Talk:Francis Thompson

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Death by suicide

According to the Wordsworth Book of Literary Anecdotes, Francis Thompson committed suicide after Thomas Chatterton appeared to him in a vision and commanded him to do so.

Ok. No reply. I'm changing it. (Yes, I have an off-line, printed source).

I disagree with you. According to many sources (including the two I added to the main article) "Thompson attempted suicide in his nadir of despair, but was saved from completing the action through a vision which he believed to be that of a youthful poet, Chatterton, who had committed suicide almost a century earlier." -- Michael David 14:33, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Jack the ripper?

I was researching this for a presentation, and was chosen to present Francis Thompson as a suspect, could someone add info on this to the wiki?

Conner5boys 14:19, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

The best summary of the "case" against Thompson that I have found is here: Casebook Article, although I have NO idea of the status of this particular theory in the larger picture. Is it important enough for inclusion in Wikipedia? I personally think so, but then, I think that the Wikipedia should strive for accuracy before it strives for "importance."--Zerobot 20:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It's not really encyclopedic. Charles Matthews 21:10, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Removed the references to Jack the Ripper. Such a serious accusation should be based on reliable sources, and I don't think that the source cited qualifies. By the way, could someone add to the discussion of Thompson's poetry? --Bagration1944 (talk) 19:32, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

It's been put back in, though in rather less detailed form than before. It's also unreferenced so I'm undoing the edit. Personally, I see no reason to include mention of this theory. The only reason I can see for retaining the reference is if the 'Thompson as Ripper' theory is well known enough to be associated with him in the popular imagination. I've read a lot of secondary material on the fin de siecle writers and never come across any mention of this Ripper theory - actually this WP article was the first I'd heard of it. ANB (talk) 13:29, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Thanks--Bagration1944 (talk) 20:04, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Another Jack the Ripper entry - I removed it. The Jack the Ripper hypothesis is pretty much the brainchild of a single man - Richard Patterson, author of the casebook link above - and the only way he can reach his conclusions is by being extremely selective with his evidence. The way he has calculated probability in his article, too, is less than impressive. His method is based largely on confirmation bias, and his theories are universally panned over at the casebook forums. There is absolutely no reason to include his hypothesis in Wikipedia, any more than we should include the same note under Vincent van Gogh's Wiki article (and yes, he has also been proposed as a Ripper suspect, by similarly spurious methods). Tsuka (talk) 10:27, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

Not just Richard Patterson, medical examiner Joseph C. Rupp as well (who originated the accusation). Also, Francis Thompson biographer John Walsh suggested that FT might have been questioned in relation to the murders. It looked like JW tried to make sure he wasn't suggesting FT was jTR, though.

With regards to Casebook, FT as a suspect is panned (not nearly as much as some others are) as you say, but every suspect on those boards is panned. In general he isn't well thought of as a suspect because there is no evidence of him at any of the crime scenes and he is a famous person, which goes against the idea that JTR was just a regular schmoe.

Personally, I think he is as good or better a suspect than any of the others mentioned. I don't know if the evidence would be enough to include a mention in his Wiki bio, though. 72.220.219.138 (talk) 23:39, 12 November 2023 (UTC)