My Sherlock Holmes Chronology list

[Chronologist]

Hey, everyone.

I recently reread all 60 of the original Canon and compiled my own little Chronology of the original stories. I know plenty of others have tried, but I avoided looking at any other fan Chronologies so I could come to my own conclusions. Now that my list is completed, I'd gladly look at any other list to see where we agree/disagree.

Over the next two months I intend to make a post a day, one for each story. Each post will have the following sections:

Story Title

Date These will often be in quotes, literally Copied and Pasted from online versions of these stories.

Comments My conclusions based on the dates (if any provided). These comments will be anywhere from just a sentence long (for when Watson gives a precise date) to full paragraphs (for when it's complicated).

Current Canon Placement Finally I will state where the story fits within the previous stories, usually "After (previous story) and before (previous story)."  Either that or "After (previous story). Also, the most recent story to date," when it is.

At the end of each of the nine books, I will list a full chronology in progress. That may seem a bit absurd for the first two books, which are both novels, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Before I begin, I'm going to give two introductory notes: Watson's marriages and the four time periods:

Watson’s Marriages

 

 John Watson was married twice. His first marriage was to Mary Morstan, whom he met and fell in love with in “The Sign of the Four”. She died sometime before “The Empty House”. Of Watson’s second marriage, next to nothing is known. The only direct reference to it is in “The Blanched Soldier”, in “The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes”, set in January 1903, a story narrated by Holmes, where Holmes claims Watson “deserted me for a wife”. There are also a few other cases in the “Case-Book” set in the early 1900s that indicate Holmes and Watson are no longer living together. Watson’s second marriage is the most likely explanation for this.

 

This leads to four distinct time periods in the Canon:

 

The Four Time Periods

 

 

I. 1882-1887, Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street as bachelors. This period starts with “A Study in Scarlet” and ends with “The Sign of the Four”.

 

II. 1888-1891, Watson's marriage to Mary Morstan. This period starts with “A Scandal in Bohemia” and ends with “The Final Problem”.

III.              1894-1902. Holmes and Watson are once again sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street, Holmes as a bachelor, Watson as a widower. This period starts with “The Empty House”. The story with the latest date that seems to be within this time period is “The Three Garridebs”, which is set in late June, 1902.

IV.              1902-1914. Watson’s second marriage. The story with the earliest date within this period is “The Illustrious Client”, set in September 3, 1902. It ends with “His Last Bow”. At first glance, this looks like the longest of the four time periods. Actually, it’s the shortest. According to Watson in “The Creeping Man” set in early September, 1903, just a year after “illustrious”, “Creeping” is “one of the very last cases handled by Holmes before his retirement from practice,” and there are only two published cases Holmes took on after that, “The Lion’s Mane”, and “His Last Bow”.

A Study in Scarlet is coming up!

[Carol the Dabbler]

One point where I heartily agree with you already is the title "The Sign of the Four."  Apparently the story was first published under the shorter title "The Sign of Four," which according to certain protocols makes that the official title -- however the longer phrase is consistently used within the story itself, implying that Doyle meant that to be the title.  Presumably the publisher wanted to put it in a larger typeface and therefore omitted a word -- or something like that.

[Chronologist]

A STUDY IN SCARLET

Date: From “THE YEAR 1878” to “the 4th of March”, some “months” after “the fatal battle of Maiwand” (which occurred on July 27, 1880), “twenty years” after “August 4th, 1860”

Comments:

“1878” is the year Watson took his degree as Doctor of Medicine. “the 4th of March” is when this case begins, the “months” is the months it took Watson to recover from his illness after the “battle of Maiwand”. Jefferson Hope comments at the end of the case that Lucy was to have married him “twenty years” ago. “August 4th, 1860” is the date of John Ferrier’s murder.

In “The Five Orange Pips”, Watson refers to glancing at his records of Holmes’ cases “between the years ’82 and ’90”, which would suggest that the year this story takes place is 1882. This is further reinforced in “The Speckled Band”, where Watson refers to “the last eight years” he was recording Holmes’ cases, which conforms with the “between the years ’82 and ‘90” referred to in “Pips”.
 

Current Canon Placement:

The very first story, will always be the first story. Also, the most recent story to date.

