Talk:Richard Ponsonby-Fane
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Category
I don't know how to classify the private secretary to colonial governors in the British Empire. Should this article be included in some sort of Empire civil servants or Empire civil service categories?
In my view, Richard Ponsonby-Fane's notability has to do with his work as an historian; but his unprecedented access to Japan's Imperial family is not unimportant. In part, his natural diplomatic skills would have been affected by his experiences in colonial governments -- most particularly as private secretary to the
Crown Prince Hirohito who visited the Crown colony
en route to Europe in 1921.
In terms of Wikipedia categories, I don't quite know how to handle this? --
talk) 19:02, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
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Montcute House
"Young Richard also spent part of his youth at his uncle's country home,
talk) 20:16, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
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- Giano-- The edit which deleted the sentence above was no doubt well-intended and doubtless informed by sources not known to me. The edit summary below is transparent:
- 20:18, 5 February 2009 User:Giano II(3,584 bytes) removing this phrase, it was his aunt (Constance) who married into the Phelips's of Montacute
- 20:18, 5 February 2009
- Moreover, I admit freely that I do know next to nothing about the Phelips of Sommerset.
- My focus is not so much devoted to developing better understanding of the British aristocracy during the first half of the 20th century, but rather more to do with explaining how and why this unique Japanologist came to contribute to international understanding of Japan, its culture, and its history.
- I dare to restore this one sentence on the basis of the following sentences, which were initially referenced with an in-line citation (but not linked to convenient on-line text):
- "In his boyhood he had a very happy time visiting his uncle at Monatcute, whose residence was a castle built in the seventeenth century and one specially protected by the government; and his grandfather at Brympton whose mansion was still older, its chapel having been built in the day of the Anglo-Saxons. It was because he was brought up in such surroundings that he was much interested in and had a good deal of knowledge of architecture."<:ref>Ponsonby-Frane, p. 517.</ref>
- From our perspective in the 21st-century, these matters would seem trivial; but I suspect that this is precisely the sort of thing which would have been noted and valued by the Imperial Household Agency. In other words, it is reasonable to guess that this sort of detail is likely to have been amongst the factors which explain why the Imperial Household Agency permitted Ponsonby-Fane extraordinary access to members of the Imperial family, to obscure historical records, to Shinto shrines, etc. Do you see my point?
- Without a proper citation, these views would be naught but speculative musings -- but in the verified context, I would have thought that it becomes an appropriate factor in decisions about what to have included or excluded from this article.
- Even if this not sufficiently persuasive, it does at least provide a foundation for further discussion? --talk) 02:07, 6 February 2009 (UTC)]
- talk) 03:04, 6 February 2009 (UTC)]
- I don't have references I just know these things (I'm afraid) but it must be all checkable. Richards paternal aunt - Constance married the owner of near by talk) 09:03, 6 February 2009 (UTC)]
- I don't have references I just know these things (I'm afraid) but it must be all checkable. Richards paternal aunt - Constance married the owner of near by
References
Queen's scarf
Ponsonby-Fane's scarf seemed peculiar to me; but it became more understandable when I stumbled across this tidbit:
- Eight scarves crocheted by Queen Victoria were awarded to soldiers in the Boer war. The Queen's initials, VRI, (Victoria Regina Imperatrix) are embroidered in cotton in the lower left hand corner of the scarf. One of these scarfs was presented to Private Henry Donald Coutts of the 1st New Zealand Mounted Rifles; and in 1913, Coutts presented his scarf to the New Zealand Government. It was displayed in the General Assembly Library before being presented to the Army Museum.<:ref>National Army Museum, New Zealand. Did you know, "Queen's scarf"</ref>
This helps me to appreciate Ponsony-Fane's scarf, but I don't know how to integrate this into the main article text. --
talk) 14:39, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
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