Talk:Jessie Holliday

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I have numerous questions about this wiki entry. First, where I'm coming from. I am writing a biography in which Jessie Holliday appears on several occasions, so I have been seeking information about her. Apart from newspaper reports (about her marriage and then suicide) I have identified only one printed source (and the wiki article does not mention it):

Parker, John. “The Search for Jessie Holliday.” The Shavian. Vol. 4, No 9 (1974).

It was meticulously researched -- I have seen Parker's correspondence arising out of his preparation of the article -- and it contains information that is not in the wiki entry, as well as verifiable information that contradicts the wiki piece. For instance, JH drowned in the sea and not a nearby lake. (This is also confirmed by contemporary newspaper reports.)

Now to the problems. The wiki article states that:

-- JH's father was the "Secretary of the Iron and Steel Company" -- I have not been able to identify this company.

-- "She was educated in wealthy institutions." If the writer knows that the schools were "wealthy", (s)he should name them, so that we can check their records. (Is it relevant to state that the schools were "wealthy"? Does this mean that her parents could not afford to pay for her education?)

-- "She attended Polam School." I have asked the school to confirm this information; a year later it had still not responded.

-- "Aged thirteen ... Polam Hall, for three years. In 1903 she entered...". This leaves a six-year gap, which should be accounted for. As it is, she entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1903 (see below).

-- "the Cope & Nichols school" -- Not traced. The writer should supply the source of the information, if only by linking to it. Does (s)he mean "Cope and Nichol's" with an apostrophe? There seems to have been a school of this name . . .

-- "in South Kensington" -- again, source? (e.g. contemporary directory, or list of educational establishments)

-- "There she developed a talent for drawing and painting." It is hardly likely that her talent developed only there. She would not have been accepted at the school without talent.

-- "a Silver medal for drawing." What's the source of this information?

-- "she was at the Royal Academy School until 1906." From the archives of the RASchools (note the plural), we know that she was accepted on 28th July 1903, aged 19, "recommended by J.W. Nicol" (I am quoting the RA's records). Aha: now perhaps we can trace that school. Her RA studentship expired in July 1908 but, from surviving attendance records, it appears that she left the Schools at Christmas 1906. She is marked as having visited on the 12th and 14th March 1907, but thereafter is recorded as having "left".

-- "The following year [i.e. 1904] she began to portraiture in earnest, tackling many important socialist figures and leading thinkers." (Note the incorrect grammar: portraiture is a noun, not a verb. And "tackling"? What an odd way to go about making portraits.) What is the source of this information? And are these portraits still extant? If so, where?

-- What is/are "Blank Whites" ?

-- "the early Summer School Movement ... It was at one of these": incoherent. "These" does not relate back to any plural noun. Presumably refers to meetings.

-- "It was at one of these she met her husband." My information is that it was at a meeting in North Wales, in 1910. As they married in 1912, it is inappropriate to call Edmund Trowbridge Dana her husband at this point. Revise to: "At one of these, in North Wales, she met the American Edmund Trowbridge Dana. They married in 1912." -- for instance.

-- "Jessie Holliday supported the Food Reform Movement; part of which was her own personal contribution by becoming a vegetarian." The statement is incoherent. Source?

-- "At the time of her move to American she was a well known as a watercolourist and for her drawings." Note the typo. Given the difficulty of finding out anything about JH, this statement is extraordinary. Source? In addition, it refers to "her move to America" without providing the date. (It was in 1911.)

-- "whilst Edmund was in bed with pleurisy" -- Source? He was up and about immediately after her death ...

-- "it was considered an accidental death." Correct, insofar as this was the official conclusion. It should be added that her husband maintained that it was a beautiful suicide. His statements so shocked the university where he taught that he was dismissed (see for example, Washington Post, 8 August 1915).

Finally, I should like to point out to jgrantduff that failure to identify the sources for information posted on a wiki page casts doubt on the veracity of the information and, rather than helping other researchers, causes them to waste a good deal of time.

gpeterw (talk) 13:13, updated 11 September 2014 (UTC)

gpeterw, this is a wiki. If you object to the above items, you can remove them if they are unsourced. The general policy is to leave them unless you have had a look for sources. If you have looked for sources and found none, you are OK to remove the item. BTW I have removed your PROD and added numerous sources. More sources are needed though. Also, you should not rely on Wikipedia as a reliable source, as it is not one.104.163.140.228 (talk) 07:34, 5 April 2017 (UTC)