 

Full Chronology After A Study in Scarlet

 

I.    1882-1887, Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street as bachelors.

 

1.    A Study in Scarlet. March 4, 1882.
 

[besleybean]

What a useful resource!

I have read the whole Canon at least a couple of times and many of the voulmes even more.

Love it.

[Chronologist]

THE SIGN OF THE FOUR

Date: “July 7”, “nearly ten years” after “the third of December, 1878”, “About six years” after “the fourth of May, 1882”, also “September” (a contradiction)

Comments:

“July 7” is the date postmarked on the envelope of the letter sent to Mary Morstan on the day she consults Holmes. “[T]he third of December, 1878” is the date of Captain Morstan’s disappearance (and as it turns out, his death). “[T]he fourth of May, 1882” is the date an advertisement appeared in the Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan. 

Later in the story, Watson states that it was a “September” evening, a contradiction. I would prefer to go with “July 7”, since for this chronology I prefer precise dates over imprecise dates, but “The Noble Bachelor”, which is said to take place shortly before Watson’s marriage, takes place in autumn. So, I’m going with September as the more accurate date.

One might conclude from all this that the year this story takes place in is 1888. Reinforcing this is Watson musing that if Mary was 17 at the time of her father’s disappearance, she’d be 27 now. However, there are reasons to think it occurred a year earlier in 1887.

For one thing, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, which definitely takes place after this story, gives a precise date for “Scandal”: “the twentieth of March, 1888”. In contrast this story takes place “nearly ten years” after Captain Morstan’s disappearance and “about six years” after Mary started receiving a pearl each year, all making the year of this story an imprecise date. As I mentioned earlier, for this chronology I favor precise dates over imprecise dates anytime there’s an apparent contradiction.

Also reinforcing, perhaps unintentionally, the idea that the year of this story is 1887, is that Mary’s been receiving a pearl every year since 1882, and that she now has six pearls. If the year of this story were 1888, she’d have seven pearls by then. It’s possible that Doyle made the common mathematical mistake of not realizing that when one refers to something starting “six years ago”, one is actually referring to seven years: the current year plus the previous six years. Be that as it may, it’s one more bit of evidence to reinforce that the year of this story is 1887.

Solely within the context of this one novel, I’d be inclined to date the year of this story as 1888. Within the greater context of the Canon, I date it as 1887. For one thing, it gives Watson more time to squeeze in all the cases he took part in after his marriage to Mary and before his “sad bereavement”. 

Current Canon Placement:

After “A Study in Scarlet”. Also, the most recent story to date.

Full Chronology after The Sign of the Four

I.    1882-1887, Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street as bachelors.

1.    A Study in Scarlet. March 4, 1882
2.    The Sign of the Four. September, 1887
 

[DistantView]

Useful indeed, especially for a  neophyte like myself. I may use this as a guide or framework of sorts as I explore the cases and stories...

[Chronologist]

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

A Scandal in Bohemia

Date: “the twentieth of March, 1888”

Comments:

For the first time, Watson provides for a story the day, month, and year, a fully precise date.

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Sign of the Four”. Also, the most recent story to date.
 

 

[Chronologist]

The Red-Headed League

Date: “the autumn of last year”, “Just two months” after “April 27, 1890” (a contradiction). “October 9, 1890”

Comments: 

Watson states this story takes place in “the autumn of last year”. Since this story was published in 1891, that would mean this case happened in the year 1890 (that part remains consistent). “April 27, 1890” is the date of the newspaper advertisement for the Red-Headed League, Watson comments that was “Just two months ago”, which would make this late June, the summer, not autumn. “October 9, 1890” is the date on the white carboard announcing the Red-Headed League has been dissolved, which agrees with Watson’s earliest claim that this story occurs in autumn, and is the most likely, accurate date.

Current Canon Placement:

After “A Scandal in Bohemia”. Also, the most recent story to date.
 

[Chronologist]

A Case of Identity

Date: “the fourteenth”, sometime after “A Scandal in Bohemia”.

Comments: 

Mary Sutherland’s advertisement says Hosmer Angel’s disappearance occurred on “the fourteenth” without specifying a month or year.

Mary Sutherland is actually referred to in the previous story, “The Red-Headed League”, which Holmes claims happened “the other day”, implying that this case takes place just before “The Red-Headed League.”

