Talk:Execution of George Spencer

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography

Death Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Death, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Death on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.DeathWikipedia:WikiProject DeathTemplate:WikiProject DeathDeath
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Connecticut Low‑importance

	Connecticut portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Connecticut, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Connecticut on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ConnecticutWikipedia:WikiProject ConnecticutTemplate:WikiProject ConnecticutConnecticut
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: Massachusetts Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Massachusetts portal This article is supported by WikiProject Massachusetts (assessed as Low-importance).

A fact from Execution of George Spencer appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 13 November 2011 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that George Spencer's resemblance to a stillborn, deformed piglet led him to become the first white man executed in Connecticut?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2011/November.

Wikipedia

Really?

This is poorly worded : "...George Spencer's resemblance to a stillborn, deformed piglet...", it should read ..."a stillborn, deformed piglet's resemblance to George Spencer.." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.201.40.29 (talk) 00:32, 13 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried reading that sentence using your construct? Does not read well at all. Thanks to the beauty of English either way works, it's just that the DYK order works much better as a hook. violet/riga _^[talk] 10:01, 13 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Title

Hi! I took the liberty of moving the article for consistency with other biographies, as the usual method of disambiguation is by the subject's "claim to fame". Spencer is notable for being a sex offender, not for being from New Haven. Does anyone have a better suggestion? Something like George Spencer (sodomy law offender) (I thought it would be longer than necessary) or George Spencer (sodomy convict)? Wonderful article, by the way! Surtsicna (talk) 12:16, 2 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Is he really a sex offender? Sounds like he was convicted without due process, so we can't really apply that modern term to what was basically something of a witch trial. We don't call the people burned at the stake for sorcery criminals today, and we don't call people who were put to death for looking like a piglet criminals today. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.164.47 (talk) 18:49, 6 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved to "Execution of George Spencer": appears to be the consensus option. DrKiernan (talk) 08:18, 9 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

George Spencer (sex offender) → ? – Some editors raised concerns about its disambiguous title. Is he really a "sex offender"? All he did was impregnating a mother sow... Well, he confessed and then retracted over and over until he was executed, as well as the sow herself. Why not reverting the title back to George Spencer (New Haven), which was used in DYK? George Ho (talk) 10:24, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: How about George Spencer (zoophile) (or George Spencer (convicted zoophile) to be more accurate)? This is the term that would describe him if the allegation was true, and is used at Zoophilia. Skinsmoke (talk) 14:58, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I moved the article to the present title because I felt it was more descriptive (and thus more useful) than the previous one. This George Spencer is notable for being convicted for sodomy, not for being from New Haven. Thus, I would (once more) suggest George Spencer (sodomy convict) as an alternative. Another possible title would be Trial of George Spencer, given that the article is not about the trial and that it is not a proper biography. Surtsicna (talk) 15:50, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose per Surtsicna. I'm sympathetic to your argument, George. But the current title is undeniably more descriptive—I would assume "George Spencer (New Haven)" was a politician, perhaps a mayor. We could do George Spencer (Puritan), although this may be misleading since he didn't share the Puritans' religious persuasion, their defining characteristic. Leave well enough alone. There's no BLP issue here; history has deemed this man a zoophile, there's no sense in being oblique about it. --BDD (talk) 17:20, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: A valid point is raised by BDD. The article isn't really about the person, but about the execution (and preceding trial) of the person. Why not Execution of George Spencer? Skinsmoke (talk) 17:46, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Rename to Execution of George Spencer per Skinsmoke. -- 65.92.180.137 (talk) 22:53, 27 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Support rename to Execution of George Spencer, per the above.--ukexpat (talk) 18:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Rename to Trial of George Spencer per WP:BIO1E. No notability outside the trial.--Staberinde (talk) 17:45, 7 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Move request, once again

It appears it's been almost ten years since this article was moved to Execution of George Spencer. This is a deceptive title, though; the article's main topic is arguably not the execution of George Spencer, but George Spencer himself. Or at least it is more of a biography than the description of his execution. (The description of the execution effectively boils down to the one sentence "Spencer was hanged".) Suggestion: George Spencer (judicial error victim). (Former suggestions such as George Spencer (zoophile) or George Spencer (convicted zoophile) are misleading with there being no claim in the article that he was actually a zoophile. George Spencer (sodomy convict) seems most fitting among the then suggestions.) --2A02:8108:50BF:C694:CA9:17E3:CEAF:828B (talk) 19:34, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]