Talk:John Nichols Thom

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Untitled[edit]

In my opinion, the article should be in his original name, so the merge could be other way around. Contemporary documents used the name Thom, not the one he assumed - Skysmith 19:30, 19 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Unattributed copying and Dunkirk parish church[edit]

Firstly, the last two paragraphs of the article are copied without attribution from http://www.faversham.org/pages/standard.aspx?i_PageID=15815 Secondly, is there a dated source for the claim that Dunkirk parish church is likely to become a house? A couple of years ago it was being turned into a training centre in the restoration of church rooves. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.102.136.55 (talk) 23:48, 5 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

I am removing the copied paragraphs. There is a link to the site at the end of the article. Southdevonian (talk) 16:42, 11 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Messianism[edit]

I have moved this text from the article as it unsourced (except for the footnote about workshouses which I have retained)Southdevonian (talk) 16:23, 11 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Messianism[edit]

Upon release, Tom again assumed the identity of Sir William Courtenay, declared himself "saviour of the world" and became a wandering preacher. He again wore his colourful costumes, including an embroidered Maltese Cross and a sword which he claimed to be Excalibur. Later witnesses also stated that he had nail marks in his hands. He supported the cause of farm workers who resisted the effects of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, which ordered all able-bodied men to workhouses if they could not find work.^[1]

Thom gathered a following of more than one hundred people and convinced them that their faith would make them invulnerable to steel and bullets. He also claimed that he could slay 10,000 men by hitting his left hand with his right and that if he were shot dead, he would come back to life three days later.

When Thom and his followers paraded in and around the countryside near Boughton, a farmer named Curling asked magistrates in Canterbury to arrest his truant workers who had left with Thom. On 31 May 1838, magistrates sent three constables to arrest Thom at the house of a farmer named Culver. Thom shot constable Nicholas Mears dead, mutilated the body with his blade and threw it into a ditch. Mears was later believed to have been a follower of Thom's and to have been shot for his betrayal. Thom then pacified his followers with a sacrament of eucharist, promised them the estates of the landed gentry, and led a group of thirty or forty men to Bossenden Wood.

References

^ J. Lowerson, ed. Charlesworth, An Atlas of Rural protests in Britain, 1548-1900 (1983), pp. 139-141: "The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act was designed specifically to cope with the severe problems of rural England and to prevent... a repetition of the 1830s incidents in the epicentres of Kent... There, complex soil patterns, small-scale farming and low investment rates combined with a rapid population surge to produce... dependence on permanent relief of 25% of population... groups of labourers (1835) ...besieged local magistrates in the workhouse... 37 labourers were imprisoned for... up to two years."

Musical[edit]

Does anyone have a published source for this - the link in the footnote is no longer working. Southdevonian (talk) 17:39, 11 March 2013 (UTC) In 2003 the story of John Nichols Thom was made into a stage musical.^[1][reply]

References

^ http://www.courtenaythemusical.co.uk/index.html

John Nichols Thom/John Nichols Tom[edit]

John Nichols T(h)om has two variants of his name, and I believe this article should choose one to refer to him while referring to the other in the lede. The reason I'm bringing this to the talk page instead of being bold is that although the article states Tom is the more common variant, there appears to be disagreement among sources. Sources from or close to his lifetime usually give his name as Tom (see images on the article page); academic sources are divided; the book that much of this article references calls him Thom. How do we select a name under these circumstances? — Preceding unsigned comment added by StartGrammarTime (talk • contribs) 23:18, 27 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Good point. His death was registered under Tom. I wonder why though Rogers called him Thom? At the moment it looks a bit confusing - with the articled called John Nichols Thom then the first sentence saying "John Nichols Tom (sometimes spelt Thom..."Southdevonian (talk) 09:45, 4 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

[1] J. Lowerson, ed. Charlesworth, An Atlas of Rural protests in Britain, 1548-1900 (1983), pp. 139-141: "The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act was designed specifically to cope with the severe problems of rural England and to prevent... a repetition of the 1830s incidents in the epicentres of Kent... There, complex soil patterns, small-scale farming and low investment rates combined with a rapid population surge to produce... dependence on permanent relief of 25% of population... groups of labourers (1835) ...besieged local magistrates in the workhouse... 37 labourers were imprisoned for... up to two years."

[2] ttp://www.courtenaythemusical.co.uk/index.html

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