The problem with that is that while “A Case of Identity” doesn’t specify the year it takes place, “The Red-Headed League” does, the very precise date of October 9, 1890. This would make “A Case of Identity” a fairly late case for this time period.

What makes this a problem is that there are two other stories from the same period that reference poor Miss Sutherland as an earlier case, “The Blue Carbuncle” and “The Copper Beeches”. Neither specifies a year, but they do specify a set period within a year. “Carbuncle” is set two days after Christmas. If this story takes place shortly before “League”, then this story and “Carbuncle” would both have to take place in 1890 as well. “Beeches” is set in early spring and refers to both this case and “Carbuncle”, meaning “Beeches” would have to take place in the year after “Carbuncle” in 1891 at the earliest.

But Holmes seemingly died in 1891, as recorded by Watson in “The Final Problem”. In that story, Watson states that he worked with Holmes on only three cases in 1890. At first glance, that might look like those three cases were “A Case of Identity”, “The Red-Headed League”, and “The Blue Carbuncle” in that order. But Watson implies in “Problem” that he hadn’t seen Holmes since the (unnamed in “Problem”) third case in 1890. He even mentions only reading about Holmes in the papers in “early spring”, the exact same period he’s with Holmes for an apparently extended period of time in “Beeches”.

While it’s still possible “Beeches” could’ve taken place in 1891, it’s highly unlikely. This is further reinforced in “The Five Orange Pips” where Watson refers to Sherlock Holmes cases “between the years ’82 and ’90”, which conforms with Watson’s statement in “Problem” that he wasn’t originally going to include Holmes’ “death” among his published stories, and that his last case with Holmes prior to “Problem” was in 1890.

Finally, in this story, Holmes shows Watson a gold snuffbox he got as a gift from the King of Bohemia “some weeks” earlier for his work on the “Scandal” that bears the King’s country’s name. This implies that this story takes place soon after “Scandal” rather than just before “League”. This combined with the references in “Carbuncle” and “Beeches” strengthens the idea that this case is more likely to take place in 1888, rather than in 1890. 

Current Canon Placement:

After “A Scandal in Bohemia” and before “The Red-Headed League”.
 

[Carol the Dabbler]

44 minutes ago, Chronologist said:

in this story, Holmes shows Watson a gold snuffbox he got as a gift from the King of Bohemia “some weeks” earlier for his work on the “Scandal” that bears the King’s country’s name. This implies that this story takes place soon after “Scandal” ....

After, certainly.  But not necessarily soon after.  As I'm sure you know, in "Scandal" itself, Holmes would accept no payment except for a photo of Irene.  So the snuffbox was a later gift, with the question being how much later.  It could have been sent quite soon after, of course, but then again it might have been sent on the anniversary of Irene's departure.  Alternatively, it could have been sent on the occasion of the king's marriage, or when news of Irene's apparent death reached Bohemia.

 

[Chronologist]

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Date: “June 3d”, sometime after Watson’s marriage. 

Comments:

“June 3d” is the date of McCarthy’s murder. No year is named or even hinted at in this story. Nor is there any direct reference to any past case, beyond that this takes place after Watson’s first marriage (the story does mention “A Study in Scarlet”, Watson’s first case with Holmes, back when they were both bachelors, so not at all helpful for this chronology). In cases like this, I go by the publication order of these stories and which of the four time periods the story appears to take place in. The most recent story published prior to this that’s set in the same time period is “A Case of Identity” which takes place soon after “A Scandal in Bohemia”. In the absence of any further evidence, I place this story soon after “Identity”. 

Current Canon Placement:

After “A Case of Identity” and before “The Red-Headed League”. 
 

[Chronologist]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:13 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

After, certainly.  But not necessarily soon after.  As I'm sure you know, in "Scandal" itself, Holmes would accept no payment except for a photo of Irene.  So the snuffbox was a later gift, with the question being how much later.  It could have been sent quite soon after, of course, but then again it might have been sent on the anniversary of Irene's departure.  Alternatively, it could have been sent on the occasion of the king's marriage, or when news of Irene's apparent death reached Bohemia.

 

When I started making my list, I gave myself three rules:

1. The simplest explanation is the most likely
2. Where there are contradictions, go for the solution with the least amount of contradictions
3. When in doubt, stick as close to the publication order as you can

It's the second rule that's the most relevant here.

