Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Bowland, 16th Lord of Bowland


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. Tone 14:45, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

William Bowland, 16th Lord of Bowland

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The following link to this supposed person has now been deleted from article Fitz: "Anthony Trollope's 1862 novel Orley Farm which features the fictional rakishly aristocratic figure Lord John Fitzjoly". Jolly/Bowland appear to be part of a connected series of hoax articles. Lord John Fitzjoly was a fictional character in Trollope's book.(Lobsterthermidor (talk) 16:05, 2 March 2014 (UTC))
 * Comment - I completed the nom, copying the rationale from the talk page of the article. 6 an 6 sh 6 20:45, 2 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of England-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 00:55, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 00:55, 3 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete: I repeat my query/comment on the article's talk page: "Does this pseudonymous character merit an article? I also cannot help wondering (with a view to WP:YOURSELF) whether User:Manorial, the creator of this article and its principal contributor, is perhaps "the Lord" himself. And might Stephen Jolly be a further alias?)"45ossington (talk) 08:12, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Please see LORDSHIP OF BOWLAND. William Bowland is not a fictional character. (UTC)
 * Delete - for those who might be confused this "lordship" does not in fact give the title holder a position in the peerage of the United Kingdom, and therefore fails WP:POLITICIAN. The rest of it is really slightly embarrassing.  If properly identified, the subject might meet WP:PROF but without positive identity it's impossible to tell.  Barney the barney barney (talk) 17:11, 4 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete. Feudal lords who are not members of the House of Lords are not inherently notable. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:44, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. Necrothesp (talk) 14:45, 5 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete. As written, minimal notability, and the referencing is very poor (the links I've tried don't seem to contain the information claimed). Hchc2009 (talk) 15:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete . The article is clearly self-promotional and pure fantasy. If I may slightly alter the point made above so as not to set a precedent: Feudal barons are of very great historical interest, of great rarity and are certainly notable, for example the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle who have been feudal lords of Berkeley for many centuries, but have only recently lost their separate peerage title Baron Berkeley to a female line. However, purported feudal and manorial titles "bought off the shelf" for a couple of thousand pounds by a fantasist are of no legal or historical validity and are of no interest to anyone other that the persons who buy them. WP is not the place for such self-promoters. Such fantasy articles sourced from self-submitted press-releases to free-copy-hungry local newspapers and self generated "official websites" are worthless, and detract from the many valuable articles on such topics sourced from serious historical publications. I suspect the article Stephen Jolly too has little basis in reality, and that this supposed person is also user:manorial and the self-proclaimed lord of Bowland. The message manorial left on my talk page 6 March certainly suggests he has some "inside info" on this hoax: Stephen William Jolly, a Cambridge don, is Lord of the Forest of Bowland, according to the Manorial Society. He is known as "William Bowland" within the Forest (check with the Forest Archive at Slaidburn; contact Helen Wallbank). His son, Henry, has the name "Fitzjoly" as William Bowland's natural child. Please check facts before proposing deletion! Manorial. Fitzjoly happens to be a fictional character in Anthony Trollope's 1862 novel Orley Farm. Coincidence? Fantasy, not facts, thus not suitable for WP. I support deletion of this article. (Lobsterthermidor (talk) 17:34, 7 March 2014 (UTC))
 * I'm striking the vote, not because it's not valid, but because you're technically the nominator, so it's a duplicate. 6 an 6 sh 6 09:18, 8 March 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.