Talk:Mycroft Holmes

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Was the protagonist of the movie "sherlock holmes' smarter brother" ? Speculation: was Mycroft from the Heinlein novel an inspiration for the name Microsoft? likely not. Pedant 06:31, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

No. In "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother", the character is named Sigerson Holmes. And I doubt seriously that there was any link to Microsoft. Rick K 06:35, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC)

There is a story in my family that Mycroft Holmes is named after a William Mycroft who played cricket for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in the 1870's. Is there any truth in this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.113.200.162 (talk • contribs) 1 December 2004

Wasn't M in The League really Moriarty, but everyone thought it was Mycroft? I don't really remember it was like 2 years since i read it. Gkhan 16:54, Dec 30, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, Moriarty was M to begin with, but Mycroft became M in issue #6. The statement in the article that Mycroft Holmes appears as M in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the truth and nothing but the truth; it's not the whole truth, but the whole truth would be a spoiler and is arguably not necessary in this context. --Paul A 03:10, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Why has this article been tagged with the "unverified" label? Which bit specifically is the problem? --Paul A 03:28, 7 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm removing it. Yes, we need supporting references. No, we don't need ambiguous ugly tags. ike9898 15:09, 7 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There are at least TWO Wikipedians who have usernames based on this character, although the other one is delete happy and frequently vandalizes select pages . . . Oh well. --Mycroft.Holmz 17:37, 30 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Should the use of Mycroft as the name for the government's secure communications network (http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2070752/40m-deal-secure-immigration) be included in 'References in Popular Culture'? Gregmcdougall 15:41, 16 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Lewis Gilbert mentioned in the text who supposedly played Mycroft in a 1922 movie was born in 1920 and probably was not the Gilbert that was meant. I don't know whether the link is wrong (i.e. a second Lewis Gilbert), the name of the actor or the date, but it doesn't add up. 62.131.103.236 (talk) 23:33, 15 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're right – Wikipedia's article is about the film director Lewis Gilbert, not the actor who was in the Sherlock Holmes films. —Paul A (talk) 02:21, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology of "Mycroft"

Does anyone happen to know what the word/ name "mycroft" means etymologically? Is it orginally referring to the place of origin of some person or to the profession of his ancestors? I'm curious to learn, so please don't let me in the lurch. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.34.13.172 (talk • contribs) 29 March 2007

As far as is known, Mycroft is an Old English compound of mype=waterfall and croft=farming field. As a surname it is common in the Midlands and it is theorized it may have been a town there. No proof of a town exists. Jane Mycroft ca. 1601 is the first recorded use of the name. So to answer the query, the etymology of the name is Old English and I would have to go further back and say Saxon. I believe it is possible Doyle may have been also referring to this symbol from the I-Ching of water-over-field. One might say "Mycroft" means "Waterfield".75.21.159.227 (talk) 18:23, 26 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]