The name has subsequently been adopted by other organizations, most notably a prestigious and exclusive literary society founded in the United States by Christopher Morley in 1934.

The original Baker Street Irregulars are fictional characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.

[5] When Watson meets the group, he describes them as "half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on".

Wiggins receives three shillings and sixpence (which he calls "Three bob and a tanner"[6]) from Holmes for expenses in addition to his regular wage.

Cartwright, who works in a district messenger office, secretly runs errands for Holmes on the moor and keeps him supplied while disguised as a country boy.

At one point Watson sees the disguised Cartwright running errands, and describes him as "a small urchin" and a "ragged uncouth figure".

Smith wrote that this shows that Holmes "realised the value of reliable assistants and was humble enough to look for them in places where others of his status might have never deigned to tread".