Historian and Poet[]
Should not William Topaz McGonagal be deemed an historian and poet since the main reason his poems are still studied is that they captured and preserved local history such as the Tay Bridge Disaster and local ordinances?
If Stompin Tom Connors has been recognized by politicians as a historian for writing songs on the Reesor Crossing Tragedy [1], Fire in the Mine (ie the Timmins mining fire) [2], How the Mountain Came Down [3] and How Do You Like it Now (about Free Trade, which became NAFTA after Mexico joined) [4], shouldn't William Topaz McGonagal?
Even just for the fact that both wrote about falling bridges? [5] (Vaudree (talk) 18:16, November 1, 2015 (UTC))
Wife?[]
Is his wife ever mentioned by JKR? If not, we should delete the mention, as this Wiki focuses on HP related information.--Rodolphus (talk) 18:57, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Whoever made this page claims it was just randomly mentioned on Pottermore, but I don't have an account there to verify any such claim. I suspect the claim is false and that this person has never existed. --Sajuuk 18:59, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- William Mcgonagall is definately mentioned on Pottermore, but his wife is not.--Rodolphus (talk) 19:03, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Sorry, my post made no sense and wasn't relevant, I thought you were talking about this page lol. I suggest that the reference to any wives be removed until a source states they exist. --Sajuuk 19:06, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Given that JKR explicitly states that it's the same poet, wouldn't all of his biographical information be the same? Not trying to be argumentative but this one seems to leave little doubt that her William McGonagall is the historical one and so his DOB, marriage, DOD, etc are all the same unless she says otherwise? It's a tricky problem, but these articles are offering some interesting case examples to consider. --Ironyak1 (talk) 19:27, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Only details necessary to define the subject of an article can be presumed to carry over to the Potterverse in the absence of canonical information per long-standing practice. For people, this means full name, date of birth, date of death, nationality, and profession. The kind of information that would be provided in the introductory sentence of a Wikipedia article. Relatives aren't really necessary to defining a person, and thus it would not be appropriate to mention them, unless they are also mentioned in canon. ★ Starstuff (Owl me!) 20:52, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Given that JKR explicitly states that it's the same poet, wouldn't all of his biographical information be the same? Not trying to be argumentative but this one seems to leave little doubt that her William McGonagall is the historical one and so his DOB, marriage, DOD, etc are all the same unless she says otherwise? It's a tricky problem, but these articles are offering some interesting case examples to consider. --Ironyak1 (talk) 19:27, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- Sorry, my post made no sense and wasn't relevant, I thought you were talking about this page lol. I suggest that the reference to any wives be removed until a source states they exist. --Sajuuk 19:06, May 11, 2016 (UTC)
- William Mcgonagall is definately mentioned on Pottermore, but his wife is not.--Rodolphus (talk) 19:03, May 11, 2016 (UTC)