Talk:William Lawson (explorer)

Latest comment: 8 years ago by Verbcatcher in topic Please check date

untitled edit

how to re-write the dates bits so they read better while preserving the links to the wikipedia/May_31 pages ? I haven't read much, so I'm sure it's doable. 1813-05-11 is hard to read/scan.

and write an entry about an obscure Australian explorer onto the May-31 events page dominated by Americanisms ;-)

Veteran Hall edit

It was the house that was called Veteran Hall, not the 500-acre property! It was a moderately large house for its time but hardly a mansion. It is a myth that it was built with 40 rooms - it was during the army's occupation that 40 rooms were created through subdivision. Do we need a separate article about Veteran Hall?

Spathaky (talk) 19:37, 12 June 2011 (UTC)Reply

Please check date edit

An unregistered user has recently changed a date in this article: from On 31 May 1813, the party reached the most westerly point of their expedition to On 6 June 1813[...]. Two other edits were made at about this time from the same URL, both of which have been reverted as unhelpful, so this could be insidious vandalism. Please check this date (I don't have the cited reference). Or should we revert it first, and check it later? Verbcatcher (talk) 20:32, 27 November 2015 (UTC)Reply

looking through the related articles, i only see the 11th may and 21 days later.
if i read through Lawson's journal might reveal more. without something to go on, i'd revert it. Dave Rave (talk) 02:40, 29 November 2015 (UTC)Reply
the date is mentioned in 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains but that would be the six days later return to base camp. Dave Rave (talk) 02:42, 29 November 2015 (UTC)Reply
Ideally this should be checked in the cited source (Jensen, Jo; Peta Barrett (1997). Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth. Slacks Creek, Qld: Future Horizon Publishing. ISBN 0958762295.). The URL for this edit appears for a school in Melbourne, so the editor may not be the same individual who made the unconstructive edits. It may be an accurate edit, possibly made by a history teacher. I will tag the date with {{verify source}} Verbcatcher (talk) 03:31, 29 November 2015 (UTC)Reply
as stated, already, it's on the 1813 page, Lawson's journal. I'd be sure it's been read a few thousand times.
Lawsons journal, with transcipt
Dave Rave (talk) 07:58, 1 December 2015 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. It's clear in the transcript that the party arrived on 31 May and returned eastward the next day. We shouldn't rely on primary sources, but this is sufficient to revert a questionable edit. Verbcatcher (talk) 13:45, 1 December 2015 (UTC)Reply
However, the transcript indicates that Lawson climed the mountain (presumably Mount Blaxland) on 2 June: "Wednesday Morning 2nd June at Seven oclock proceeded to ascend the Mountain course ½ mile west Reached the Summit at Ten got in our old Track home came Ten miles- Encamped at five oclock". However, the quote "this Country will I have no doubt be a great acquisition to this Colony" is from 31 May. This section needs rewriting, but ideally we shouldn't base it on Lawson's journal, which is a primary source (see WP:PRIMARY). Verbcatcher (talk) 14:03, 1 December 2015 (UTC)Reply