The client and potential victim at the centre of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Nephew and heir of Sir Charles Baskerville, who died of a heart attack (apparently triggered by the hound).
Background
- Has spent most of his life in Canada; arrives in England to claim Baskerville Hall after his uncle’s death
- Described as a sturdy, broad-set young man with weathered complexion — more frontiersman than English gentleman
- Arrives with Dr. James Mortimer (who brings the case to Holmes)
Role in the novel
Sir Henry is the target of Stapleton’s scheme — Stapleton is the rightful Baskerville heir (as Roger Baskerville) and wants Sir Henry dead to inherit the estate. The hound is meant to terrify Henry as it did Sir Charles, hoping to produce a fatal fright or give Stapleton opportunity to murder him.
Watson accompanies Sir Henry to Dartmoor as his informal bodyguard; Holmes follows secretly. Sir Henry becomes romantically interested in Beryl Stapleton (not knowing she is Stapleton’s wife, not his sister).
Aftermath
Survives the novel shaken. Holmes recommends he travel abroad to recover his nerves. His long-term fate is not followed up in the Canon.