Talk:James Cosmo Melvill (naturalist)

Claims that he was an MP
A few posthumous sources, two of whom I have instanced in this page, the earlier one being a printed Ecological Flora of the Shropshire Region (1985) have claimed this man was a onetime MP for Salford South. However he does not appear listed as a parliamentary candidate for any Salford seat and he never served in parliament. I am mentioning this to pre-empt any introduction of the misinformation by others. It is certainly not mentioned in serious biographical sources like Venn or Who Was Who (he does not appear anyway in the latter though entry in Who's Who was usually automatic for British MPs.) I do not rule out that he might have been adopted or proposed for adoption as candidate (which if it happened could have made the local newspapers of the area) but did not get to take part in elections when they happened as the election results bear out. Earlier members of his paternal and maternal families were MPs.Cloptonson (talk) 18:49, 14 August 2019 (UTC)