The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by 97198 (talk) 03:34, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

John Johnstone (East India Company)[edit]

• ... that in 1765 the Scottish nabob John Johnstone returned home from India aged 31, with a fortune worth £25 million in 2014 money?

• ALT1:that in 1774 John Johnstone won the Dysart Burghs seat in the British House of Commons through bribery?
• Reviewed: Purabá de Santa Bárbara

Created/expanded by BrownHairedGirl (talk). Self nominated at 21:01, 19 June 2014 (UTC).

• ALT2 ... that in 1765, Scottish nabob John Johnstone, aged 31, returned from India with a fortune equivalent to £25 million in 2014? — Preceding unsigned comment added by EEng (talk • contribs) 05:05, 29 June 2014‎
  • Thanks, EEng. That's good rewrite of the main hook. Would you perhaps have the energy to do a full review? --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 01:08, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
• Reviewing for ALT2, which is the most interesting and grammatical IMHO. 5x expanded beginning 19 July (new enough; nominated same day), length is fine. Hook fact checks out and is interesting. Referencing is mostly thorough, but there appears to be an issue with current FN#1. FNs 11 and 12 aren't quite up to the same caliber as other sources, although the only one which I would personally ask to be fixed before this goes to the main page is #12 (appears to be a call number, which could not possibly support that the book was Johnstone's defence). Small issues. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 15:18, 12 July 2014 (UTC)
  • Thanks for the review, Crisco 1492. I think that I resolved all the issues you raised:

1. The ref in the lede for his vital dates was to rayment, which doesn't meet our technical definitions of a reliable source. I have replaced it with a ref to Burke, which is probably a less accurate source, but fits WP:RS
2. The FN11 which you queried was for the sentence The Johnstone family account says that he spent "about a ninth" of his money on the estates at Alva, Hanginghaw and Denovan, and "lived quietly" there until his election to Parliament. It was referenced to the book in which the family account makes that claim, which seems to be quite proper per WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV: I don't assert him living quietly as fact, but only as the family account's claim. However, for belts-and-braces purposes I have added another source which notes their claim : Evans, John (2004). The Gentleman Usher: The Life & Times of George Dempster 1712-1818.
3. You also queried FN12, which is for his book/pamphlet "A letter to the proprietors of East-India stock". The citation I had provided was incomplete, merely a British Library ID (sorry!), so I have completed that citation, and added an ISBN for a reprint of it. I have also added a ref for the significance of that letter: Haden-Guest's article in the The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790.

I hope that addresses all your concerns, but please ((ping|BrownHairedGirl)) if anything else needs attention. Thanks again. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 18:07, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

PS Note that the ref numbers have shifted due to these changes. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 18:08, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

• I was referring to ref formatting. Wow, was that an important word to miss. Looks good now, though. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:09, 17 July 2014 (UTC)