About 125 Sherlockians gathered at the Bear Mountain Inn — located in the Hudson Valley near West Point, a one-hour drive north of New York City — for the BSI’s “Sherlock Holmes and the British Empire” conference. The official proceedings took place on Saturday and Sunday, July 30-31, 2022, but most of us checked-in on Friday and then enjoyed some of the informal Sherlockian social time that has been all too difficult to come by in recent years.

The Bear Mountain Inn near West Point, NY

Crystal Noll, Heather Holloway, and Chris Zordan staff the Friday registration table

The conference began bright and early on Saturday with a welcome by “Wiggins” Michael Kean, and moved briskly through a full day of talks by more than a dozen presenters on topics spanning more than three continents and more than five centuries. See a complete list of speakers in the full agenda (PDF).

Jayantika Ganguly presents on the Agra Treasure & the Plundering of India

After dinner, conferees had a menu of interesting distractions to sample and enjoy: music with Henry Boote upstairs, whist with Sue and Ben Vizoskie and Elaine Coppola downstairs, and Sherlockian shopping in the Merchants Room.

Playing whist at the Cavendish Club on Saturday night

Sunday’s proceedings featured another round of numerous and various presentations. The day and the conference concluded with a panel discussion — “The Sun Still Never Sets on Sherlock: The Future of Our Global Community” — with plenty of audience participation.

Conference Speakers (click photo to see larger image)

More details on the conference can be found in a report by Ray Betzner in the Autumn 2022 Baker Street Journal.

And for the fullest possible report, look for the conference proceedings volume, forthcoming from the BSI Press in 2023.

Event Details

Sherlock Holmes and the British Empire.
July 29–31, 2022.
The Bear Mountain Inn near West Point, New York

Learn More

Empire Conference Speakers & Agenda (PDF)

Audio Discussion of the Conference (podcast at I Hear of Sherlock)

Empire Conference Report in the Autumn 2022 BSJ

Empire Conference Proceedings (book coming in 2023)

Other BSI Events (general information)

Prior BSI Event and Expedition books

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Photos by Ben Vizoskie