Talk:Louie Bickerton

message: To call the requested move of this article "uncontroversial" on WP:RM was shockingly disingenuous.
(1) Google reports only 40 references in English (14.9%) to "Louie Bickerton" compared to 228 in English for "Louise Bickerton" (85.1%).
(2) Google reports only 4 references in French (16.0%) to "Louie Bickerton" compared to 21 in French for "Louise Bickerton" (84.0%).
(3) The French, Norwegian, and Polish language Wikipedia articles use "Louise Bickerton," not "Louie Bickerton".
(4) Reuters refers to her as "Louise Bickerton."
(5) In American news media, About.com (owned by the New York Times), CBS, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today refer to her as "Louise Bickerton", not "Louie Bickerton".
(6) Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia refers to her as "Louise Bickerton", not "Louie Bickerton".
(7) The consensus on English-language Wikipedia is to refer to her as "Louise Bickerton" (22 instances, 88%), not "Louie Bickerton" (only 3 instances, 12%).
Tennis expert (talk) 08:14, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Requested move: Her name was Louise, not Louie, according to the vast majority of reliable sources

message: The spelling "Louie Bickerton" is supported by primary, secondary and tertiary source information. "Tennis expert" has not, and cannot, present primary and secondary source information in support of their spurious claim that "Louise Bickerton" is the correct spelling. Instead, all the sources are not referenced and are probably derived from the same faulty information - possibly even from a single transcription error. It is easier, after all, to replicate other people's lists, rather than doing the research or transcription themselves... so they simply "copy and paste". Does anyone really believe that all those many websites with tennis lists all transcribed them afresh? AND from a reputable source?
All that "Tennis expert" provides are links to internet tennis lists and Wikipedia articles, that are likely based upon the same data. Tennis lists can be, and are, replicated widely without correction, despite errors. Therefore Google percentages mean little. All it proves is that incorrect data replication is rife on the internet - even on some 'name' sites. But, at the end of the day, it is the quality of information that counts, not quantity.
The Reuters, About.com, CBS, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia are all tennis lists, not biographies. And they are not authoritative. What, for instance, are their sources? 
At the risk of sounding repetitive... check some authoritative sources. Go on, humour me. No, don't Google it. Go here:
NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages
Enter the groom's surname of Cozens in the appropriate field. Then enter the bride's surname of Bickerton. Enter the marriage year of 1935 (or a date range from 1788-1957). Click "Search Now" and voila! That is information from their marriage certificate.
If you're still not convinced, then wander along to this place. Search the picture database for "Louie Bickerton" to see a captioned photograph of her:
State Library of NSW
This is another credible source. Neither of these sources are lists copied from other unreliable and unsourced sites.
There are some other interesting local history sites that have actually researched their subjects. Not surprisingly, they spell her name Louie:
Strathfield District Historical Society.
[www.scenenewspapers.com.au/supp/issues/March2006/page12.pdf Strathfield Scene newspaper March 2006].
[rotarnet.com.au/users/9/96933/Strathfield%20Heritage%20Tour%202004.pdf Strathfield Heritage Tour].
How about published sources? Well, they spell it Louie too. Here are a couple of oldies, but they're goodies:
Metzler, Paul (1979). "Great Players of Australian Tennis", Sydney, Harper & Row. (page 89)
Matthews, Bruce (1985). "Game, set, and glory: a history of the Australian tennis championships, Hawthorn, Five Mile Press. (page 18)
Contemporaneous newspaper articles? Well, they spell it Louie, of course. Here's a quotation from one article (of many):
"Miss Nell Lloyd and Miss Louie Bickerton, with the chairwoman, Mrs. R. J. Conway, asked Mrs Warburton to accept their thanks on behalf of the women tennis players." (Sydney Morning Herald 14-Feb-1935, p. 20, "Tennis Pioneer").  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.221.111.60 (talk) 14:15, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Louie Bickerton is the correct title. 

message: This is 203.221.111.60, who tried to change Louise to Louie all that time ago. I must confess that I had given up the cause as lost, having provided such authoritative references, and still not convinced other contributors at the time. Until now I hadn't checked the page, but was relieved to find that the correct name has prevailed (I notice that the number of other websites adopting the correct name are on the increase. Such is the influence of Wikipedia!).
Other resources, such as old newspapers that have been digitised, are increaingly becoming available online. The following are some further references to Louie Bickerton from old Australian newspapers, provided on the National Library of Australia site:
The Argus, Melbourne, 12-Dec-1916 page 5
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1617754?searchTerm=%22Louie+Bickerton%22
The Argus, Melbourne, 13-Dec-1918 page 4
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1410420?searchTerm=%22Louie+Bickerton%22
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 19-Jan-1934 page 9
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1161589?searchTerm=%22Louie+Bickerton%22
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 23-Jan-1934 page 10
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1163058?searchTerm=%22Louie+Bickerton%22
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 27-Jan-1934 page 10
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1164633?searchTerm=%22Louie+Bickerton%22  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.221.111.186 (talk) 16:03, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Hello 203.221.111.60, we finally made it!  I had a fight of it, too, to get the page changed to Louie Bickerton, but it worked in the end!  Thank you for the sources, I'll see if they can be incorporated into the article.  Thank you for all of your legwork, previously, too.  The research was a big help.  Maedin\talk 16:43, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Faith in Wikipedia restored!