Talk:John Stow

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His father's profession[edit]

Barrett L. Beer's biography of Stow disagreees about his father's profession, making him a tallow-chandler, rather than a tailor. Beer is well-researched and recent, so I am changing the text accordingly. Please correct me if there is a better source! Bluewave 13:11, 19 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Although many sources give his birthday as 6th April, there are some which claim that it's the 5th April (http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/april/5.htm) (http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/FolkloreYear-April.htm) The so-called "Changing The Quill" ceremony takes place as close as possible to the 5th April. Some sources claim that this is an annual event, but the more sober ones say it occurs every 3 years (2005, 2008). The Lord Mayor and a prominent historian take part in it. (http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/article2019.html

Date of death[edit]

The current Oxford Dictionary of National Biography http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26611 says he died on 5 April; the Latin inscription on the monument in St Andrew Undershaft Church say 'obiit Aetatis anno 80, die 5 Aprilis 1605'. I believe DNB takes precedence over Notable Names Database as a reliable source. I am reverting the recent change. But if someone can come up with a reliable source that discusses the date and concludes that the monument his wife set up for him in the church has the wrong date on, I'd be happy to see the article changed. John O'London (talk) 16:20, 12 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with John O'London. The old Dictionary of National Biography (published 1898) gave the date as 6 April, and is probably the source (directly or indirectly) of that date in NNDB and elsewhere. However, the DNB has now been superseded by the ODNB (published 2004); and the evidence of the inscription (which I can't see has ever been challenged) would appear to be definitive. GrindtXX (talk) 17:08, 12 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for adding the link to Kingsford, GrindtXX - Kingsford quotes the inscription, of course. I wonder why the old DNB said 6 April. I must have a look at the inscription sometime and see if there's any chance it's been changed. John O'London (talk) 17:41, 12 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]