Talk:John Cavanagh (designer)

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Confusion over place of birth[edit]

This article stated that John Cavanagh was born in Ireland and he is still cat listed as an Irish designer. He may well be Irish by descent/parentage, but I have found The Times obituary (paywalled so I've used a version captured and reproduced for ref) and this gives DOB and states that he was born in London and educated at St Paul's. I think The Times looks to be more reliable, so have amended information for now – obviously if new info comes forward this could be revised. Libby norman (talk) 11:13, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In 1951 when he joined the Big Eleven (1951? That's the year before he opened his house. Interesting!) he apparently told the press he was from County Mayo: "We confess at once that we fell for Mr. Cavanagh from County Mayo..." [1]. If nothing else, this indicates that Cavanagh identified as Irish. He is described as both Irish and English in various sources, but Irish here, and ooooh.... check this out. He clearly told this journalist he "was born in Mayo"! - I'd think Cavanagh would know where he was born, wouldn't you? Especially as he told two separate reporters in 1951 and 1961 that he was from Mayo. Here, it is noted that five of the Top Twelve are Irish - including Cavanagh. I think it all pretty strongly suggests that the Times obit got that basic detail wrong. Mabalu (talk) 01:46, 14 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds pretty good to me – these sources weren't on the page when I looked at it. Perhaps leave The Times ref in (hopefully school details and DOB/DOD are correct) and amend copy to Irish with these supporting refs. Libby norman (talk) 18:56, 14 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]