Talk:Edgeworth David

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Warning[edit]

Based on a cursory comparison of this article with Branagan's Life (see References) it is riddled with inaccuracies. It is also quite badly expressed. I have made some changes but until someone does a proper proof-read and fact-check against Branagan I think it should be considered unreliable.--Jack Upland 12:21, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have tried to do this and have cut out a lot of material that is too POV or irrelevant. It still needs work.--Jack Upland 09:17, 31 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Two big calls[edit]

A most admorable man, but there are two big calls here that sound unlikley to me: 1) [In WWI] David enlisted as a Major, at age 58, one of the oldest enlisted men on the Allied side. Really ? One of the oldest ? And in any case if he is a Major is he really an enlisted man? and 2) On 7 June 1917 his wartime contribution culminated in the mining of German positions in the Battle of Messines Really ? The single most significant mining event of WWI and an officer in an Army which doesn't even have a Mining Corps is responsible for the operation ? I doubt it. Refs please ! -Sticks66 13:22, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(1) I'm not sure what the quibble about "enlisted" is. He wasn't part of the pre-existing military: he joined up. Isn't that enlisting? And exactly how many people were older than 58?

(2) Regarding the mining the evidence is given in David Branagan's book. Sorry, I don't have page numbers. The text here doesn't say "responsible", though I think that is supportable.--Jack Upland (talk) 11:15, 18 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Enlisted ranks are separate from commissioned ranks like major. While there were some generals that were older than David, it is possible that he was the oldest active-duty soldier below the rank of colonel (after the first few months of the war, at least). Vgy7ujm (talk) 18:33, 28 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Adding infobox[edit]

Having just read Brannigan's biography of Edgeworth David, I've started doing some work on associated articles, and am about to add an infobox to this one, after which I will be expanding and tidying up the supporting text. Cheers, Bahudhara (talk) 04:18, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Format of name[edit]

Putting Edgeworth in inverted commas seems to imply that it was a nickname, which it was not. It was a family middle name that TWED happened to use as his chosen given name instead of Tannatt (acquired via his great-grandmother Heriot Cunningham Tannatt) or William (from his father). There are numbers of Edgeworths on the family tree (and an Edgeworthia) down at least to Professor Michael Edgeworth McIntyre, TWED's great-grandson. To return to the inverted commas, the first line of the entry for Rudyard Kipling, for instance, does not commence Joseph "Rudyard" Kipling despite him being popularly known by a middle name. Cheers - TWED's gg-granddaughter-in-law Anguisetleaena (talk) 11:35, 23 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately the guidelines and examples in Wikipedia's Manual of Style mainly refer to how names should be used in the titles of articles, and don't explicitly cover how they are to be formatted in the lead paragraph, and this has lead to some inconsistencies - e.g. see H. G. Wells vs T. E. Lawrence. Re your suggestion, I've based my change to this article on the latter example. Cheers, Bahudhara (talk) 01:28, 24 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Leadership coup[edit]

I have amended the text to remove the suggestion that Mawson was reluctant to take charge. The fact is that he resented David being leader from the start. David documented Mawson's aggressive attitude in his diary. The other two men became increasingly antagonistic to David. The leadership role was basically nominal, anyway. There were no duties that David had to perform as leader. If Mawson had really been reluctant, he could have refused the position. Since there was only three of them, walking together towards the rendezvous, there was really no need to appoint a leader. Talking about David's unfitness is also misleading, as all of them were on the point of death. All these facts can be found in Branagan.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:18, 5 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Achievements[edit]

According to the lead:

David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the South Magnetic Pole. He also served with distinction in World War I.

OK, but who said that? His highest honour was his knighthood and that was for his war service.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:23, 5 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Edgeworth David Garden[edit]

Edgeworth David Garden is a public park in Hornsby. The house is owned by Hornsby Council but is rented out as a private residence. Neal Park, which was previously mentioned in the article, is nearby, not the same as Edgeworth David Garden. Jack Upland (talk) 07:47, 30 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I also don't know why we're using the phrase "wooded estate". It's not an Australian expression.--Jack Upland (talk) 01:14, 1 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]