A Third Sibling?

[jesskayding]

There have been inquiries involving this in more than one thread, so I thought let's bring it together. There have been theories that Sherlock & Mycroft had an older brother, who possibly was left in charge of them & ran the household, then there are some who believe " the other one" may be a sister...

 

Ok off you go! Pop on off & get to speculating.

 

 

http://www.bubblews.com/news/2039942-have-sherlock-and-mycroft-got-another-sibling

 

 

The copy above reads as follows:

 

 

 

Have Sherlock and Mycroft Got Another Sibling?

by Jo Harrington, &JoHarrington

22 likes 16 comments 1,015 views

 

 

January 13, 2014

*WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BBC'S SHERLOCK THIRD SERIES EPISODE THREE*

 

There was an intriguing reference made in last night's 'Sherlock' on BBC One. Mycroft Holmes disdained the suggestion that he might be subject to nepotism, in advising a course of action involving his younger brother. He said words to the effect that it wasn't a consideration for 'the other one', so why would it be for Sherlock Holmes?

 

My ears pricked up. As soon as the programme was over, I rushed to search for a third Holmes brother or sister. It seemed that the rest of the Sherlock-osphere was buzzing on precisely that same question too. Naturally, we were all turning to the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle canon for clues.

 

There wasn't much there, but neither was it ever explicitly stated that Mycroft and Sherlock were the only siblings in the Holmes family. In fact, the inferences were that there were more children. Remember that originally these were 19th century characters, and Victorian families tended to be huge. (One of my own forebears was one of fifteen; another was smack bang in the middle of a brood of twenty-one, though the majority of his siblings didn't make it through infancy.) It would be more amazing if there were only two Holmes sons.

 

In 'The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter', we were told that the Holmes family were country squires. That implies a large estate somewhere outside London. As Mycroft lives and works in London - and he is the elder brother - than we have to suppose that there's at least one sibling who is his senior. That's the Holmes brother who inherited the country estate. (It can't be a sister, as both Mycroft and Sherlock would have inherited over her back then.)

 

In 'The Adventure of the Copper Beeches', Sherlock mutters a lot about 'no sister of mine would *insert moralistic injunction*'. It could be a figure of speech, or he could be hinting at the fact that he has sisters. It would be expected that he'd say 'my sister would not....', if there was only one.

 

So while the Sherlock Holmes world has been focusing upon just two brothers, the canon allows for at least one older brother and two or more sisters. Maybe a lot more. Though the BBC production does leave us with major questions surrounding their possible existence in the show. After all, they weren't at the Holmes family home at Christmas, despite the presence of Mycroft and Sherlock.

 

Anyone else excited by the inherent possibilities for season four of 'Sherlock'? If only to clear up the question of to whom Mycroft referred in that most cryptic statement about 'the other one'.

[besleybean]

That's the main thing I want to find out!

[jesskayding]

Well let's get to searching for an answer. Some are hoping there will be more light shed on his little comment in season 4. Which makes me think... Maybe " the other one " has something to do with the Moriarty comeback??

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Some say "the other one"'s name is Sherrinford Holmes and is the eldest brother.

[besleybean]

Yes and I would like to see/hear about him.

[jesskayding]

Hmm. There is also speculation that Sherinford was supposed to be the original name of Sherlocks. Now below is an excerpt of the origin of Sherlock's name. It seems too detailed to be made up:

 

 

 

http://www.sherlockian-sherlock.com/the-name-of-sherlock-holmes.php

[jesskayding]

I could believe the following, but then it makes me question if Mark & Steve decided to imput resources about "the other one" outside of canon.

 

 

 

http://www.sherlockian.net/world/mycroft.html

 

The above article reads as follows:

 

 

 

Introducing Mycroft Holmes

 

I have no idea why, but the question that I receive most often by e-mail is, "What was the name of Sherlock Holmes's brother?"

The answer: Mycroft.

 

Mycroft Holmes appears as a character in two of the Holmes stories: "The Greek Interpreter" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans". Holmes tells Watson that Mycroft is "seven years my senior" (older by seven years), and brilliant in observation and deduction, but so lazy -- and fat, it turns out -- that he seldom moves from his accustomed cycle: his rooms, his office in a government building, and the Diogenes Club.

 

In the earlier story, Holmes says vaguely that Mycroft "audits the books in some of the government departments". By the time of the later one, Watson finds out that in fact Mycroft has a position of importance and delicacy: "occasionally he is the British government . . . the most indispensable man in the country:

 

We will suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices from various departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus them all, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other.

Many Sherlockians have interpreted this passage, and the role played by Mycroft in bringing the Bruce-Partington scandal to his brother's attention, to mean that Mycroft was an early and important member of the British intelligence establishment.