"The Red-Headed League" itself, provides a great example of contradictions. There are three separate mentions of the date: "autumn of last year [1890]", "two months" after "April 27, 1890", and "October 9, 1890". The one thing all three mentions agree on is the year, 1890, which I feel makes the year indisputable. But the second mention directly contradicts the other two mentions. The first and third mentions don't contradict each other at all, so disregard the second mention, and you have no contradictions.

The problem here is that both "The Blue Carbuncle" and "The Copper Beeches" mention "Identity" as a past case, and "Beeches" mentions "Carbuncle" as a past case as well. "Carbuncle" is set two days after Christmas and "Beeches" is set in early spring, so it's impossible for "Carbuncle" and "Beeches" to be set in the same year. If "Identity" is set shortly before "League", and "Carbuncle" is set after "Identity", then "Beeches" has to be set in Spring, 1891, the same season and year that "The Final Problem" begins, which would contradict Watson's statement in "Problem" that he hadn't seen much of Holmes recently prior to the start of "Problem". Disregard the mention in "League" of "Identity" taking place "the other day" and nothing else contradicts.

The King of Bohemia's gift in "Identity" helps to reinforce (if not necessarily prove) that "Identity" takes place closer to "Scandal" than to "League".  Judging by Holmes' service, I'm sure it would've been hugely important to the King at the time, but less important as time went on. This would leave the King highly grateful at the time, but unlikely to feel indebted to Holmes for the rest of his life. His gift feels like something he'd give in the enthusiasm of the moment, at how happy the King is with the outcome. Less likely he'd keep sending gifts to Holmes years (or even a year) after the event.

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Chronologist said:

Judging by Holmes' service, I'm sure it would've been hugely important to the King at the time, but less important as time went on. This would leave the King highly grateful at the time, but unlikely to feel indebted to Holmes for the rest of his life. His gift feels like something he'd give in the enthusiasm of the moment, at how happy the King is with the outcome. Less likely he'd keep sending gifts to Holmes years (or even a year) after the event.

No argument!

You are presumably aware that Doyle seemed to think of his Holmes stories as pot-boilers, rather than as Literature.  Since he didn't even bother to remember Doctor Watson's first name, he presumably didn't pay much attention to chronology either.  But it does make an interesting game!

I am, in fact, a big fan of in-universe explanations myself.

 

[DistantView]

I have a quick question, and forgive me if it's answered in your OP, but I'm getting ready for work and short on time-

I looked up a chrono order of Holmes cases/stories and novels and found some differences between a couple of web sites-

The Hound of the Baskervilles is dated 1902, but it appears chronologically after The Return of SH, which is dated 1905. Obviously, I assume the dates are when the works were published, but is there a preferred order in reading them?

Incidentally I just ordered the complete SH works in two small volumes (somewhat prompted by this thread), as I intend to read all of them at some point (unfortunately vol. II arrived first so I'll have to wait for I before starting).

[Chronologist]

The preferred reading order is the original publication order, regardless of the chronology. Doyle published 9 Sherlock Holmes books, 4 novels and 5 anthologies of short stories. Their publication order is this:

1. A Study in Scarlet
2. The Sign of the Four
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
4. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
7. The Valley of Fear
8. His Last Bow
9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

"Hound" was written and published after Memoirs and before Return. It's clearly set sometime before Holmes' apparent death at the end of Memoirs. Most Complete Editions of the novels and short stories will include Memoirs, immediately followed by Return, followed by Hound. This makes some sense, since Memoirs ends with Holmes' apparent death while Return starts off by revealing how he actually survived. You can read these three books in whatever order you like.

There's one bit of annoying censorship trivia you should probably be aware of. All the Holmes short stories were originally published individually in the Strand magazine before being published together in anthology book form. "The Cardboard Box" was the second story in the Memoirs cycle published in the Strand, after "Silver Blaze" and before "The Yellow Face", but it was kept out of most early book editions of Memoirs, due to its exceptionally gruesome content. But "Cardboard" starts off with a neat opening scene where Holmes deduces Watson's silent train of thought and makes a comment that 's a direct reply to what Watson's thinking, as if he's reading Watson's mind. The editors who were too squeamish for "Cardboard" still liked this opening scene enough they decided to put it at the start of "The Resident Patient", which somewhat butchers the opening of "Patient", which now started off as a "hot August evening" (the opening scene from "Cardboard") and then just a few paragraphs later has Watson complain about how bitterly cold this autumn is! The original, unaltered version of "Patient" doesn't have this contradiction. The publishers that left "Carboard" out of Memoirs wouldn't publish it until they placed it as part of His Last Bow.

