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41,000+

This user has made more than 41,000 contributions to Wikipedia.

This user has written or significantly contributed to 48 Featured articles on Wikipedia.

This user has written or significantly contributed to 2 featured lists on Wikipedia.

Three notes from The Magic Flute

Featured articles

★

Featured lists

★

Featured article assists:

About me

File:Brianboultonolder.jpg

The baleful truth. Older, not necessarily wiser, outside the Vienna Opera.

Despite my evocative birth date, I am British, generally known as Brian. At root I am a Liverpudlian from Toxteth, although I have not lived there since my early childhood. I started WP editing in September 2007, at first rather tentatively but with increasing confidence and, I trust, rising skill (I did not adopt a user name until early November 2007). Years ago I graduated in finance and accounting, and taught in a business school for a while until near-terminal boredom sent me to study for a Master's degree in educational philosophy. I taught that, too, and eventually became director of a London-based adults' college. Serious and prolonged illness in 2005–2007 effectively ended my career, and drove me into the arms of Wikipedia. The upper photograph is me in my pomp, on a boat, with company. Sadly, I've aged a little in the last few years; the lower photograph confirms the baleful truth.

I recognise that Wikipedia is a very broad church, and that there are many avenues in which one can choose to be active. I have chosen to be primarily a content creator, at the "quality" end of the range; thus, most of my main articles are prepared with featured status in mind. I am an active reviewer at Peer review and WP:FAC, and currently divide my time about 50:50 between writng and reviewing. I cut my WP teeth by writing polar history articles and biographies; this is still an area of interest, though I have not been active in it for a while. My main current writing tends to be related to classical music, especially opera and composer biographies. In the latter field I have created or expanded the WP articles for Bedrich Smetana, Gustav Mahler, Frederick Delius and Percy Grainger. I also do general biographies of interesting non-musical people—Evelyn Waugh, Tom Driberg, Cosmo Gordon Lang. I don't see a future role an administrator, though I respect the work that many of them do. I have enjoyed good and profitable working relations with a number of editors, some alas no longer active on the project, and have endured sour and difficult relations with a small minority, most of whom regrettably are still on the project.

Achievements to date

Featured articles, Featured lists, Good articles

Achievements to date

Featured Articles: nominating and main editor on the following:-

Article name	Date of FA promotion	date on main page
Ross Sea party	13 February 2008	23 September 2009
Terra Nova Expedition	20 February 2008	27 June 2010
Discovery Expedition	17 March 2008	1 May 2008
Robert Falcon Scott	3 April 2008	24 October 2010
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition	14 April 2008	28 June 2008
Aeneas Mackintosh	10 May 2008
Nimrod Expedition	7 June 2008	9 January 2009
William Speirs Bruce	2 July 2008	3 December 2009
Ernest Joyce	17 July 2008
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition	6 August 2008
Voyage of the James Caird	30 August 2008
Southern Cross Expedition	26 September 2008
Farthest South	4 October 2008
Rhinemaidens (Co-nom Peter cohen)	28 October 2008	5 June 2009
Tom Crean (explorer) (Co-nom Zatoichi26)	15 November 2008	17 March 2010
Mozart family Grand Tour	25 November 2008	11 March 2009
Shackleton–Rowett Expedition	17 December 2008	7 April 2009
New South Greenland	11 January 2009	6 November 2010
Mozart in Italy	31 January 2009	4 September 2010
Carsten Borchgrevink	11 February 2009
Benjamin Morrell	12 March 2009	20 August 2010
Agrippina (opera) (Co-nom Shoemaker's Holiday)	25 March 2009	14 April 2009
SY Aurora's drift	11 April 2009
Clements Markham	12 May 2009	20 July 2010
Bedrich Smetana	7 July 2009	24 July 2010
The Bartered Bride	25 July 2009
Cosmo Gordon Lang	6 September 2009	30 October 2009
Nansen's Fram expedition (Co-nom Ruhrfisch)	28 October 2009
L'incoronazione di Poppea	28 November 2009
Peter Heywood	10 January 2010
Voyage of the Karluk	16 February 2010
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria	16 March 2010
Gustav Mahler	27 April 2010	7 July 2010
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)	4 June 2010	12 September 2010
The Temple at Thatch	6 July 2010	28 January 2011
Tosca (Co-nom Wehwalt)	18 July 2010	7 August 2010
Fridtjof Nansen	4 September 2010
L'Orfeo	7 October 2010	15 October 2010
Talbot Baines Reed	9 November 2010
Evelyn Waugh	20 December 2010
Gianni Schicchi (Co-nom Wehwalt)	31 December 2010
C. R. M. F. Cruttwell	24 January 2011
Frederick Delius (Co-nom Tim riley)	8 February 2011
Rinaldo (opera)	15 February 2011	25 February 2011
Tom Driberg	3 April 2011
Nixon in China (opera)	16 April 2011

