Talk:John Wadham

John Wadham

Hello SeraphWiki,

I accept that the above article may be over-reliant on one source and will attempt to add further citations, references and content. I am, however, new to this game and lack Wiki experience and possibly competence (certainly technologically), so would welcome any help or guidance you feel able to give in order to help this draft article to publication.

Best wishes,

Even-tables Even-tables (talk) 15:56, 6 January 2018 (UTC)

Even-tables (talk) 15:56, 6 January 2018 (UTC)

Welcome!

Welcome Even-tables and nice to see a new article about an old Devonian, though why does it fall into the trap of too many other articles which do no credit to Wikipedia by failing to show how an individual was notable and instead filling space with often superfluous detail on his real estate and offspring? And in 2018 should articles be based on unreliable secondary sources dating back to the 1600s, when there is reliable modern research drawn from primary sources? Wadham had an interesting and busy public life, which shows some of his character and of the times in which he lived, so why does so little of it appear here? And a very minor point of nomenclature: in England at that time, among other spellings, the name Margaret might be written Margery or Marjory and the name Elizabeth might be written Isabella or Isabel, so there is no need to show the variants. Clifford Mill (talk) 09:29, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

John Wadham

The great thing, as I understand it, about Wikipedia is that no article need be fixed in stone. On the contrary, the articles evolve by the contributions of others, so please do bring on the modern research, and share any new light or insight into the life of John Wadham that you can. The existing article is only a starting point. Kind regards,Even-tables Even-tables (talk) 09:47, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Carry on the good work, I suggest! You are very lucky that there are two sound modern biographies by Henry Summerson and Roger Virgoe, so why not use them fully rather than picturesque but too often inaccurate stuff from previous centuries. And do landholdings, though fetishised in the past, hold much interest nowadays except to people who live there? And if children of a notable person did not themselves become notable, need much be said about them? Clifford Mill (talk) 18:23, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

I don’t have access to Henry Summerson and the DNBonline, I’m afraid, (so if anyone else can include him more in the article that would be a help), and I quite agree that Roger Virgoe is fresh, modern and excellent. As you can see from earlier on in the thread of this discussion, I have been warned not to rely too much on one source, or just paraphrasing. With Roger Virgoe it is often tempting. And I take your point and, to a degree, I share your view about the landholdings and the children ! Though others may make connections? The earlier histories do sometimes lack accuracy, but I think they compensate to a degree in character and richness of expression, and seem part of an evolving biographical narrative .... like Wikipedia. I don’t feel remotely precious about the article if you or anyone else would like to re-structure it. Just glad he is up there. All the best. Even-tables Even-tables (talk) 11:23, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Quick comment to say that I do agree with you. While the old writers could be pithy and perceptive, unless they cite cast-iron sources we may quote them but cannot rely on them. Mentioning children not in themselves notable is indeed valuable for making connections, if they married. Naming landholdings is equally useful, in my view, without going into detail. Clifford Mill (talk) 14:34, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

FYI, I have removed some text which is purely original research (see quote box). Feel free to cite this using verifiable, third-party reliable sources. I think the issue earlier was the close paraphrasing of a single source, not just the fact that it was the some source. So if you can get Summerson, Virgoe, etc, please do so: they're there to be mined. I can get you ODNB if you wish. Also check out WP:REF for advice on how, why, and when to cite. Still a job of work to be done on them, I think. Still, nice little article. Cheers, >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 12:08, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Before his death, Sir John Wadham founded a chantry dedicated to St Katherine at the Church of St Mary, Ilminster in Somerset, to which, according to his will, he gave land and houses at Desborough, Saltcombe, and Harberton in Devon and at Aldington, Henstridge, and Stoke-sub-Hamdon, in Somerset.

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