Unfortunately, the earliest editions of Complete Sherlock Holmes stories would keep "Cardboard" out of Memoirs, stick it in Bow, and keep the butchered opening of "Patient" so that both "Cardboard" and "Patient" had the same identical opening scene. 

Check the Volume II you just got. Is "Cardboard" in His Last Bow? If so, there's a good chance that Volume I will have the butchered version of "Patent" with the same identical opening scene. If that's the case, then for these two stories only, "Cardboard" and "Patient", you should read them in this online version of Memoirs:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/834/834-h/834-h.htm

It contains "Cardboard" as a part of Memoirs, as it should be, and includes the original, unaltered, unbutchered version of "Patient".

[Chronologist]

The Five Orange Pips

Date: “the latter days of September” in “The year ’87” (an impossible date)

Comments

The funny thing is this date almost works, if one accepts that “The Sign of the Four” took place in 1887. Watson’s wife and “Sign” itself are both referred to, “the latter days of September” would fit no matter which of the two self-contradictory dates in “Sign” you rely on, etc.

What makes this an impossible date is that Holmes makes an unnamed, yet unmistakable reference to Irene Adler. In this story Holmes states he has “been beaten four times–three times by men, and once by a woman.” If any woman other than Irene Adler had beaten Holmes prior to his encounter with her in “A Scandal in Bohemia” that began on March 20, 1888, then Irene Adler wouldn’t be “the woman”.

When the story provides a precise, but impossible date by year, I move it to the nearest possible year. So, I date this story in “the latter days of September” in the year 1888.

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” and before “The Red Headed League”.

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:21 PM, Chronologist said:

A Scandal in Bohemia

Date: “the twentieth of March, 1888”

Comments:

For the first time, Watson provides for a story the day, month, and year, a fully precise date.

 

54 minutes ago, Chronologist said:

The Five Orange Pips

Date: “the latter days of September” in “The year ’87” (an impossible date)

Comments

What makes this an impossible date is that Holmes makes an unnamed, yet unmistakable reference to Irene Adler.

Just curious why you decided to change Watson's fairly explicit date for "Pips" rather than decide that "Scandal" actually took place in 1886?  For example, does Watson refer to his wife in "Scandal"?

 

[Chronologist]

5 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

 

Just curious why you decided to change Watson's fairly explicit date for "Pips" rather than decide that "Scandal" actually took place in 1886?  For example, does Watson refer to his wife in "Scandal"?

 

Yes, he does. Right at the start of the second paragraph, Watson mentions his "marriage". When Holmes first greets him, he says, "Married life suits you." There can be no doubt that "Scandal" takes place after his marriage, and is probably the very first case he worked on with Holmes after his marriage to Mary Morstan. 

In general, where there are contradictions, I prefer precise dates over imprecise dates, and "the twentieth of March, 1888" is a more precise date than "the latter days of September" in "The year '87". 

[DistantView]

20 hours ago, Chronologist said:

Check the Volume II you just got. Is "Cardboard" in His Last Bow? If so, there's a good chance that Volume I will have the butchered version of "Patent" with the same identical opening scene. If that's the case, then for these two stories only, "Cardboard" and "Patient", you should read them in this online version of Memoirs:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/834/834-h/834-h.htm

It contains "Cardboard" as a part of Memoirs, as it should be, and includes the original, unaltered, unbutchered version of "Patient".

Well, many thanks for this. My book is one containing Cardboard in His Last Bow (I just checked), so I assume the butchered work will be in the other volume when I get it. Boooo...

But look forward to reading the unadulterated versions at those links!

[Chronologist]

The Man with the Twisted Lip

Date: “June 19th”, “’89”

Comments:

Watson says at the start that this story takes place in “June, ‘89”, and later tells Isa Whitney that the day is “June 19th”, so we are given a full, precise day, month, and year. (In the story, June 19th, 1889 is on a Friday, when in reality it was on a Wednesday. This is why I didn’t use the day of the week provided by “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” to determine what year it fell on. Holmes and Watson exist in a fictional universe created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle where the day of a month and year fall on whatever day of the week Doyle says it fell on.)

