussex to live out his life in peace and solitude, caring bees and publishing a manual about it. The details of his death are not known, but he lives on to this day through the records of his thrilling cases, and will always be remembered and regarded as the "World's Greatest Detective".
 
He was an older brother, Mycroft, who worked along his life on her Majesty's Secret Services.