Featured Articles: significant helper:-

Article name	Date of FA promotion	date on main page
Ernest Shackleton	31 January 2008
Ten Commandments in Roman Catholicism	16 June 2009	26 June 2009

Featured Lists

Article name	Date of promotion to FL
List of operas by Mozart	23 July 2008
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration	17 December 2008

Good Articles

Article name	Date of promotion to GA	Date of promotion to FA
Terra Nova Expedition	27 January 2008	20 February 2008
Rhinemaidens (Wagner)	12 May 2008	28 October 2008
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition	26 May 2008	6 August 2008
William Speirs Bruce	9 June 2008	2 July 2008
Aurora's drift	13 July 2008	11 April 2009
Farthest South	31 July 2008	4 October 2008
Carsten Borchgrevink	24 October 2008	11 February 2009

Current and future work

The following information is mainly for my own guidanvce, and is subject to frequent change.

Ideas for future articles

Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration – future Featured Topic

Article name	Current status
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration	Featured List
Southern Cross Expedition	Featured Article
Discovery Expedition	Featured Article
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition	Featured Article
Nimrod Expedition	Featured Article
Terra Nova Expedition	Featured Article
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition	Featured Article
Ross Sea party	Featured Article
Shackleton-Rowett Expedition	Featured Article
Australasian Antarctic Expedition	Start
Amundsen's South Pole expedition	Start
Belgian Antarctic Expedition	Stub
Second German Antarctic Expedition	Start (in Filchner article)
Swedish Antarctic Expedition	Stub
Charcot Expeditions	Start (in French expeditions)
Gauss Expedition	Start
Japanese Antarctic Expedition	not classified

General work plans

Order of work in progress and forthcoming articles (variable)

Percy Grainger PR end-April 2011
Kathleen Ferrier late May
Harold Larwood June/July
Messiah (Handel) July/August 2011 (joint: T Riley)
Amundsen's expedition??? August 2011 (or Cyril Connolly
Balfour Declaration September 2011
Ira D. Sankey October 2011
Edith Sitwell Nov/December 2011

Plans obscure thereafter, possibly:-
The Pearl Fishers
Pietro Mascagni expansion (unlikely now)
- Monteverdi bio article (not before late 2011)
- Monteverdi's lost operas
- Portmanteau article for RN in polar exploration
- Japanese Antarctic Expedition - if appropriate source material can be found. (Heroic Age project)
- Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Heroic age project)

Other ideas in the pipeline

Farthest North - develop article
Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition (Arctic) - existing unrated article
Scoresby's whaling voyages (Arctic) - development from existing Scoresby article
Frank Wild - develop stub
Lawrence Oates - develop existing article
Apsley Cherry-Garrard - develop existing article
Edward L. Atkinson - existing B grade
Hjalmar Johansen - new article
List of Symphonies by Mozart - new list in sandbox

Trinkets, Barnstars etc

The following honours received with much thanks from fellow-editors:-

Awards and Barnstars

Awarded for all of your hard work and research in bringing the Terra Nova Expedition article up to Good Article status. Congratulations! Dr. Cash (talk) 00:40, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I, Seahamlass, award you this barnstar in recognition of your tireless peer review contributions to Sunderland Echo. The article looks much, much better due to your efforts. Cheers!--seahamlass 12:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Your in-depth review of Everglades made the article much, much better. Thanks from the team! - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 14:22, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for you patience, diligence and expertise in helping me to take my congressman's article to WP:GA. You have helped to create a great resource for the people of Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s district and for persons concerned with congressional politics. TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:51, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

To Brianboulton, for contributions to historical articles. Axl (talk) 16:50, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Awarded to Brianboulton for your insightful and thorough review of Tom Crean, which helped bring it to GA status! Zatoichi26 (talk) 01:11, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

