Talk:Lord Ronald Gower

Birthplace?
I have classified him as British in the new lede I supplied today, as no birthplace is given anywhere on his page. I know that the British/English/Scottish debate is taken seriously on the Talk pages, so if anyone knows the birthplace, they're welcome to supply it, and insert the nationality they think fit. Valetude (talk) 20:36, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Adoption of Frank Hird
The assertion that Lord Ronald Gower adopted Frank Hird seems implausible, given that adoption was not permitted in English Common Law, and became possible only on the passage of the Adoption of Children Act 1926. The Wikipedia Article on Hird cites as the authority for this statement a biography of Shackleton, which would hardly be authoritative on this point. Unless some more reliable reference can be found the reference to adoption should be deleted. Possibly Lord Ronald Gower merely made Frank Hird the principal beneficiary under his will, which in view of "testamentary freedom" would have been perfectly possible under English law. Ntmr (talk) 12:03, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
 * That may be technically correct, but the term 'adopted son' or 'adopted daughter' was common in England for centuries before the legislation enshrined it. I just checked the British Newspaper Archive and see that Hird was commonly referred to as that (e.g. Staffordshire Sentinel, 14 April 1913). However, I'll add a citation to the article. MisterWizzy (talk) 14:26, 7 December 2023 (UTC)