Talk:William Connor Magee

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo exists[edit]

If someone wants to, there is a photo in Macdonnell's biography of Magee. -- billinghurst (talk) 23:50, 8 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 19 January 2017[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Page moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) -- Dane talk 22:25, 27 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]



William Magee (archbishop of York)William Connor Magee – Normally known by full name, which is a better disambiguator from his grandfather William Magee (archbishop of Dublin). On Google ngrams, the spike for "William Magee" in the 1830s and "William Connor Magee" in the 1890s clearly demonstrates that "William Magee" generally refers to the grandfather, and "William Connor Magee" to the grandson. The renaming edit cites Library Ireland, but this entry is for the grandfather. LookLook36 (talk) 19:59, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Requested move 18 January 2022[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved to William Connor Magee, partly for substantial (WP:NATURAL is generally preferred, although "this could go either way") and partly for procedural reasons (was unilaterally moved from this title). No such user (talk) 10:41, 4 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]


William Magee (archbishop of York)William Connor Magee – Same reason as previously given (and accepted) on 19 January 2017: Normally known by full name, which is a better disambiguator from his grandfather William Magee (archbishop of Dublin). On Google ngrams, the spike for "William Magee" in the 1830s and "William Connor Magee" in the 1890s clearly demonstrates that "William Magee" generally refers to the grandfather, and "William Connor Magee" to the grandson. (Renamed on 25 April 2021 with a later tidying rename on 11 October 2021) LookLook36 (talk) 17:29, 18 January 2022 (UTC) — Relisting. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 01:19, 26 January 2022 (UTC)— Relisting. Coffee // have a ☕️ // beans // 03:54, 15 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

  • Pinging User:Black Kite, in case they remember why they undid that page move last year.--Yaksar (let's chat) 00:56, 19 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Also pinging @DBD: to let him know, as the authority on article names for C of E clergy – I'm going against his usual preference for one forename and a disambiguator over full forenames in this case, on grounds of clear evidence that this is not the common form. LookLook36 (talk) 11:49, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    I had a look in the Church Times archives, which doesn't provide much data, but might provide a steer. I found six occurrences of William Magee:
    • "William Magee, S.T.P., Bishop of Peterborough, after that Archbishop of York; born 1821, died 1891" from York Minster memorial (ChTm_1896_03_20_339)
    • "He was the grandfather of William Magee, also Dean of Cork, then Bishop of Peterborough, and finally Archbishop of York," (ChTm_1900_12_28_749)
    • "William Magee, afterwards Archbishop of York" (list of minister of Quebec Chapel, ChTm_1914_07_03_006)
    • "William Magee was not yet Archbishop of York, but still eight years away from his translation from Peterborough" (article on E.W. Benson biography, 1998_09_11_017)
    • "Ten days later, his successor, William Magee, Bishop of Peterborough, heard from the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury. Would he accept the Queen’s nomination to York?" (Road to Bishopthorpe article, 2005_04_29_020)
    • "William Magee, Bishop of Peterborough in the 19th century" (Bishop guide book review, ChTm_2015_12_18_045)
    Six occurrences of William Connor Magee: ChTm_1872_03_01_099, ChTm_1891_01_16_054 (appointment to York), ChTm_1891_03_20_279 (enthronement), ChTm_1923_11_16_554, 1979_07_13_008, 1982_07_02_014. Two occurrences of William C. Magee in 1902: once as a chapter in a book, once as author of a pamphlet.
    Of these, only three are in his lifetime, all his full name — but two of those are contexts where the full name would always be used. I personally find the choice of no middle name for his memorial strongly indicative... Though that might be confirmation bias! His biography [1] uses "William Magee" in the text, and prints some of his letters later, which unhelpfully (though usual at the time) are signed W. C. Peterborough.
    This could go either way, which is presumably why the page has 'bounced around' a bit. I think it seems like the name he used in life was William Magee; but that he has since been commonly called William Connor Magee because of his grandfather. Each therefore has its merits. DBD 21:13, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • I thank DBD for his research, and concede that there is a case for the status quo – but I'm not sure which memorial he's looking at, this one uses "William Connor Magee". LookLook36 (talk) 21:50, 23 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    • My misunderstanding – DBD means the memorial inscription in York Minster, as cited in the Church Times in 1896. (Annoyingly, I can't find a photo of that inscription at a resolution high enough to read it, I take it that the Church Times quotes it reliably.) The memorial in Peterborough Cathedral has "William Connor Magee", the one in York Minster doesn't – it could go either way. LookLook36 (talk) 17:51, 30 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Partly for the reasons raised in the nom, but also partly on procedural grounds. The move from "William Magee (archbishop of York)" to "William Connor Magee" was done through the RM process. It should not have been boldly reversed, especially without even leaving an edit summary (and without updating incoming links from navboxes and the disambiguation page). Colin M (talk) 19:56, 28 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.