For your careful and thoughtful GA review of Proserpine, which is clearer and more accessible as a result of your probing questions. Your dedication to improving the quality of Wikipedia is evident - thank you! Awadewit (talk) 16:32, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Nothing more needs to be written beyond this link: [1] —Ed 17 ^{(Talk / Contribs)} 19:05, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

For bringing together information about early polar expeditions and telling us the fascinating stories of these adventures, we award you the Polar Medal. Your thorough research and your evocative writing style have made this corner of Wikipedia a delight to read. Thank you! Awadewit (talk) 15:09, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

For your patient work mentoring student editors through their GA Review at Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. I'm much impressed, and very grateful! Many thanks! jbmurray (talk • contribs) 00:35, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Given to Brian Boulton for all of your help with Peer review, especially reviewing items from the backlog. Given with respect and admiration, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 21:33, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Awarded to Brianboulton for his excellent peer review of The Ten Commandments in Roman Catholic theology. NancyHeise ^talk 21:54, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Awarded for ceaseless endeavour. DavidCane (talk) 23:08, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

For the behind the scenes help you do all the time, including helping me with prose, thanks. Ealdgyth - Talk 02:07, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for last years contributions (GA review) to the Choctaw article. The editorial suggestions significantly contributed to the article's quality. Rob (talk) 13:46, 23 March 2009 (UTC)

For your excellent work on Agrippina - this could never have become an FA in time without your help. Shoemaker's Holiday (talk) 09:17, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Awarded for Featured Article production beyond the call of duty! DavidCane (talk) 00:36, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

For taking time out to copyedit Adelaide Rams despite no need to, but offered to anyway, and did so. The Windler talk 03:36, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Now that you have surpassed my WP:TFA total and a few orbits above me in WP:FAs, I think I should connote my respect and admiration. TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 14:53, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks again for your peer review and support - Cherry Springs State Park made featured article today! Dincher (talk) and Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 01:55, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

For all your continuing contributions to and tireless thrashing through the choral symphony article. You have really earned this. Awarded by — Jonyungk (talk) 02:24, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

By order of the coordinators, for your help with the WikiProject's Peer and A-Class reviews April to June 2009, I hereby award you this Military history WikiProject Reviewers' award. Roger Davies ^talk 12:21, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I wanted to make sure I said thank you, however belatedly, for all your helpful comments on Tom Swift (which I think I've now addressed) - and for your help and support on Nancy Drew. It's much appreciated. Ricardiana (talk) 20:25, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you so much for the excellent peer review on Remain in Light and all the work you do there and at FAC (including the A Weekend in the City review last month). Top stuff. RB88 (T) 12:51, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks again for your peer review and support - Upper Pine Bottom State Park made featured article today! Dincher (talk) and Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 02:12, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

For being one of Wikipedia's most skilled contributors and for creating dozens of well-crafted articles. Keep it up! –Juliancolton | ^Talk 05:49, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

For your fantastic improvements to York Park. Thank you. Aaroncrick (talk) Review me! 20:24, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I deeply aprecciate all your work and dedication to the project, specially with such interesting articles. I'll try to translate all of them as a symbol of recognition. Thank you, Brianboulton! OboeCrack (talk) 22:10, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

For your excellent review work with the peer review of 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, I award you this barnstar. Thank you for your help! SkotyWA^T_C 08:52, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Brian, I keep seeing your kind offers to help people with reviewing, checking sources, and fixing text. I just want to let you know that it's very much appreciated. SlimVirgin ^{talk|contribs} 04:48, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for such a thorough peer review on the David Fisher (Six Feet Under) article. It was one of the best PRs I've ever received. Your critique was fair, thorough and well-expressed. I will start implementing you suggestions immediately.Esprit15d • talk • contribs 14:10, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks again for your kind words, helpful comments, and support. Bull Run River made featured article today. Finetooth (talk) 03:18, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks again for your source review, kind words, and support. Ricketts Glen State Park made featured article today. Dincher (talk) and Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 13:05, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

valign="top"

I award you this Copy Editor's Barnstar for insisting on clear, comprehensible, and grammatically correct articles. Thanks for the copyedit. d'oh! _talk 03:23, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

