Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Aeneas Mackintosh


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 00:51, 10 May 2008.

Aeneas Mackintosh
Self-nomination: I'm nominating this article for FA because it has been extensively reviewed. Various improvements, particularly to the images, have been added. I believe it is now an appropriate FA candidate. Mackintosh is a largely unknown polar hero, with an accident-strewn career that ended tragically. His determination to do his duty is deserving of wider recognition, hence this article. Brianboulton (talk) 16:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Support Note: I copyedited this article and participated in its peer review. I read through this article again today, and found only a few minor tweaks needed; I took care of them myself. Well done, Brian. Maralia (talk) 18:15, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I like the rewrite of the last paragraph of the lead. One thing I meant to address before is this phrase: "his traditional, hierarchical approach to command failed to establish good relations with most of his men". It wasn't his approach that failed to establish good relations. I don't have a great suggestion for how to rephrase it (which is, I think, why I got distracted and neglected to mention it before), but I'm sure you can come up with something :) Maralia (talk) 14:49, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I 've tweaked it. For "approach to command" read "style of command". Surely better? Brianboulton (talk) 15:02, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Comments
 * You say in current ref 9 "Mackintosh biographical details on New Zealand Heritage page. Is this "Meet the Crew: ALA Mackintosh" down in the sources? Or is it another different website? If you don't use the Meet the Crew site, put it in the external links section. If it is the same, I'm still a little leery of the site, who's behind it again?
 * Full disclosure, I read the article over at PR and checked on the sources then. They still all look good except for the above quibble. Ealdgyth - Talk 01:37, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * "Meet the Crew" is a page in the Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) website. I've altered Ref 9, and the source details, to indicate this. My initial lack of precision in defining the source may have confused, but I don't think there's anything questionable about the site. The one piece of information gleaned from it (Mackintosh's naval reserve commission date) isn't central to the article, and could be dropped if you have serious doubts about the source. Brianboulton (talk) 07:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Now that you've jogged my memory, I can live with the source. You have to remember how many sources I look through in a week.... Ealdgyth - Talk 11:36, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

NOTE TO REVIEWERS: due to a computer breakdown my access may be restricted for the next few days so there may be slight delays in my responses to issues raised here. Brianboulton (talk) 10:00, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Sending a Get Well Soon card for your computer :-) Sandy Georgia  (Talk) 18:35, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you Sandy. It may be terminally ill I fear. I'm using a back-up computer to deal with day-to-day business, so reviewers can continue to leave comments here and they will be picked up by me. 212.139.101.27 (talk) 11:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Well again. Brianboulton (talk) 11:41, 6 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Support. As I am drawn to ambiguity and multi-faceted histories, this is an excellent one. My general impression is that Mackinstosh put the lives of himself and his crew (and the dogs!) in unnecessary danger to live up to...something, but the article acknowledges that history often remembers people in multiple ways, and stories are never simple. It could serve as a moral for foolishness, or as a model of bravery, but it does neither - or does both. Excellent job. --Moni3 (talk) 15:24, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Support. This is an engaging, well-written and organized article. Great job! Karanacs (talk) 19:51, 9 May 2008 (UTC) Comments. For the most part this is an engaging, well-written and organized article. I had one bit of confusion and one tiny detail that I think should be changed. Karanacs (talk) 15:27, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd like to see his full birth in the lead, not just the year.
 * I've no strong feelings about this so I've done as you suggest.
 * In the caption of the picture for the members of the Ross Sea party, I am not sure which man is Mackintosh. There are two rows of men seated (one in chairs, one on the ground).  Perhaps you could clarify which row?
 * Yes, I've altered the caption to specify middle row.
 * 'm a little unclear as to what happened after the Aurora broke loose. In late June Mackintosh told 8 other men that they had to manually lay the depots? What happened between then and September?  Where were the other three men, if only 6 set out in Sept?
 * OK, there were actually 10 men marooned - the nine others who "pledged their support" didn't include Mackintosh. I've changed the text a bit to clarify. Also, I had omitted a certain amount of detail at the start of the second depot-laying section relating to who did what, but I've put in some more text now, which I hope clarifies things: one man remained at base, three came back early, six went on to the final stage of the journey. Brianboulton (talk) 18:54, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.