Arthur Conan Doyle grew up in poverty.

Conan Doyle was the second of seven living children when he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. The artist Charles Doyle, his father, battled alcoholism and even stole from his kids' piggy banks to support his habit. Conan Doyle noted in his autobiography that the family's financial situation was always precarious: "We lived in the tough and exhilarating atmosphere of poverty." Charles' unpredictable behavior ultimately led to his commitment to an asylum.

Mary Foley Doyle, the author's mother, provided stability during this home upheaval. Conan Doyle complimented her for sparking his creativity and narrative talent. "In my early childhood, as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories which she would tell me stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life,” he recalled. “I am sure, looking back, that it was in attempting to emulate these stories of my childhood that I first began weaving dreams myself."