By order of the Military history WikiProject coordinators, for your good work helping with the WikiProject's Peer and A-Class reviews for the period Jan-Jun 2010, I hereby award you this Military history WikiProject Reviewers' award. Ian Rose (talk) 02:13, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your source review and support for Exelon Pavilions, which is now a Featured article, and for all you do on Wikipedia!
.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) and Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 20:27, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your comments and suggestions on the Battle of Towton, especially appreciated are your copy-editing and sources check. Your support was invaluable to recognising it as a Featured Article. Jappalang (talk) 22:04, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Given with respect and admiration to Brianboulton for working so hard to get Rinaldo to FA in time for its 300th anniversary, then voluntarily giving up any claim to the actual date of the 300th anniversary TFA. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 22:32, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Odd stuff

Some philosophical musing on Wikipedia

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

From Rudyard Kipling (1919): "The Gods of the Copybook Headings"

Abroad

These are all places I've visited recently

Austria Belgium Czech Republic England France Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Ireland Iceland Israel Italy
Lebanon Malta Morocco Netherlands Norway Russia Scotland Spain Syria Wales

Waterfalls

A gift from Ruhrfisch

Thanks for your help at peer review, and for your kind words and support. Waterfalls in Ricketts Glen State Park made Featured Article today! Dincher (talk) and Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 21:15, 9 February 2010 (UTC)

Triple crown

Your majesty, it gives me great pleasure to bestow the Triple Crown upon Brianboulton for your contributions in the areas of WP:DYK, WP:GA, and WP:FA. Cirt (talk) 23:57, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

x

Links

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 [[File:Brianboulton.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[User:Brianboulton]] (The way we were...)]]
 [[File:Brianboultonolder.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The baleful truth. Older, not necessarily wiser, outside the Vienna Opera.]]
-I am British, generally known as Brian, and I started editing in September 2007,  at first rather badly but with increasing confidence and, I trust, rising skill (I did not adopt a user name until early November 2007). Years ago I graduated in finance and accounting, and taught in a business school for a while until near-terminal boredom sent me  to study for a Master's degree in educational philosophy. I taught that, too, and eventually became director of a London-based adults' college. Serious and prolonged illness in 2005–2007 effectively ended my career, and drove me into the arms of Wikipedia. The upper photograph is me in my pomp, on a boat, with company. Sadly, I've aged a little in the last few years;  the lower photograph confirms  the baleful truth.
+Despite my evocative birth date, I am British, generally known as Brian. At root I am a [[Liverpool|Liverpudlian]] from [[Toxteth]], although I have not lived there since my early childhood.  I started WP editing in September 2007,  at first rather tentatively but with increasing confidence and, I trust, rising skill (I did not adopt a user name until early November 2007). Years ago I graduated in finance and accounting, and taught in a business school for a while until near-terminal boredom sent me  to study for a Master's degree in educational philosophy. I taught that, too, and eventually became director of a London-based adults' college. Serious and prolonged illness in 2005–2007 effectively ended my career, and drove me into the arms of Wikipedia. The upper photograph is me in my pomp, on a boat, with company. Sadly, I've aged a little in the last few years;  the lower photograph confirms  the baleful truth.
-I divide my time on Wikipedia, roughly 50:50, between article writing and article reviewing. My main current writing interests are opera, composers' lives, general biography and the odd teaser. I used to do a lot on polar exploration and might return there one day. I review regularly at [[WP:Peer Review]] and [[WP:FAC]]. I am not an administrator and have no interest in being one.  In my time here I have found some marvellously supportive editors, with whom I have enjoyed good, profitable working relations.  On the other hand, there are aspects of this project that leave me speechless with rage, but I generally get over these fits quite quickly.
+I recognise that Wikipedia is a very broad church, and that there are many avenues in which one can choose to be active. I have chosen to be primarily a content creator, at the "quality" end of the range; thus, most of my main articles are prepared with featured status in mind. I am an active reviewer at [[WP:Peer review|Peer review]] and [[WP:FAC]], and currently divide my time about 50:50 between writng and reviewing. I cut my WP teeth by writing polar history articles and biographies; this is still an area of interest, though I have not been active in it for a while. My main current writing tends to be related to classical music, especially  opera and  composer biographies. In the latter field I have created or expanded the WP articles for [[Bedrich Smetana]], [[Gustav Mahler]], [[Frederick Delius]] and [[Percy Grainger]].  I also do general biographies of interesting non-musical people—[[Evelyn Waugh]], [[Tom Driberg]], [[Cosmo Gordon Lang]]. I don't see a future role  an administrator, though I respect the work that many of them do.  I have enjoyed good and profitable working relations with a number of editors, some alas no longer active on the project, and have endured sour and difficult relations with a small minority, most of whom regrettably are still on the project.
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