Benedict Cumberbatch and ‘Sherlock’ Creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Share Common Ancestor

Benedict Cumberbatch spotted during filming for the fourth series of BBC show Sherlock on Charles Street in Cardiff, South Wales. (Matthew Horwood/GC Images)

As if the world didn’t already have enough reasons to be obsessed with Benedict Cumberbatch and feel that he’s the absolutely perfect Sherlock Holmes. Now, genealogy researchers have established a link with the writer who gave us Sherlock Holmes nearly 130 years ago, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Ancestry.com has determined that Cumberbatch and Doyle were “16th cousins, twice removed.” Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. He died in Crowborough, England, in 1930 at 71. Cumberbatch, 40, was born in London in 1976. An Oscar nominee for The Imitation Game, he has achieved worldwide fame through roles including Sherlock and the recent hit film Doctor Strange.

Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, right, conducts a radio interview, circa 1925. (Walter Gircke/ullstein bild via Getty Images/)

ullstein bild via Getty Images

And how were they connected? Doyle and Cumberbatch have a common ancestor in John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster and the fourth son of King Edward III of England, from the 14th century. He was Doyle’s 15th great-grandfather and Cumberbatch’s 17th great-grandfather.

To learn more about this link between the man who gave us Sherlock Holmes and the man who has provided one of his definitive portrayals, click here. Watch an extremely rare interview with Doyle in the video below.

—RealClearLife Staff