Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Halifax


 * 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. Michig (talk) 07:59, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

William Halifax

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This article appears to be unverifiable, as a search for sources found nothing to confirm the existence of this person. I tried Google, Google Books, the British National Archives, the Internet Archives, and JSTOR and found no sources. At the very least Mr. Halifax appears to be non-notable. Note that this article was created back in 2005 by an IP and the article content has been essentially unchanged since then. Below are some of the places where the article's veracity appears to be in question:
 * The article claims William Halifax became the ninth Earl of Stirling in 1817. This is impossible, because the title of Earl of Stirling was vacant from 1739 onwards and even in 1839, the right heir of the Earl of Stirling was still in dispute with a possible pretender.
 * The article claims William Halifax served as the Lieutenant Governor of St. Lucia in the 1820s. This is unlikely, as the title for the chief executive of St. Lucia was not termed "Lieutenant-Governor" until 1834, before then the title was "Governor and Commander-in-Chief". Halifax is not listed among the governors of St. Lucia during the 1820s.
 * None of Halifax's supposed reports (Conversations with Sir William, Fifth Viscount Howe, K.B and General of the Army From His Time in Plymouth Concerning the Defense of England...) could be verified to exist, neither do they have records in WorldCat.

Besides all this, I find it suspicious that much of this article is based on "family legend", which is patently unverifiable in itself. I hope somebody will be able to find sources to prove me wrong, but I fear that this article may have been a long standing hoax. Altamel (talk) 06:34, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete Possibly, this is an elaborate hoax. Maybe, it is a retelling of family legends. But it is nothing we can keep in the lack of references. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  07:37, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 14:18, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Caribbean-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 14:18, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 14:18, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 14:18, 9 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete Was unable to find anything that didn't ultimately seem to be sourced from Wikipedia, am inclined to agree this may not be a real person. Artw (talk) 14:52, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete. Yes, looks like a hoax. Anyone as important as this article claims he is would have an entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. He doesn't. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:46, 10 December 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.