Template:Did you know nominations/Richard Rennison

Richard Rennison

 * ... that Richard Rennison, the last "anvil priest" from Gretna Green, took his 240 lb anvil with him on holiday to London?
 * Reviewed: The Hanging Garden (White novel)

Created/expanded by Worm That Turned (talk). Self nom at 15:03, 8 November 2012 (UTC)


 * The main problem I have is that there is no clear citation that he was the last anvil priest. You also wrote, "There he claimed that he was known as "the Gretna priest", but did not dress like one and stated that he knew he was not one." but this statement was made by a witness, not Rennison himself. One alternative would be that you could remove the word last from the hook and the article, as he was clearly an anvil priest. --Odie5533 (talk) 17:28, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
 * That's a very good point! I read it when at the Gretna museum, but never actually found a source to say he was the last one, and since they still have marriages there it is arguable that he wasn't. I've struck the word last, and added a date for context. Worm TT( talk ) 08:36, 27 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, regarding the term "witness", the Times article makes it clear that it is referring at one point to Rennison as the witness and another time referring to Mackie as the witness. In the case of "knowing he was not a priest" and in later years striking the word "priest" from the certificates, that was certainly Rennison. Worm TT( talk ) 08:45, 27 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Symbol confirmed.svg I noticed you added the year to the hook. That's obviously fine, but I think it sounds more intriguing without it, and readers might be less inclined to click it if they know it is an article on a rather older topic. Otherwise everything checks out. It was a very interesting read, and I particularly liked that you found newspaper sources. It's really neat to be able to click a reference and read a newspaper clipping on the subject from 80 years ago. Thank you for writing such a great article. --Odie5533 (talk) 09:23, 27 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I've removed the year, you're probably right about that, I do prefer my hooks to be a little more intriguing. Glad you enjoyed the article. Worm TT( talk ) 09:44, 27 November 2012 (UTC)