Author talk:Hugh Alexander Webster

See Author talk:Herman Armour Webster. Library Guy (talk) 15:02, 27 September 2014 (UTC)

H. A. W.
I find this person identified as Herman Armour Webster in DNB. He is from the United States, and seems awfully young and inexpert to be writing on an African explorer. Is it possible Hugh Alexander Webster is meant? Library Guy (talk) 23:09, 23 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Interesting. Yes, it is possible, since all we have is [] and that says "H. A. Webster". Herman Armour Webster is what is given in Gillian Fenwick's Contributor's Guide to the DNB. But we disagree with Fenwick on another set of initials. Charles Matthews (talk) 06:35, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

H. A. Webster was all I had for Hugh's EB9 article on the Philippines. Herman was impossible for that one, and Hugh's article in Wikipedia confirmed the EB9 connection. It doesn't say anything about DNB, but he seems more likely than a young artist from the United States. Library Guy (talk) 16:01, 24 September 2014 (UTC)


 * The information that we had was prior to any articles for the author (way back in 09). You have good points, and we need to go back and pull this apart logically looking at the sources, and the contemporary commentary of the time. I started on looking last night, though ran out of time, so continuing that discussion here, and adding facts here is the best way to progress this matter. — billinghurst  sDrewth  00:15, 25 September 2014 (UTC)
 * The 1921-22 reprint in 21 volumes states Herman Armour Webster in the List of Contributors. — billinghurst  sDrewth  10:49, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

I am going to agree with that it is Hugh Alexander Webster (librarian at the University of Edinburgh) as the article references states personal recollections, and Thomson is mentioned at UoE specifically. There is no evidence that Thomson was in American, nor that Herman Armour Webster has any personal link to Thomson. I think that we have sufficient to make the changes, though with specific notes. 1) H. A. Webster contribution, aligns with usage in EB9; also aligns with the biographical timeline and location. It would seem that an early attribution in 1920s has been taken as fact without specific knowledge to confirm, and maybe not enough rigour. — billinghurst  sDrewth  11:08, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Herman Webster seems to have no English or Africa connection in the biographical material I have looked at. I do see a common interest in African topics (both have works treating the Niger River for example) for Hugh Webster and Thomson when I look at the list of works for Thomson in DNB and compare them with the articles Hugh Webster wrote for EB9 as enumerated in Wikipedia. Library Guy (talk) 17:53, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
 * ✅ made the change to Hugh Alexander Webster