Talk:Society of Merchant Venturers

message: Several edits have been made today to this article removing any criticism from this article. It is important that Wikipedia:Neutral point of view policy is being maintained, and further references to information, both positive and negative, about the society would be helpful.— Rod talk
:User:Ohnoitsjamie found this excellent source,  referenced in the current version of the article as 
:It's the full text of a 1903 book written by John Latimer.
:I'd use the book myself to expand the article some more, only my head's pretty much already exploded from reading the blasted thing. It's heavy going.
:Michael F 1967 (talk) 21:21, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removal of "critical" comments from this article & need for citations 

message: My father - born 1918 in Bristol - talked, occasionally, about attending evening school at the MV school or college in Bristol, after work [as an apprentice].  He has been dead for these ten years: if anyone else can flesh this out [perhaps before all his classmates and sucessors pass away, too] it may be good.
Autochthony wrote - 2042z 18 May 2010.  81.156.52.159 (talk) 20:43, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Schools, colleges and/or evening classes 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I have added the "reorganise" banner on this page. Readability of this article could be enhanced through better use of sentences and paragraphs. Sections could also be organised in a more logical order. A good reorganisation may contribute to a better flow of the article. Hayley007 (talk) 14:01, 11 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Added the "reorganise" maintenance flag 

message: The second lead paragraph strikes me as problematic, since it gives a sanitized view of the society. It ends with the phrase 'charitable agendas' which is what'll stick in the reader's mind, but that phrase is supplied by the society's own on-line advertising rather than a reliable secondary source.
By 'sanitized', I mean that this society was set up for the sole purpose of monopolizing the sea trade from the port of Bristol, and later lobbied for access to access to the slave trade - but the lead makes no mention of such matters and so gives a biased impression of the society.
Such matters are fundamental to the purpose and history of the society, and I feel that it's important for them to be mentioned in the lead in order to provide some balance.
Michael F 1967 (talk) 20:05, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  About the lead.