A fact from Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 28 August 2018 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Hawaii, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Hawaii on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.HawaiiWikipedia:WikiProject HawaiiTemplate:WikiProject HawaiiHawaii
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Canada, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Canada on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CanadaWikipedia:WikiProject CanadaTemplate:WikiProject CanadaCanada-related
This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
Latest comment: 4 years ago5 comments4 people in discussion
In the section "Death and capture of the Fair American", the text has Thomas as a "relatively inexperienced teenage captain". However, the article has his birth date as "c. 1761", which would have made him around 29 years of age at the time of his death on March 16, 1790. Bahudhara (talk) 01:17, 28 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
The source identified in n.3 in the article indicates that the Spanish at Nootka Sound described Thomas as a teenager. Could that be the source of the error? Terry Thorgaard (talk) 21:38, 28 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
Oh good catch, that's my mistake. I couldn't find a source with his birth year. The best I could find is that he was 18 or 19 during his experiences at Nootka Sound, Mexico, and Hawaii. So I subtracted "about 19" from 1790 and got "c. 1761". Oops. I'll change it to c. 1771. Pfly (talk) 05:51, 29 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
PS, the n.3 source is an article by Murray Morgan, who was a well-respected historian of the Pacific Northwest. Should be a solid source. He seems to have had access to Spanish records I have not seen myself. Unfortunately he doesn't cite sources in his article. Pfly (talk) 06:13, 29 August 2018 (UTC)Reply