Mycroft also plays a tiny role in "The Final Problem" and is mentioned in "The Empty House".

 

The rest of the family

 

It is natural to wonder whether there were other brothers in the Holmes family. None are mentioned in any of the original Sherlock Holmes tales. But the 1975 film "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother", starring Gene Wilder, is not about Mycroft; instead, Wilder presents a manic third brother, Sigi Holmes. Presumably the name is short for Sigerson, taken from the alias used by Holmes in "The Empty House".

A number of Sherlockians have ventured to speculate about a brother named Sherrinford. That name is taken from Arthur Conan Doyle's original notes for A Study in Scarlet, in which the name Sherrinford is used for the consulting detective who would shortly appear in print under the name of Sherlock.

 

And what about sisters? There is no evidence, apart from a few wistful comments in "The Copper Beeches" to the effect that "no sister of mine" should run the risk that faced Violet Hunter.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

I do have a theory on the Other One that I mentioned in the Moriarty Teaser thread, but I've gotta work out the kinks and smooth it all over so it all fits.

[jesskayding]

Looking forward to hearing it.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Real quick -- What's the name of the guy who calls Mycroft out for "familial sentiment" when Mycroft speaks of Sherlock's usefulness to England?

[besleybean]

Do they give his name?  But he's obviously not the brother!

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Well, let's just refer to that guy as the Callout Guy for now

[Arcadia]

Real quick -- What's the name of the guy who calls Mycroft out for "familial sentiment" when Mycroft speaks of Sherlock's usefulness to England?

Sir Edwin, according to Ariane DeVere. I assume he's listed in the credits (or she just made it up!

[jesskayding]

Okay so, so far my research is showing that there is no mention of an additional brother in the original cannon. That simply Sherrinford Hope was supposed to be the original name of Sherlock Holmes. Now there is possibility of a sister, based off a statement that Mycroft made in the Copper Beaches?, apparently something Mycroft said made it seem he was referring to a sister. 

 

There has been some fan fictions produced as a result.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Alright, so here's my Sherrinford theory:

 

 

Sherrinford was a lot like Sherlock - mad, clever (though not as much as Mycroft), and always running about on the hunt for something. Because of this, Sherrinford got into a lot of trouble with an adversary and got severely injured as a result. Mycroft tried to save him (dragging Sir Edwin into it as well), even tried stopping the adversary but to no avail. Angered at Mycroft's attempt, said adversary kills Sherrinford and Mycroft gets broken up about it.

 

The pain causes a rebound effect that makes Mycroft change into a cold, supreme logician. But even with most of his other feelings erased, he cares about Sherlock because he doesn't want Sherlock to die like how Sherrinford had.

 

And Mummy so dearly loved Sherrinford that when Sherlock was born she named him after the brother he never knew.

[Arcadia]

Yeah, one (of many) things that intriguing about "the other one" -- does Sherlock know there is/was another one? Or was this before his time? (kind of hard to imagine, really, the other one would have had to have been so young when "it" happened....)

 

You're right, English IS weird.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

I would assume that Mycroft was just as arrogant as a kid as he is now.  So maybe he thought he could handle Sherrinford's adversary. Or maybe there's a big age gap between Mycroft and Sherrinford like how there is between Mycroft and Sherlock.

[jesskayding]

Now Mycroft says... " you know what happened to the other one " in response to if he's giving into some kind of brotherly affection. That makes me think Mycroft could care less about sister/brother & was responsible for their demise,injury or merciless punishment. Probably didn't think twice about it, but he genuinely does care about Sherlock.

[Arcadia]

Mummy Holmes doesn't look old enough to have a child even older than Mycroft, so I'm thinking Sherlock would have known this other sibling ... but maybe not what happened to him/her.

[jesskayding]

She looks pretty old to me. But hay my people don't crack... Stereotyping myself.

[besleybean]

She's about 78 in real life I think...so well old enough!

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Just a heads-up: I might edit and re-edit my theory as I think about this whole Other One stuff more and more.

[Arcadia]

Join the crowd! I think every theory I've had about everything to do with this show has been revised at least thrice...

[Arcadia]

She's about 78 in real life I think...so well old enough!

Wow. I would not have guessed. I thought they looked a little older than usual to be the parents of someone BC's age, but I wouldn't have guessed late 70's.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

In very early fandom,writers like Starrett and Baring-Gould theorized that the whole Reichenbach story was a fabrication to hide the fact that there was no Moriarty but another Holmes sibling who had become a criminal mastermind. His genius taking a dark bent. The story behind the "Final Problem" was Sherlock's and Mycroft's way of getting that brother out of England...a way from police and deal with this "family problem" themselves.

 

Later this sibling would return to England a broken man but no longer bent on mischief.