Talk:Matthew Webb

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 25 August 2020 and 3 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Baileybethj.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 03:38, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Pop culture
I removed the following, but it was then reinserted and I removed it again -

An episode of the Peabody's Improbable History segment in the TV cartoon series Rocky and His Friends'' featured the first swim across the Channel. Oddly, the character was referred to as Captain Clift. That set up an ending joke about the "White Clifts of Dover", but left the name change unexplained. It could be an inside joke, as the actor Clifton Webb was said to be the inspiration for the Peabody character. ''
 * Please, of all the possible references in popular culture, this must be one of the most uninteresting. A character's name in a segment of some 40 year old cartoon that lasts about 5 minutes. Most people outside of the USA will have never heard of Rocky and Bulwinkle and are uniliky to come to this page to find out about it. Put it in the Rocky an Bulwinkle article, not here. Jooler 02:23, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Where is the page on Matthew Webb the famous salesman gone, I saw that it was a stub, and obviously hadn't been completed yet but surely that's no need to have it removed.
 * That article was deleted as an autobiographical vanity page for a non-notable person. - Bobet 13:39, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

It isn't an autobiographical vanity page though???? How dare you describe it as vain!!!!


 * Ya, I'm sure it was written by some other totally unrelated Mattwebb24, that knew a lot about his personal life but couldn't provide any information about how the person was notable. This Matthew Webb should really be careful about his namesake stalker. - Bobet 14:28, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

A Shropshire Lad
I'm certain this was written by A E Housman and not John Betjemen. I'll change it if it checks out Plutonium27 18:47, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Whilst Housman undobtedly wrote a cycle calles "A Shropshire Lad", Betjeman seems to have 'stolen' the title for a single poem. Try http://www.geoffwilkins.net/fragments/Betjeman.htm for JB reading his own poem to an accompaniment of brass music.-- which I have just discovered is linked from the Wikipedia Betjeman page. 81.139.128.179 13:16, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Matt Webb
There's also Matt Webb, does this mean there needs to be a disambiguation link? 86.20.232.204 (talk) 14:28, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Other training venues
Can anyone find a reference or dates to show if Captain Webb trained weekly in Hollingworth Lake, Littleborough?90.218.48.243 (talk) 19:17, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Stanhope Medal
What is the Stanhope Medal? Drutt (talk) 19:56, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Given for lifesaving. It was named after a relative of the earls of chesterfield. I'm not sure if he or the medal are notable. I can find no other reference to them on WP. Drutt (talk) 18:19, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Portrait
Can we find nothing better than a cariacture for the portrait? 217.20.20.85 (talk) 15:12, 5 October 2010 (UTC)
 * There are two photographs from 1883 of him | online here, which might be copyright free... Quite likely that the photographer of these has been dead for at least 70 years. The library seems to claim copyright for scanning them from an historical newspaper, but that claim has no basis in copyright law.--Feuerrabe (talk) 12:35, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
 * That link doesn't work as is. Here is a working version of the link to your search at the Niagara Falls Public Library. -- ToE 20:14, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Brother Thomas: younger or elder ?
"Early life and career" section says "In the summer of 1863, while at home, he rescued his 12 year old brother Thomas from drowning in the Severn near Ironbridge". This means that Thomas is a YOUNGER brother of Matthew, who should have been 15 then. Meanwhile, "Legacy" section says "In 1909, Webb's ELDER brother Thomas unveiled a memorial in Dawley" (my emphasis). Was Thomas a younger or elder brother to Matthew ? Or, were there two brothers both named Thomas, maybe with different middle names ?--山田晴通 (talk) 07:32, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

Hard to retrieve sources
Noting here that Swimming Notes and Record, 1884 and Royal Humane Society Annual Report, 1874 contain information on Webb's Stanhope Medal attempted rescue (referenced in Webb's entry in the Dictionary of National Biography), but these sources are hard to retrieve. It is a wonderful world (talk) 21:49, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

Todo list for myself
Add information from rest of sources

Add information from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Make note of "HOW THE CHANNEL FIRST WAS SWUM; Captain Webb, Son of a Physician, Received Training as Sailor in China Trade. KILLED IN NIAGARA RIVER Tried to Cross Rapids in 1883 and Was Lost -- Wolfe's Story of Big Swim." hard to retrieve source somewhere

Try to find Randall, John: Captain Webb, the Intrepid Champion Channel Swimmer : A Comprehensive Account, from Materials supplied by Friends, with Faithful Photographic Portrait. Salopian and West-Midland Monthly Illustrated Journal. 1875. So that the source can be cited for many of the details of Webb's early life

Rewrite lead

Proofread article

Check it is British English

Improve citation metadata It is a wonderful world (talk) 15:31, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Dating errors - wrong century!?
There are several references in Captain Webb's history to occasions happening in e.g. 1979 when the dates should be showing e.g. 1879! 2603:9001:6C00:632E:44D3:B4C5:8BE7:6F24 (talk) 04:09, 17 July 2024 (UTC)


 * You are correct. This was my mistake, just a simple typo. I have fixed it now. Next time though, go ahead and fix it yourself! This is the reason anyone can edit. If you see a mistake, fix it! It is a wonderful world (talk) 19:04, 20 July 2024 (UTC)