Thomas Bentley (1880 – 1950) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, The Man in the Street (1926), The Antidote (1927), and Acci-Dental Treatment (1928).

Bentley was born in London and originally trained as an engineer, but went on to become a vaudeville performer well known for impersonating the characters from the novels of Charles Dickens on stage. His directing career in silent films began in 1910 with his adaptations of a number of Dickens' novels to film. After his retirement from directing in 1941 he became technical advisor to the British Film Council.

Sherlock Holmes ( /ˈʃɜrlɒk ˈhoʊmz/) is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve difficult cases.

Holmes, who first appeared in publication in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the first series of short stories in Strand Magazine, beginning with A Scandal in Bohemia in 1891; further series of short stories and two novels published in serial form appeared between then and 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1880 up to 1914.

All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself ("The Blanched Soldier" and "The Lion's Mane") and two others are written in the third person ("The Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson the main story from his memories, while Watson becomes the narrator of the frame story. The first and fourth novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of Fear, each include a long interval of omniscient narration recounting events unknown to either Holmes or Watson.

Tom Bentley is an author and policy analyst based in Australia. Bentley was born and educated in the United Kingdom where he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford.

Bentley was formerly Executive Director for Policy and Cabinet for the Premier of Victoria, Australia, and is currently Deputy Chief of Staff to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and part-time director of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. Between 1998 and 2006 he was director of DEMOS - described by The Economist as ‘Britain's most influential think tank'. Prior to his role at Demos he was a special adviser to David Blunkett MP, then Secretary of State for Education and Employment, where he worked on issues including school curriculum reform, social inclusion, creativity, citizenship, adult skills and area-based regeneration. He has been a Trustee and Chair of the Learning Programme for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and a Trustee of the Community Action Network in London.

Thomas James (c. 1573 – August 1629) was an English librarian, first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

James became a fellow of New College, Oxford in 1593. In 1602, his wide knowledge of books, together with his skill in deciphering manuscripts and detecting literary forgeries, secured him the post of librarian to the library newly-founded by Sir Thomas Bodley at Oxford.

At the same time, he was made rector of St Aldate's Church, Oxford. In 1605, he compiled a classified catalogue of the books in the Bodleian Library, but in 1620 substituted for it an alphabetical catalogue. The arrangement in 1610, whereby the Stationers' Company undertook to supply the Bodleian with every book published, was James's suggestion. Ill health compelled him to resign his post in 1620, and he died at Oxford in August 1629.

He was born about 1573 at Newport, Isle of Wight. In 1586 he was admitted a scholar of Winchester College, matriculated at New College, Oxford on 28 January 1592, and was fellow of his college from 1593 to 1602. He graduated B.A. on 3 May 1595, M.A. on 5 February 1599, B.D. and D.D. on 16 May 1614.