# Talk:Rowland Prothero, 1st Baron Ernle

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion:

Lord Ernle.jpg
You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 11:52, 29 July 2019 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Rowland Prothero, 1st Baron Ernle/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Nominator: AssociateAffiliate (talk · contribs) 11:38, 19 April 2025 (UTC)
Reviewer: Dumelow (talk · contribs) 20:22, 1 October 2025 (UTC)

I'll take a look at this one - Dumelow (talk) 20:22, 1 October 2025 (UTC)


### 1. Well-written
Criteria: the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct;  and it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.

Background and education
"Prothero was first educated at home by his mother, before proceeding at the age of 10 to Temple Grove School."
I'd state the location of the school and, presumably, that he boarded
Done. Have added the location and that he boarded. AA (talk) 21:39, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"He met with success in the match, taking five wickets for 34 runs with his medium pace in Oxford's first innings, whilst in their second innings he took 3 for 44, contributing to the Gentlemen of England's victory by nine wickets."
I'd be tempted to add "bowling" after "medium pace" to make it clearer for the layman
Also, I think per MOS:NUMNOTES the numbers should all be in figures rather than some spelt out and some not, though perhaps there is an argument for spelling out the wickets and leaving the runs in figures as "adjacent quantities not comparable"
Done both. Have changed the numbers to all be in figures per MOS:NUMNOTES. AA (talk) 21:39, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"During the year of his graduation, he played a first-class match for Hampshire against Sussex at Winchester"
Presumably he did nothing of note in that match?
Done. Nothing of much, scores of 1 not out and 20-something, in what was a rather poor showing by Hampshire. AA (talk) 21:39, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
Academic, legal and literary careers
"After a four year gap, he returned to play first-class cricket in 1879 for the Gentlemen of England against Oxford University;[7] the match would be a notable one for Prothero, with him scoring his only first-class century with 110 runs in the Gentlemen of England second innings"
I think you can remove the second "Gentlemen of England" here?
Done. Have removed. I have also done this in the "Background and education" section. AA (talk) 21:52, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"His brief legal career came to an end in 1881, when poor eyesight necessitated him to give up practicing law"
The second part of this sentence reads a bit awkward to me.
Also, in British English I think it is "practising" for the verb form.
Comment. How does this read? "His brief legal career came to an end in 1881, when his declining eyesight led him to give up practising law."
"He was appointed assistant editor of the literary magazine The Nineteenth Century in 1889 at the behest of James Knowles"
Consider adding "its editor" to introduce James Knowles
Done AA (talk) 21:52, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"He was commissioned by Queen Victoria to produce a private circulation of the Life of Prince Henry of Battenberg"
Do we know the date of this?
Comment. I have had a good look to try and find the date for this, but to no avail :( AA (talk) 21:52, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"However, he 1898 Prothero's literary career largely came to an end when he accepted a "handsome offer" by the 11th Duke of Bedford to become chief agent on his estate, though he continued to dedicate a few hours each day to reading and writing."
Typo here with "he", possibly meant to be "in"?
Done. Good spot! AA (talk) 21:52, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
"In the 1901 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)."
I usually clarify this with a statement that appointments to the order were at the sole discretion of the monarch, to make it clear this was a personal reward rather than a government one.  Presumably it was for his work on the biography of Prince Henry.
Comment. I have expanded the sentence to now read: "In the 1901 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) at the discretion of Victoria"... is this too succinct? AA (talk) 21:59, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
Political career
"His appointment coincided with the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which placed food supplies under severe threat and necessitated the need to expand agricultural production at home"
I would use his name at the start of a new paragraph rather than "he".  The rest of this paragraph also has a lot of "he"s, consider replacing some with his name
Done. Have removed some of the "he"s! AA (talk) 12:13, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"The subsequent abandonment of Prothero's policies by the government following the war is considered one of the primary contributors toward the agricultural problems that would beset the country in the 1920s"
Begs the question, what were the problems?  Might be worth briefly outlining, even if it is just "low productivity" or something
Done. I have briefly outlined the main problems that arose and referenced it to an article in Farmer's Weekly. AA (talk) 12:35, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"In the December 1918 general election which followed a month after the cessation of hostilities, Prothero retained his Oxford University seat"
Was he opposed this time?
Done. He was not, he stood against a fellow Unionist, plus Liberal and Labour candidates. He was returned alongside the Unionist. I have included this detail in the article. AA (talk) 12:13, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"With his elevation to the House of Lords, Prothero resigned his Oxford University seat. He would remain as President of the Board of Agriculture following his elevation to the peerage."
Perhaps we can avoid two close mentions of "elevation to..."?
Done. Have removed the second use of "elevation". AA (talk) 23:26, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
Do you know if MPs appointed as peers automatically resign or did he have to take one of the positions used for Resignation from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom?
Comment. I believe any sitting MP that is elevated to the peerage must resign their Commons seat as they cannot sit in the HoC and the HoL simultaneously, and with their elevation their can longer be considered "commoners". The Times obituary supports him having to resign because of his appointment to the peerage: "Mr Lloyd George, however, prevailed on him to remain for a while in the reconstructed Ministry of January, 1919, by recommending him for a peerage and so relieving him his heavy duties in the House of Commons". AA (talk) 23:26, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"and was subsequently succeeded by The Lord Lee of Fareham."
Needs a citation
Done. Ref added. AA (talk) 12:52, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
Later life, death and legacy
"After his elevation to the peerage, Prothero served on the 1920–1922 Royal Commission on the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge"
Do we know what the purpose of the Royal Commission was?
Done. It was set up to review and reform Oxford and Cambridge inline with the Education Act 1918. Have added this to the paragraph. AA (talk) 09:25, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"In 1921 and 1922, he served as president of the English Association"
Might be worth mentioning what the association does
Done. It existed to promote the English language. Have added this to the paragraph. AA (talk) 09:25, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"His poor eyesight, which he had battled throughout his life, progressively worsened during the final years.[2] He lived out his final years at Ginge Manor in Berkshire,[2] where he died on 1 July 1937"
Is it possible to avoid repetition of "final years"
Done. Have removed the repitition of final years to now read: "His poor eyesight, which he had battled throughout his life, progressively worsened during the final years. He lived out the end of his life at Ginge Manor near West Hendred in Berkshire, where he died on 1 July 1937." I have also added "West Hendred" to give a locale for this death. AA (talk) 09:25, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
Family
His son was Rowland John Prothero, if you wanted to name him?
Done. Thanks for this. I have named and ref'ed. The Wayback Machine won't let me archive this link :( AA (talk) 10:35, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
"Thus, upon his own death, the barony became extinct."
Is it possible to cite this?
Done. Have cited Burke's Peerage (1939). AA (talk) 10:35, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
Lead & infobox
You only mention that he was a Conservative in the lead and infobox.  The body says he was a  Liberal Unionist in 1910 but nothing about a change later.
Done. Have amended Conservative to Unionist (while the same party, he stood under the Unionist ticket), and I have also added his Liberal Unionist Party affiliation to the infobox. AA (talk) 12:09, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
That he was the second member for the university constituency is mentioned in the lead and not in the main body
Done. Now mentioned in the body. AA (talk) 10:35, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
His date of appointments to the Board of Agriculture and predecessor are stated only in the infobox and not cited; likewise his dates as MP and successor.
Done. I have now put the full dates in both the infobox and the body, and found a date for when his elevation led to him vacting his seat. AA (talk) 16:33, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
That Ginge Manor is in West Hendred is stated only in the infobox
Done. Now in the body as well. AA (talk) 10:35, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
The article looks in good shape.  I'll continue the review with the other five criteria, probably tomorrow - Dumelow (talk) 21:18, 1 October 2025 (UTC)
As an interesting snippet, the trawler Lord Ernle built in 1919, wrecked in March 1937, a few months before the deatg of its namesake.


