Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 April 18

= April 18 =

Johnny Darvall - was he called Lawrence or Lawrance?
Our article is at Lawrence Darvall. His Death Notice in The Times spells him (and his son) "Lawrance", as does Dennis Wheatley in Stranger than Fiction, and various publications relating to his work for United World Colleges. Death notices are usually written by the family, and Wheatley counted him as a colleague and friend. The Times obituary has him as Lawrence, the Imperial War Museum "Lives of the First World War" project as "Lawrance", The National Portrait Gallery hedges its bets with "Sir Lawrance (Lawrence) Darvall". From a quick glance in the Gazette the e seems to be preferred officially. So - what was it? Which did he prefer? Why the difference? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 13:22, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Am sorry to complicate, but FYI his name was entered with a THIRD version - Laurence - in the birth register. View a scan at . Perhaps someone with a paid geneology account can find the entry itself to confirm. I feel for him. It's hard being misspelled all your life. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 14:31, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Instead of trying to pick the one right version, wouldn't it be best to note the inconsistency and explain it (some sources use Lawrance, some Lawrence, some Laurence, etc) with cites for each. When reliable sources disagree, we report all of them, and note the disagreement. -- Jayron 32 14:47, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Still, some might be more correct than others. It is possible that he personally used another spelling than his official name; if we knew this to be the case (supported by reliable sources), it would be good to report it. How did he sign his letters? Darvall having been the recipient of a knighthood, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, there has to be some official record of this, which may be presumed to be more authoritative than a newspaper report. Among the many data points: the NATO Defense College, in a list of its commandants, lists him as Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Darvall. --Lambiam 16:01, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * How do you decide if some sources are more correct than others? -- Jayron 32 17:52, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * There is no general procedure, but, for instance, an official death certificate, or a contemporaneous newspaper article reporting on someone's death, are generally more trustworthy sources for a date of death than a random mention in a book. With personal given names, there is often a discrepancy between someone's official name, as given on identity documents such as passports, and the name by which they are commonly referred to. Newspaper articles will use the name Greg Abbott for the current governor of Texas, whose official name is Gregory Wayne Abbott. It would be ridiculous to report that some sources use "Greg" while others have "Gregory". --Lambiam 08:29, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Do not use public records that include personal details, such as date of birth, home value, traffic citations, vehicle registrations, and home or business addresses.. Also, per WP:UCN, we don't give any special credence to "official" records on these matters.  For example, actor Sean Bean is, on "official documents", "Shaun Bean", and we don't ignore the discrepancy or refuse to mention the use of both spellings.  Similarly, the Wikipedia article on the person above, while we would possibly want to remain consistent in usage and pick one of the names, should also explain that source documents vary in their spellings.  -- Jayron 32 11:09, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
 * We do not write, "some sources use Sean, some Shaun". --Lambiam 22:04, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Because all sources use Sean, except the narrow ones related to official documents. The Lawrence/Laurence/Lawrance case above is different.  We don't have evidence which of the three was in use commonly, as it appears they all may have been.  -- Jayron 32 12:36, 20 April 2023 (UTC)

Who were the true villains in the Vietnam War?
Who were the true villains in the Vietnam War, the United States or North Vietnam and Viet Cong? 95.144.204.68 (talk) 17:12, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * See above. In the instructions for this page, it says We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate. -- Jayron 32 17:51, 18 April 2023 (UTC)