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Five Orange Pips” and before “The Red-Headed League”.

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 2/16/2022 at 7:48 PM, Chronologist said:

Holmes and Watson exist in a fictional universe created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle where the day of a month and year fall on whatever day of the week Doyle says it fell on.

I wonder whether a "perpetual calendar" was available in Doyle's time?  I used the one in the World Almanac a fair amount, back before one could simply ask the internet.

For those not familiar with the concept, the current version is generally based on the fact that there are only 14 calendars: one series of seven in which January 1 falls on each of the seven days of the week, and a similar series of seven consisting of leap years.  Then all you need is a list that matches each year with its calendar number.  (This version works for all years occurring after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, which occurred in various years, depending on which country you're talking about.)

I doubt that Doyle ever bothered with such niceties, though, when writing his "potboilers."

 

[Chronologist]

The Blue Carbuncle

Date: “the second morning after Christmas”, sometime after “A Scandal in Bohemia”, “A Case of Identity”, and “The Man with the Twisted Lip”.

Comments: 

Holmes and Watson refer to three specific cases, the one with the latest date being “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, which took place on June 19, 1889. Presumably, this case takes place in the same year, which would make the precise date to be December 27, 1889.

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Man with the Twisted Lip” and before “The Red-Headed League”.
 

[Chronologist]

The Speckled Band

Date: “early in April in the year ’83”

Comments:

Watson provides the date right at the start, it’s the only date provided, and all that’s really needed.

Current Canon Placement:

After “A Study in Scarlet” and before “The Sign of the Four”.
 

[HerlockSholmes]

• GLOR : 12 july 1874
• MUSG : 2 october 1879
• STUD : 4 march 1881
• SPEC : 6 april 1883
• RESI : 6 october 1886
• NOBL : 8 october 1886
• SECO : 12 october 1886
• REIG : 14 april 1887
• SCAN : 20 may 1887
• TWIS : 18 june 1887
• FIVE : 29 september 1887
• IDEN : 18 october 1887
• REDH : 29 october 1887
• DYIN : 19 november 1887
• BLUE : 27 december 1887
• VALL : 7 january 1888
• YELL : 7 april 1888
• GREE : 12 september 1888
• SIGN : 18 september 1888
• HOUN : 25 september 1888
• COPP : 5 april 1889
• BOSC : 8 june 1889
• STOC : 15 june 1889
• NAVA : 30 july 1889
• CARD : 31 august 1889
• ENGR : 7 september 1889
• CROO : 11 september 1889
• WIST : 24 march 1890
• SILV : 25 september 1890
• BERY : 19 december 1890
• FINA : 24 april 1891
• EMPT : 5 april 1894
• GOLD : 14 november 1894
• 3STU : 5 april 1895
• SOLI : 13 april 1895
• BLAC : 3 july 1895
• NORW : 20 august 1895
• BRUC : 21 november 1895
• VEIL : october 1896
• SUSS : 19 november 1896
• MISS : 8 december 1896
• ABBE : 23 january 1897
• DEVI : 16 march 1897
• DANC : 27 july 1898
• RETI : 28 july 1898
• CHAS : 5 january 1899
• SIXN : 8 june 1900
• THOR : 4 october 1900
• PRIO : 16 may 1901
• SHOS : 6 may 1902
• 3GAR : 26 june 1902
• LADY : 1 july 1902
• ILLU : 3 september 1902
• REDC : 24 september 1902
• MAZA : 1903
• BLAN : 7 january 1903
• 3GAB : 26 may 1903
• CREE : 6 september 1903
• LION : 27 july 1909
• LAST : 2 august 1914

 

Just for comparison this is William S. Baring Gould’s chronology. As you might guess there a fair few others. Hats off to Chronologist.👍

[Chronologist]

The Engineer’s Thumb

Date: “the summer of ’89”

Comments:

Watson provides the date right at the start, which is just the season and the year, not the day or month. This also happens to be the same season and year that “The Man with the Twisted Lip” takes place. Since “Twisted” was published earlier, I’m assuming this story takes place after “Twisted”.

Current Canon Placement: 

After “The Man with the Twisted Lip” and before “The Blue Carbuncle”.