Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/H.V. Dalling (2nd nomination)

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 keep. Mark Arsten (talk) 13:33, 7 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

H.V. Dalling[edit]

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Fails Wikipedia:Notability. Has not received significant coverage outside of a two Woodstock, New Brunswick newspapers. Fails Wikipedia:CREATIVE as he is not an important figure in the history of the telephone, not widely cited by peers or successors, and did not originate a significant new concept, theory or technique. Hirolovesswords (talk) 15:31, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Canada-related deletion discussions. Hirolovesswords (talk) 15:40, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

~~Delete~~ - This seems to be a genealogical exercise. I'm not finding sourcing, nor do I think there is a sufficient notability hook here to merit encyclopedic biography. Carrite (talk) 17:59, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 01:38, 24 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - This article is not a "genealogical exercise." To the best of my knowledge, I am not related to him. Google Books shows his name in several records from the time period. In 1885, the telephone was a recent invention and not as common as today. As well, when was the last time anyone you know built a fully working telephone and system?--Auric (talk) 22:28, 24 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I find Uzma G.'s perspective persuasive enough to step back here. Carrite (talk) 15:54, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Delete as per the nomination.--Juristicweb (talk) 18:22, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - Separating the significant events from the life events in the Wikipedia article gives the impression of the article being a genealogical exercise. It also doesn't help that the article is written in a trivia format (disconnected sentences). His homemade telephone, investment by Bell Telephone, impact on other's lives (switchboard) would seem to be enough to generate reliable source coverage of Dalling around the 1880s and there after. Give the age of the topic, it seems likely that some of those reliable sources are not online but in some library. The article includes some of those reliable sources and, with his life events, I think there is enough reliable source material out there to maintain a stand alone article to meet WP:GNG. The article needs to be written in a chronological order, with language that connects one sentence to the next, and be more in line with how other Wikipedia biography articles are presented. But that is not a reason to delete the topic. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 15:23, 30 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, — Mr. Stradivarius ^{(have a chat)} 01:15, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Keep – An historically significant person in relation to early uses of the telephone who also just meets WP:BASIC. In this instance, the application of WP:IAR is also in order due to the historical significance of this person's accomplishments in the context of the history of the telephone and Bell Canada, and because the encyclopedia and Wikipedia readers benefit from this article. Conversely, deletion of this article would be a slight detriment to the encyclopedia and its readers. Here's a source summary:

Dalling Family Collection. Carleton County Historical Society.

Press Newspaper, August 28, 1885:

"The Telephone is now an accomplished fact. By means of this mysterious instrument and wire you can whisper from Upper Woodstock to Lower Corner. The wires from the different places of business all centre at H. V. Dalling's Jewelry Store, which is the Exchange Office. When any one who have the instruments wish to converse with each other they signal the Exchange Office. The attendant there by simple means connects the speaker with the party he wishes to address, and presto ! the talk can go on plainly and easily. To say that this means of communication is one of the wonders of the age is to put it midly. That the voice, at an ordinary tone, can be distinctly heard for miles by means of a wire is something so mysterious that few can appreciate the fact without themselves having actual cognizance of it.

The wire of which there are about five miles in length, were strung and the instruments placed, under the supervision of S. Hoyt, St. John. J. H. Wagstaff is the manner of the Bell Telephone Company's business in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The following are the names of those having instruments connected with the Exchange in Woodstock at present..."

Newsclip (newspaper title unnamed):

"First Telephone

H.V. Dalling, Watchmaker and Jeweller, was the maker of the first telephone to be used in Woodstock. In 1886, this mechanical genuis made and installed two telephones: one in his store, the other in his residence. It was purely a private telephone exchange for the use of himself, wife and family. The wire was strung on trees from his home on Connell Street. But it's success soon became known to the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, who sent a representative to Woodstock to make an investigation. Mr. Dalling was threatened with a law suit for infringing on the Company's patent. But a compromise was reached. The Bell Company opened a small exchange in Mr. Dalling's store, using a twenty line switchboard and Bell instruments, with the Woodstock innovator as agent and manager."

Book source used in the article as an inline citation: Roads to Remember: The Insider's Guide to New Brunswick

Passing mention: Press Newspaper April 24, 1905:

“

Olin Townsend has purchased several new records for his $75 gramaphone and the lastest songs and selections from the opera Floradora are delightfully rendered during the evening at the jewelry store of H V Dalling.

”

—Northamerica1000^(talk) 11:26, 1 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Withdrawn per Northamerica1000. --Hirolovesswords (talk) 15:55, 1 September 2012 (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.