### 2. Verifiable with no original research
Criteria: it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline; reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose); it contains no original research; and it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.

All content, except where noted above, is cited inline throughout the article
Who's Who is listed at Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial_sources#Who's_Who_(UK) as "generally unreliable" and to be treated as an WP:SPS.  The two instances it is used look to be appropriate with regards WP:ABOUTSELF.
Verifiability spot checks (note: I don't have access to many of the sources):
"Following his studies at Oxford, Prothero spent a year in Darmstadt in Germany to better his proficiency in German" checks out to ODNB
"He was ultimately successful in bringing about its implementation via the Corn Production Act in 1917, while the "plough campaign" was successful in adding nearly 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) of arable farmland; both are considered important achievements in helping to sustain the United Kingdom for the remainder of the war" is largely supported by ODNB but I couldn't see where it supported that the act implemented Prothero's proposed guaranteed price for wheat?
Comment. I have now referenced this from Charles Arnold-Baker's Companion to British History (2001, 2nd ed.). AA (talk) 17:47, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
"From Marlborough, he matriculated to Balliol College, Oxford" checks out to Alumni Oxonienses
"A student of the Middle Temple, he was called to the Bar in 1878 and became a member of the Oxford Circuit" checks out to Men-at-the-Bar
I didn't pick up on any overly close paraphrasing from the sources I checked


### 3. Broad in its coverage
Criteria: it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).

Article looks to cover all relevant points at an appropriate level of detail


### 4. Neutral
Criteria: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.

I picked up no issues with WP:NPOV


### 5. Stable
Criteria: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.

All fine, no evidence of significant disputes over content


### 6. Illustrated
Criteria: media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.

Do we have any evidence that File:Rowland Edmund Prothero.jpg was published before 1930, the source only says that it was commissioned in 1920.
Comment. I can't find anything definitive to say it was published before 1930. But on the balance of probability, with Prothero being an important public and political figure, it's probably safe to assume it was published shortly after being taken as an official portrait. AA (talk) 16:39, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
Hi AssociateAffiliate, giving you a ping as I don't think the GA bot can post on your talk page to notify you of this review.  Article is in good shape, I made some comments in section 1 (don't feel you have to incorporate all of my suggestions here), section 2 and section 6 above for your review when you get a chance - Dumelow (talk) 05:51, 2 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi Dumelow. Many thanks for your review, much appreciated. I'll look to addressing your suggestions over the next week or so. AA (talk) 20:23, 2 October 2025 (UTC)
@Dumelow:. Please find above my responses! AA (talk) 17:48, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
Hi AssociateAffiliate.  Looks good, will pass the nomination.  The biography of Prince Henry is H.R.H. Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg : A memoir (1897), at least four copies survive in the royal collection - Dumelow (talk) 20:13, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
Many thanks for taking the time to review Dumelow. And for finding that interesting snippet above, think there are some dates in there that can make their way into the article! AA (talk) 10:58, 6 October 2025 (UTC)