Talk:John Aspinall (zoo owner)

Early life
I believe Aspinall served in the Army before going to Jesus College, in the latter part of the war. Might be worth mentioning if it could be confirmd. Seadowns (talk) 21:47, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Lords Clermont
Which Lord Clermont is the eponym of the Clermont Club? Nothing in their respective articles jumps out at me. —Tamfang (talk) 00:38, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
 * William Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont (1722–1806)
 * William Fortescue, 2nd Viscount Clermont (1764–1829)
 * Thomas Fortescue, 1st Baron Clermont (1815–1887)
 * Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford and 2d Baron Clermont (1823–1898)

Not zookeeper?
This person is categorized as zookeeper, but doesn't seem to have been a zookeeper at all? Dan Koehl (talk) 17:28, 2 February 2017 (UTC)


 * What do you call somebody who builds a zoo and looks after the animals? MilborneOne (talk) 22:13, 2 February 2017 (UTC)


 * A Zoo director, and the director employs staff to look after the animals, they are referred to as zookeepers. Dan Koehl (talk) 22:36, 3 February 2017 (UTC)


 * If you read about Aspinall he clearly looked after the animals himself, so was a zookeeper. MilborneOne (talk) 15:26, 4 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Zookeeper is a profession, and a "title", an item on the salory payment list. We can be sure that Mr Aspinall was not on such a payment roll, or used the title Zookeeper. he was a zoo owner. If a duke, count or farmer, and sheep owner take care of his sheep now and then, this doesnt make him a shepheard? Shepheard is a profession, so is zookeeper. No need to read for me, Ive met Aspinall, I am a zookeeper since 40 years and should know about my life and profession? Dan Koehl (talk) 16:08, 4 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Zookeeper may be a profession but you dont need to be paid to do it! if you read the category definition it says "This category is for articles about zookeepers, zoo owners, zoo designer, and animal trainers." so it is OK for Aspinall whatever view you take. MilborneOne (talk) 16:26, 4 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Do you have a source for your opinion? During 40 years as Zookeeper, I never met a zookeeper who was not paid. You may refer to a student, or likevise, they are not zookeepers, they are going through a course, and make their practice time in a zoo, which is not the same thing. You dont really seem to have any personal experience from this subject, as far as I understand? Why is it important for you, to call a businessman, casino owner, and zoo owner, a zookeeper? He never was. Alfred Brehm was never a zookeeper, or any director, except for two, one in a malaysian zoo, and one in a zoo in Borås in sweden. both of them however, now work as zoo directors, not as zookeepers. Dan Koehl (talk) 16:34, 4 February 2017 (UTC)
 * As explained the zookeeper category includes zoo owners so in wikipedia terms it is OK for Aspinall and Brehm. You are welcome to create a new category Category:Zoo owners or raise it at WikiProject Zoo to get some help. MilborneOne (talk) 16:43, 4 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Very good, and thanks for your flexibility. I believe I have now support to clear this subject up, by making a couple of new categories. Dan Koehl (talk) 17:22, 4 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Shouldn't he rather be described as "Swindler and Zoo Owner"? Seadowns (talk) 12:51, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

owner

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Clermont Set which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 21:02, 14 October 2017 (UTC)

"The founder of the Special Air Service, Colonel Sir David Stirling, lost £173,000 on Aspinall's tables, writing out an IOU at the end of the night."

This story, which has featured in several books and documentaries, including the Real Casino Royale, actually refers to David's brother William, The infamous 'note' in the ledger, is visibly signed by William Stirling who was a member of Aspinall's club.Bluebadge1 (talk) 15:35, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

Big Edge
The mention of this is rather mysterious. What was it? According to a television programme about Aspinall some years back, he had a way of marking cards and then getting them repacked as if new, through a criminal acquaintance. Was this it? It may be, because it apparently increased the "edge" the table had by a factor of about ten. The article could be more explicit about this. Seadowns (talk) 12:40, 22 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I now see this is explained in the article on Billy Hill. Seadowns (talk) 11:21, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

Middle Class?
"From middle class beginnings he used gambling to move to the centre of British high society in the 1960s."

Aspinall went to public school (Rugby) then Oxford (Jesus College) - hardly what I, personally, would call 'middle class'.

Thoughts on the matter?

The term "middle class" covers a multitude of sinners. Seadowns (talk) 14:14, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

(To clarify for our friends across the pond, the term 'Public School' has entirely the opposite meaning in the UK as it does in the States. It refers to the most-expensive private schools, as opposed to our 'State Schools'. Rugby being one of the _most_ prestigious Public Schools and, just out of interest, is where the sport we call Rugby (Rugby Football, to be precise) originated.) zarathustra (talk) 16:06, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

Edit: Where I said "most-expensive", I intended to say "most-exclusive" although the former stands too. zarathustra (talk) 16:13, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

Antisemitism
It is quite upsetting to see his antisemitism brushed away here as if it was some kind of joke using the "some of his best friends were Jewish" defense, when as a child my family were on the receiving end of it.

We visited Howletts zoo while on holiday, Aspinal was driving his golf cart around and stopped and said to my dad, "you look like a Hasidic Jew, you've got money coming out of your eyes, you don't care about animals." My dad laughed it off, but we all remember that episode as a deeply troubling one. Beekbook (talk) 23:37, 1 April 2023 (UTC)