Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alexander Lett Spence

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. —Darkwind (talk) 23:33, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Alexander Lett Spence[edit]

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Non notable person. Apart from inherited nobility from his son, the only claim is based on his award of the British DFC in 1944. This fails WP:SOLDIER as the DFC is a third level decoration and contrary to the claim made on the article talk page approx 20% of DFCs awarded during the Second World War were to RCAF personnel (4,000 out of 20,000) so more than a few. Doesn't meet GNG as few mentions mostly in primary sources. NtheP (talk) 22:22, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Canada-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 23:28, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of California-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 23:28, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Aviation-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 23:28, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 23:28, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 23:28, 6 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Delete per nom. Notability isn't reverse-inherited and a DFC is not enough on its own. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:21, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. Doesn't seem any more notable than the many thousands of other servicemen with third-level decorations. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:09, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to Skip Spence, adding relevant info. likely search term.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 18:48, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yet Wikipedia has a category for Distinguished Flying Cross recipients, which would indicate notability in itself, no? Another element to his notability is his background, relative to the award, or perhaps it is the reverse. He was from a smaller town background in Ontario, Canada, where an award of this nature was typically heralded. I know: ^{citation required}

Dreadarthur (talk) 05:12, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had written a page on Omar Spence, musician son of Skip Spence, who has basically replaced his father whenever Moby Grape performs. This page was deleted, based on the justification, which I appreciated ex post, that he had no recording career or other notability justification beyond being the son of his father. To me, there is more notability in Alexander Lett Spence.

Dreadarthur (talk) 05:12, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. Just because we have a category for DFC recipients does not mean all DFC recipients are notable. That category is for people who were notable in other ways who happened to receive the DFC. We also have a category for carpenters. Does that mean all carpenters are notable? Obviously not. As for coming from a small town, people from small towns who win awards are no more notable than people from large towns who win awards. They may be more likely to be reported in local media, but that does not make them notable. -- Necrothesp (talk) 09:27, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment having a category for something in no way implies that everyone who fits that category is notable. This is especially true because categories are much easier created than deleted, but many people argue for keeping categories explicitly saying tht the category itself should not be used to justify any article as notabel.John Pack Lambert (talk) 16:16, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I have moved what I believe to be particularly relevant to Alexander Lett Spence to a footnote in the Skip Spence page. I hope the footnote seems reasonable, for the purpose of emphasizing Skip Spence's deep Canadian roots which, via his father, are far more extensive than perhaps otherwise appreciated. The fact that his father died at 50 is also significant, in that Spence's "issues" commenced barely three years later, and Spence himself died from lung cancer at the comparatively young age (for that illness) of 52. Please set the footnote up differently if you believe it is too much/too little. I agree that the Alexander Lett Spence page should be deleted, based on the precedent that being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, without more, does not render a person notable. Many thanks for the thoughtful discussion here.

Dreadarthur (talk) 05:11, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep Skip Spence's father + DFC. Neither by itself is Notable, but I think the two factors together make him Notable. At least until we get a WP:Decorated Relatives of Rock Stars. Listmeister (talk) 18:31, 12 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete, while the article has three sources, they're all primary sources and rather routine for a soldier. There doesn't appear to be any substantial secondary sources published by third parties on this person, although a few do mention him in the context of Skip Spence. Lankiveil ^{(speak to me)} 12:17, 14 April 2013 (UTC).[reply]
Delete although he did his bit to get a DFC you really need something else to make him notable. MilborneOne (talk) 15:27, 14 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.