Sir Henry Baskerville, Baronet was the nephew and heir of the late Sir Charles Baskerville. He was also the last known living member of the Baskerville family.
Henry's father was the middle of Charles Baskerville's two brothers. The youngest brother was Rodger. Henry and his father lived in a small cottage on the south coast of Devon. His father died young, while Henry was in his teens, and Henry immediately went to a friend in North America. When Sir Charles Baskerville died, a search for his heir found Henry farming in Canada.
When Holmes and Watson first meet him, Sir Henry is described as "a small, alert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built, with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face. He wore a ruddy-tinted tweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who has spent most of his time in the open air, and yet there was something in his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated the gentleman."
Shortly after his arrival at Baker Street, Henry Baskerville admits that "I don’t know much of British life yet, for I have spent nearly all my time in the States and in Canada." His accent is fairly British at first, but when he is angry later that day, Henry speaks "in a much broader and more Western dialect".
When Henry Baskerville's missing brown boot is finally recovered, it is marked "Meyer, Toronto".
After the terrifying events of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Henry and Dr. James Mortimer travel together around the world, a voyage which helps him to recover from the shocking events. It is unclear whether Mortimer’s wife accompanied them.
Portrayal[]
- Richard Greene played Sir Henry, in the 1939 film The Hound of the Baskervilles.
- Christopher Lee played Sir Henry, in the 1959 film The Hound of the Baskervilles.
- Kristoffer Tabori played Sir Henry in the 1988 made-for-TV movie The Hound of the Baskervilles[1].