Talk:Thomas Powell (botanist)

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Another Thomas Powell with the same birth and death dates?[edit]

Is this the same person as Thomas Powell (1809–1887), whose article doesn't mention botany at all? Ham II (talk) 09:29, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Reverend Thomas Powell (botanist), missionary and botanist, who died in Penzance, Cornwall, England, April 6, 1887, (details from probate notice) is not the same person as Thomas Powell (1809–1887) the writer who moved to New York in about 1849 and died in New Jersey, January 13, 1887. Sidpickle (talk) 11:15, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Just an update. Thomas Powell the Missionary was born June 18, 1817 – not 1809. See link to THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY TUTUILA MISSION page 91 also Extracts from The West Briton newspaper, 1887 (Part 2) under deaths and Adelaide Observer column 3 about half way down; Death of Eminent Missionary.

Hope this helps. Sidpickle (talk) 17:05, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Sidpickle: Thanks for doing the digging work for this. Does this mean the dates here, here and here (all links from the Wikidata item) are incorrect? Ham II (talk) 19:54, 19 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Ham II: Dear HAM II, the Trove reference you provide is for the American author Thomas Powell, not the missionary. The other references seem to have the same birth date as those in the article so they are legitimate but could be historically incorrect? See the notice in the newspaper of the time giving his age at death (1887) as 69, making year of birth nearer to 1817 than 1809. These notices are usually put in by the family, probably his wife Jane Emma (Harrison) Powell (1822-1890) or son Benjamin Thomas Powell, so are often more accurate than some other non-related sources. I think the date of birth is not as important as giving Rev Thomas Powell a decent Wikipedia biography and there seems to be quite a bit of information that has yet be used to expand the current article. The Linnean Society of London has some interesting publications that seem the be by Thomas Powell but further research is required to confirm. Powell was a Fellow of the Society so they may have some history; I'll try and contact then to see if they have and then get back to you. Hope this information is OK? Sidpickle (talk) 16:15, 20 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]